Charley Molnar and John Calipari sit in the owner's box with Robert Kraft at Gillette Stadium. (Photo: WBZ-TV Screenshot)
UMass head coach Charley Molnar was in attendance at the Patriots pre-season game against the Saints on Thursday night at Gillette Stadium. Television cameras caught Molnar in the suite of Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Also in the suite was former UMass basketball coach and current Kentucky coach John Calipari.
At halftime, WBZ-TV’s Steve Burton interviewed Molnar on the sideline about the upcoming season. Molnar discussed the transition to the FBS, the tough 2012 schedule, and what he expects in terms of fan attendance at games. The interview can be viewed in its entirety below.
Also on Thursday night at Gillette, UMass continued their marketing push. A UMass tent was set up at one of the three entrances to the stadium and new pocket schedules were distributed. UMass Football was also promoted on the Gillette Stadium Facebook page with a photo of Molnar and Calipari.
UMass marketing tent outside of Gillette Stadium on 8/9/2012. (Photo: UMass Athletics on Facebook)
John Calipari and Charley Molnar John Calipari, Robert Kraft and Charley Molnar (Photo: Gillette Stadium on Facebook)
John Calipari, Robert Kraft and Charley Molnar (Photo: UMass Athletics on Facebook)
Inside the Stadium, a UMass Football advertisement was played on the video board during breaks in the game action. DJ Steve Porter of PorterHouse Media was commissioned by UMass to create the advertisement. Porter has reached fame in recent years for his sports remix videos which have been featured on ESPN. Porter is based in Holyoke, MA and has a very impressive list of clients. UMass deserves a lot of credit for using someone who is not only creative, but has the ability to connect with younger audiences.
Clearly the partnership with The Kraft Sports Group is starting to payoff in terms of branding. UMass Football is taking advantage of being associated with one of the most successful franchises in all of professional sports. On September 8, we will find out if a strong marketing push yields strong results in terms of attendance.
The halftime interview was the kind of publicity that money can’t buy. Some optimistic answers regarding attendance at 40-50k. Almost wish he snuck something in about the tailgating and free parking! Many folks didn’t even know UMass had a football team, but they certainly understand tailgating and free parking.