GoMiddle Special: Q and A session with Lee De Leon
There has been a lot of chatter and water cooler talk on GoMiddle's Raider Roundup surrounding the athletic department and the actual athletic programs. Now it is time for some clarity along with some answers.
Deputy Athletic Director Lee De Leon has fielded mailbag questions from posters on the board and has provided feedback and answers.
MidTennMtneer asks :
Lee, you stated on here once that this board gives you "a great pulse of the fanbase".There is a major disconnect between the expectations, for football especially, of this fanbase and the admin. Facebook comments, and Twitter replies show that as well.We need proof the administration is hearing us. Status of the fan committee? … What is being done to bridge the gap of disconnect between the admin's expectations and the fans? We know you listen, but are those that sign the contracts listening?
***Lee's Response***
Everyone in the athletics department, from Chris Massaro down, wants to win and compete for championships. Despite public opinion, no one around here is OK with mediocrity. I once heard an A.D. say that our job as administrators is to “match resources with expectations.” Right now, our primary focus is to generate revenue and invest in resources that will allow our teams to compete for championships. We want to win just as badly as the fans do! I think a perfect example is the Build Blue Campaign, which is our top fundraising priority right now. We are investing more than $100 million over the next few years in athletic facilities to help our coaches take their programs to the next level. That type of financial commitment clearly demonstrates the administration’s desire to get better and provide the resources/facilities to win.
The Fan Experience Committee actually met (Wednesday, Oct. 19th) at 6 p.m. This is our second meeting so far, and we reviewed the results of a survey sent after our first home game and discussing the committee’s feedback from the first three Football home games. I will be sharing my notes from the Committee meeting with Chris Massaro and our entire External Affairs staff (Marketing, Development, Communications, Ticketing, and Sponsorships).
RaiderDoug asks
I did attend my first game at MT in a long time, and I think we have a lot going for us gameday-wise. I really enjoyed everything (concessions, campus, band, stadium, etc) outside of what happened on the field. Props to those folks who have worked their tails off over the last decade to bring MT's gameday into a more modern feel.One thing that I think did need some attention was the tiny little Lightning's Locker Room and the merchandising. First off, I don't think you could fit more than 5 or 6 people in there, and even if you could, there wasn't all that much to buy anyway. Looking online and at Fanatics there's a rather large selection, but being a spur-of-the-moment trip from Knoxville, I didn't have time to order anything. I figured we'd get something in the Boro.
We stopped at Textbook Brokers (didn't this used to be BRBS?), and they had some ok stuff. The bookstore was closed for some reason on a game day. All of the really nice Nike or Champion stuff was nowhere to be seen. Would have been a great night to have a big sweatshirt/hoodie selection.....And I've been looking for the coach's hat that Stock wears for years now. And the wife really wanted one of those Stranger Things font-ed T-shirts (those were awesome BTW). We found a couple of 3XLs at BRBS, but nothing anywhere else. If that's the official blackout T, then you guys need to have a ton of them available.
If physical space is an issue, it can't cost much to set up a merchandising tent with that stuff available. I get it, chicken or the egg - the stuff doesn't sell, so why stock it? But if you don't stock it, I can't buy it, and it won't sell. Anyways, that's a little feedback from 2 alums ('05 & '07) who attended their first game since 2016.
***Lee's Response***
I greatly appreciate the feedback and will share it with our Associate A.D. for Marketing and Licensing, Chelsea Floyd. She and I are working diligently with our licensing partner, Collegiate Licensing Company, and our local vendors to have more Blue Raider merchandise in stores, specifically NIKE products. We actually increased our sales of licensed products by 47% year over year, meaning that even more MTSU fans are wearing licensed gear and finding it in their local stores. There’s much more work to be done, but we’re making progress!
For example, we have a new online store on Amazon (www.amazon.com/MTSU), which has several 3XL options – including this sweet hoodie! The print-on-demand model being used by Amazon is becoming increasingly popular in the sports world and allows us to provide a larger variety of product to our fans.
DoubleRRaider asks
As a newer alum ('21) I'm hesitant to give, if we're being honest there's just no value after looking at the BRAA benefits chart. I no longer live in TN so all the benefits offered aren't worth it in my opinion… Can the BRAA benefits be updated/revamped? I do see that there's a discount for LLR but what about textbook brokers and other MT gear merchants? I'm also a FSU booster given I've never attended the school, but my family has, one of my favorite benefits is having away ticket priority could this be something added in the future?
***Lee's Response***
Very helpful feedback, especially as we try to attract and engage our alumni. We are continually trying to add value to our BRAA members, but we also want to encourage our donors to make transformational gifts, not transactional gifts. We hope that people want to join the BRAA and support our 17 teams because of the transformational impact that their donations have on the lives and experiences of our 360 student-athletes. We will continue to offer benefits like discounted merchandise and access to tickets (home, away, and postseason), but the greatest benefit we can offer is making an impact on a young person’s life.
AustinLewis asks
With three home games behind you, how do you feel about ticket sales & community support?
What steps have been taken to engage the casual fan & the wider Murfreesboro community? How can the die-hard fans work with the athletic department to increase attendance, support, and grow the fan base.
***Lee's Response***
Great questions! I love our fans and appreciate their passion for the Blue Raiders. I think we can definitely improve our ticket sales and community support, but that starts with me – that’s what Chris hired me to do, and I need to do a better job.
We are working hard to get people more engaged with MTSU Athletics and build stronger relationships in the community, and that takes time. We’re going to keep showing up all over town, remembering people’s names, making them feel special, and trying to get them excited about all the great things happening at MTSU. However, we need to do more! That’s why we’re trying new things like this to hear from the fan base and learn what else we can do to make progress in this area. The entire BRAA staff is new and we only know what people tell us, so we need to continue to listen and better engage important groups like the BRAA Board of Directors.
To your last question, I’m all about the “die-hard fans” – I wasn’t a coach or a student-athlete; I was a die-hard fan myself, and there’s nothing that I enjoy more than interacting with people who share that level of passion/commitment. Therefore, I ask them to reach out to me directly (lee.deleon@mtsu.edu) and give me the opportunity to meet them and find a way to get them more involved in what we’re doing. In addition to our Fan Experience Committee and BRAA Board that have been mentioned, there are other ways we can plug people in and allow them to make an impact on our athletics department.