Marketing the University and its Athletics

Marketing the University and its Athletics

Universities across the country have added websites to their marketing plans to increase interest in the institution. One area that has the most web presence is the athletic page of each school. When looking at each school one would assume that for the religious schools the faith of the school would be up front and center on all marketing materials, especially the website. For all four of the religious institutions studied this is not the case. Each school has religion on its website, but often a prospective student must seek it out for herself. As for the athletic pages, the focus is on sports.

The Notre Dame main website highlights it academic achievements but also the traditions of its athletic programs. On the main page of the site a flash bar with the name “Tradition Learn More” shows a rotation of three images. The first is of two young women smiling covered in mud. The second is a large selection of what appears to be students cheering at a sporting event, most likely a football game. The final image is one of mass, with a close up of a student choir singing. The home page also features a section “What Would You Fight For?” a play on the famous “Fighting Irish” mascot name. The home page also has a direct link to the athletics page. The home page has links to several religious areas, including having a link to a section devoted to “faith & service.” There is a balance between the advertising of student life, the religious nature of the school, and showing school spirit through athletics.

On the Notre Dame athletic page a flash picture show is also featured, but it high lights sports only. All of the information about the athletics department is only focused on the sports and there is no mention of religion or even a connection to religion. If a person were only looking at the athletic page then they would be hard press to see anything to do with Catholicism.

BYU’s home page does not have a strong and obvious link to its athletic program, and interestingly it does not have anything mentioning the LDS expect a link at the very bottom of the page. Instead the school is subtle in its declaration of religion. One example is highlighting a study the school has on profanity in media and how it is linked to increase aggression. While that may appear like any other university’s study, given the honor code situation of BYU, this study supports the Honor Code by showing the negative effects of using colorful language that is not in line with the LDS. Having the academic portion of the university supporting one of the key religious values of the church shows that wherever possible everything BYU does will be in support of the religion. Given this type environment for its academic and resident life pursuits one should assume that the athletic page will also be the same, but it is not.

When you can finally identify the athletic page in the lower left hand corner of the site, the home page for the athletic programs shows a picture of a student athlete. There is really no mention of the religion expects a link to the LDS’s main website at the very bottom of the page. The site looks similar to any other sports website in the country. The media guides for its programs do show off the religious nature of the school. In the football media guide the mission of the program highlights the BYU honor code and the demands that the students remain drug and alcohol-free. Then a list includes honors BYU has earned through its athletic pursuits. If a person wants to find the religious commitment from BYU it can be found.

Wheaton’s home page is another interesting example of a religious school not putting its religious beliefs right on its home page. However, when you roll over the top of the page menu bar the drop down menus give clear examples of religious tones. Under the “About Wheaton” the drop down bar first three options are the mission, statement of faith, and community standards agreement. The student life section has three options all to do with religion, including a page devoted to the college chaplain. There is a link to an athletic page, and from there a browser can select the main athletic page. On this in between page the mission of the Wheaton’s intercollegiate program is written and there is no denying that the school is religious as the program believes its goals are to use the student athletes to teach leadership for a “lifetime of service to Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.”

Yet, the official athletic site for Wheaton does not have any religious wording on the main page. Just like BYU and Notre Dame a fan would have to go into the site to find any information about religion and Wheaton. In its media guides for the football program, the head coach Mike Swider describes his team as having a senior class who is “very committed to Wheaton football…Collectively this senior class is as serious about football as any senior class we have had.”⁶⁴ No mention of the college’s mission to promote their religion. On the other hand the swimming team, who does not provide a media guide, has a philosophy sheet that clearly states that the swimming team’s mission is the same as the Wheaton’s. The team’s goal is to promote and be a “witness for Christ through our athletic performances”⁶⁵

The front page of Luther College does not have much to advertise its religious connections. There is a small rectangle at the bottom left corner of the webpage highlighting the college ministries. When the browser clicks on the rectangle, she is taken to a page all about the religious nature of Luther College. One of the more interesting sections of this page is the interfaith at Luther section that brings up religious faiths of Zen Buddhist, Muslim, and a section for the Catholic Student Community. Luther feels like a traditional secular college with its selection of multiple worship offerings.

The athletic page link is clearly visible in the front, but unlike the other colleges in the religious-affiliation section of the study, the Luther athletic page is simply an extension of the main website in similar looks. Yet, like all the other colleges there are no religious mentions or ideas on the site. Interestingly on the athletic website in the section titled mission and policies Luther advertises its athletic program as not discriminating against “race, creed, disability, national origin, sexual orientation, age, or gender.” While this would appear to not include religion when you examine that sexual orientation will not be discriminated against it is because of the schools ELCA affiliation. Where Wheaton and BYU clearly do not want homosexual individuals within its ranks, Luther is different because of the religion supporting the school. BYU and Wheaton believe that salvation is through the individual’s actions, the ELCA believes that God can only provide grace. This difference in belief is one reason that Luther appears to be less religious than the other two schools. This is simply not the case.

When comparing the way the secular-private schools use their websites there are some interesting similarities. USC’s main page has no mention of athletics at all except a small link at the bottom right hand corner of the page. When it is clicked the user is brought to the USC Trojans’ page, where a flash screen changes images of various athletic accomplishments. The page is very similar Notre Dame’s page. Miami’s athletic page has the same flash and feel as Notre Dame and USC, and there is little to no mention of the school supporting the team. The only pictures are the coaches and players. Williams has a link to its athletic page, but the design is much simpler than the FBS schools. There is a link to the academic site from the athletic site something that none of the FBS schools have. Amherst’s site is very similar to Luther’s as it is not a completely separate page.

Ohio State’s athletics department has two pages. The one that links to the university’s main page is attached to the university, including look, no flash, and the main image showing a new zero waste campaign. From this page there is a link to OhioStateBuckeyes.com which is the official website for the university. There the similarities between this site and the others are seen, with the flash side show of athletic achievement and no real mention of the university as a whole. Texas’s website has a flash player with stories about the university and one is focused about the athletics program. The link to the athletic page is the same as Ohio State, with a brief description of the program as a whole. There is a link to TexasSports.com the official site of the athletic department. Again flash players showing sporting events are the focus of the website. CNU’s home page shows a picture of a student posing with a professor in what appears to be her office, but right above the student’s head is the link to the athletics department. The athletic page is filled with images of athletes, but what is interesting is the flash player is only showing women athletics with an image of the football team at the end. There is an event calendar and updates to team. TCNJ shows a flash player of upcoming overall university events and plans on its main page. Like CNU, TCNJ has a direct link to the athletics page from its home page. When the link is clicked an ad congratulating the TCNJ’s field hockey team’s national championship with a small link to continue to the official athletic page appears. Once on the TCNJ athletic page the use of flash player showing athletic highlights and awards, similar to every other public school studied.