bearadactyl
Active member
SLenz44 said:
The question is where does the money come from?
One way to drum up revenue, is merchandise sales. Before you crucify me for blasphemy hear me out.
How much of merch sales are to UNC alums or Greeley-area residents? I would guess all or close to it.
That's a small pool of potential customers.
What if we had something about our merch that distinguished it from other schools, bringing UNC additional money and national exposure?
An article by the NCAA is on point: "There are, after all, 76 U.S. college teams known as the Eagles. Tigers was the right call for another 46 schools and Bulldogs fit for 40. Solid, sturdy and safe.... But today we're focusing on those who chose to live on the fringes when they named their teams. Birds of a different feather who have drawn attention to their school by taking a chance and picking a name that makes a sports fan look twice and ponder the meaning."
UC-Santa Cruz sells quite a bit of merch because their nickname/mascot is banana slug, and as ridiculous as that sounds, that is unique and appealing to fans AND non-fans alike. Google images for Sammy the Slug. He's a marketing dream.
And he's revered by the student body. In 1980 UC-Santa Cruz administration tried to change the slug mascot to something generic (the Lions), but the student body revolted and Slugs was reinstated.
And it was good the students spoke up: "The Banana Slug has attracted a good deal of national attention over the years. In 2008, ESPN named it one of the 10 best college basketball mascots. Four years earlier, Reader's Digest named it the best. People magazine once dedicated a full-page spread to the Santa Cruz Banana Slug movement. The National Directory of College Athletics named it the best college mascot and Sports Illustrated once named the Banana Slug the nation's best college nickname."
Money builds new things, hires better coaches, and retains the good ones so they don't jet.
With this in mind, what about a change from Bears to something with broader marketing appeal?
What about the Northern Colorado Bearadactyls?
Obviously there's no such thing as a Bearadactyl, some kind of hybrid between a Bear and a Pterodactyl, the giant dinosaur with wings. But it's a mascot, it doesn't need to be real. It relates to the current nickname Bears. It's unique. It's family friendly (kids love dinosaurs AND bears). And for those fond of the intimidating aspect of a Bear, just imagine if bears could fly.
This simple tweak could open up national opportunities and create revenue to make positive changes at UNC, where otherwise there would be none due to lack of funding. This is the bottom line, isn't it?
Recently there was talk of CSU stealing our basketball coach by dangling more cheddar. And with our womens appearance in the NCAA tournament, how long until they come for Coach Etheridge? Above in this post are complaints about the sub-par quality of our "high school" basketball arena, and there are numerous posts in the football thread bemoaning the track around the field and insufficient coaching, calling for upgrades, etc. Additional money would combat all of these problems and make UNC better.
Just a thought.
