The Daily OrangeBoise State continues growing trend of hiring PR firms to promote BCS potential
By Brett LoGiurato
Posted: 11/17/09, 12:23 AM EST Section: Sports
Bob Rose approached Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson about a special project.
With Hawaii receiving some dark-horse consideration for a BCS bid in 2007, Rose - now the director of public relations for baseball's Oakland Athletics - saw an opportunity to give the Warriors an image boost and potentially a place in the national spotlight.
"I thought there was a need there for these conferences that weren't part of a major college establishment," Rose said. "They don't have the same advantages in terms of media coverage and large markets."
Two years removed from the success of the Hawaii campaign, Benson is attempting to do the same this year with Boise State, also a member of the WAC. The Broncos are currently 10-0 and stand sixth in the BCS standings, and Benson is using Scott Peyron & Associates, Inc., a Boise, Idaho-based firm, to get the message out.
Rose's work with the WAC with Hawaii was just the start of the conference's venture into the world of public relations to promote its teams. As part of a growing trend in college sports, smaller schools with big aspirations are turning to PR firms and PR officials to state their cases to the public, in search of program and financial benefits.
These firms help teams schedule media interviews and press conferences and send out e-mails to members of local and national media in an attempt to support both team and individual aspirations.
And, Benson said, it has worked. That's why he went back to the formula after seeing its success with Hawaii, as the team advanced to the Sugar Bowl against Georgia - which Hawaii lost, 41-10 - and quarterback Colt Brennan was invited to New York as a Heisman finalist.
"It's hard to measure marketing and promotion," Benson said. "But in that particular case, we accomplished what we had hoped for despite (Hawaii's) critics."
For Rose, it all started when he saw the inequality within the BCS system.
There are always different circumstances that give certain people advantages when competing for a spot in any organization. The BCS, Rose said, is no different.
With Hawaii receiving some dark-horse consideration for a BCS bid in 2007, Rose - now the director of public relations for baseball's Oakland Athletics - saw an opportunity to give the Warriors an image boost and potentially a place in the national spotlight.
"I thought there was a need there for these conferences that weren't part of a major college establishment," Rose said. "They don't have the same advantages in terms of media coverage and large markets."
Two years removed from the success of the Hawaii campaign, Benson is attempting to do the same this year with Boise State, also a member of the WAC. The Broncos are currently 10-0 and stand sixth in the BCS standings, and Benson is using Scott Peyron & Associates, Inc., a Boise, Idaho-based firm, to get the message out.
Rose's work with the WAC with Hawaii was just the start of the conference's venture into the world of public relations to promote its teams. As part of a growing trend in college sports, smaller schools with big aspirations are turning to PR firms and PR officials to state their cases to the public, in search of program and financial benefits.
These firms help teams schedule media interviews and press conferences and send out e-mails to members of local and national media in an attempt to support both team and individual aspirations.
And, Benson said, it has worked. That's why he went back to the formula after seeing its success with Hawaii, as the team advanced to the Sugar Bowl against Georgia - which Hawaii lost, 41-10 - and quarterback Colt Brennan was invited to New York as a Heisman finalist.
"It's hard to measure marketing and promotion," Benson said. "But in that particular case, we accomplished what we had hoped for despite (Hawaii's) critics."
For Rose, it all started when he saw the inequality within the BCS system.
There are always different circumstances that give certain people advantages when competing for a spot in any organization. The BCS, Rose said, is no different.
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