Why Game Day Experience Is Now Just as Important as The Game Itself

Working as a Game-Day and Recruiting Hostess for the SMU Football team to now

being given the opportunity to be a Recruiting Intern, there are many insightful lessons to be

learned. These range from learning the logistics of how to set up and prepare for a major sports

event, how to be hospitable in ways you may not have thought of before, and you learn great

organizational and people skills while hosting players and their families from all over the country.

I believe the biggest takeaway from this is the Game-Day experience we set up for the

prospective athletes, and the lasting impact we can have on them. These days, with NIL and

social media, recruiting athletes has become immensely more competitive. Some people argue

that recruiting athletes has taken a superficial turn, and lost its authenticity. I beg to differ. I

believe that the impact an athlete has after visiting a school’s game day still has the biggest and

most influential effect.

Many athletes have said in interviews that if they visit a school after a Game Day, and the team maybe doesn't win or has an off day, they don’t completely mark it off their lists of places they would like to call their future home, that that's not all that goes into their decision process when narrowing down from the many schools they have been offered. Things like hospitality from staff, coaches, playing time opportunity, and general vibe of the student body have more of an influence on these recruits than people realize. The best way to have a

successful game day is not about if our team wins or loses to these players. It's about treating

every single one of these high school athletes that walks through the doors of the facilities like

they are the best in the country, and at the top of our priority list.

It’s the little things like greeting all of them with a smile, being excited and welcoming

that they are there, showing their families love, getting to know them on a personal level. Most people forget the fact that these players are not just a number or their season's stats. They are people with real values and morals, who have a real love for the game and want to continue to play where they can see themselves succeeding the most. A top recruit could visit a top school, but if they are not treated like they are worth more than their national ranking, they lose interest. A Sports Illustrated survey was taken of 179 football recruits, and every single one of them said that campus visits and the universities overall atmosphere were major decision factors that played a role in where they decided to spend the next 4 years of their lives. These recruits

ranked things like team environment, facilities, and game-day experience as very influential and

some even argued it was the main deciding factor.

Repetition and consistency with Game Day experience is another key factor. If there is a

recruit that has been to campus before, remembering their name, their hometown, remembering

their parents names or siblings names means so much to them. It makes them feel like a

priority, like we care. These players will visit dozens of schools before they commit, and the

ones that stand out to them are the ones that show them the most love, not necessarily the

ones that win the playoffs, or are the best ranked in their conference. 75% of official visits to

college campuses have to host football recruits happen before signing day. This proves that it

makes a difference, and both the campuses and athletes notice that. We want to be able to

show off how great our campus is, how nice our facilities are, and how much our coaching staff

values them. If all people thought going into the decision process for these athletes nowadays

was our win-lose ratio or how much NIL money we offered them, we would let them watch the

games from home and send them a contract in the mail. But that 75% proves that hospitality

and the experiences that the athletes have on campus matters.

It is so important in this day and age with social media, the news, and money getting

offered to these recruits that we remember what actually matters in this world. An athlete needs

to commit where they feel the most at home, where they feel the coaching staff is the best fit for

them, and where they can see themselves grow on and off the field. An athlete could get offered more money at School A than School B, but if they don't feel like they will be able to perform and succeed to their fullest potential, or have an enjoyable next few seasons at School A, then what is the money really for? Many studies and interviews with athletes suggest well over 80–90% of Division I football players aspire to play in the NFL at some point. That means that these players are in it for the long run, and you will not make it to the NFL with more dollars in your pocket, it's about the quality of the player you are. At the end of the day, hospitality and

experiences players have on campus matters more than the game itself, or the money being

offered to them in my opinion.