On Friday, February 3rd Buckeye Nation showed up in full force with 15,338 fans attending Wrestling vs. Penn State in Jerome Schottenstein Center. The previous Ohio State Wrestling attendance record was set in 2014 at 6,558 which was more than doubled at this match. The Blackout was promoted throughout the season as the marquee matchup of the season. With an extra push the week of the event through ticket giveaways on radio stations, radio spots and interviews with Kyle Snyder, Olympic Gold Medalist and social media ticket giveaways through Ohio State Athletic Twitter accounts (close to 600,000 followers) ticket sales in the last week increased by 6,000 and we had over 1,400 walk up sales. In addition, 887 students were in attendance to cheer on the Buckeyes!
Announced Attendance – 15,338
Previous Ohio State Record – 6,558
Student Attendance – 887
Previous Ohio State Record for Student Attendance – 373
9th largest attended Ohio State Sporting event in the 2016-17 athletic season.
4th largest indoor crowd to see an NCAA Wrestling match and the largest this season.
General Promotions
Ticket giveaways on radio.
Social ticket giveaways including links to purchase tickets.
Radio ads using Kyle Snyder voiceover.
Interviews on radio with Kyle Snyder (2 during the week).
Encouraged fans to Blackout the Schott.
3 Ohio State NCAA Champions
Student Promotions
Greek Life – Fraternity or Sorority with the highest percentage attendance at the match won a 40” screen TV.
Game of the Month – Check in day for student athletes for the “Most Supportive Team” award that is given at the end of the season.
Shuttle from campus.
First 300 students – Blackout T-Shirt
Student Email Blast – 64,669 delivered, 49,820 opened, 41.1% open rate
