With almost 300 straight sellouts, three championships, a young team, and a brand new state-of-the-art arena, it's no wonder that the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League are popular with the people of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Penguins merchandise is among the best-selling out of all of the teams in the league, and tickets for home games always sell quickly. While the crowd at Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center arena is filled with season ticket holders, businessmen, and those lucky enough to grab tickets, there is a consistant presence of college students.
Six years ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins weren't selling out every game and decided to try selling the extra tickets to students at a discounted price, a tactic they called "Student Rush." Students jumped at the opportunity to see a professional team for a cheaper price, and soon students were lining up hours before the game outside of the ticket windows to guarantee a seat. Student Rush was an instant success, and though the Pittsburgh Penguins team began attracting a larger, wealthier crowd, the Penguins front office didn't disband Student Rush. Instead, in a surprising act of public relations, they expanded it.
Today, the Penguins organization selects certain home games with 600 tickets for Student Rush, have a disc jockey to entertain the waiting students, give out prizes, and even bring out members of the team and coaching staff to dish out free pizza before the game. The Pittsburgh Penguins have made the message clear that they want college students to be able to enjoy the games, and by catering to the college crowd by giving them discounted tickets year after year, they are developing their consumer base for the future.
While the Pittsburgh Penguins also reach out to other audiences within their fan base, their specific outreach to students is unique in the National Hockey League. The Penguins organization recognizes that college students are an opportunistic audience to attract, since students are close to earning their own independent wages, are willing to spend money on good entertainment, and can also easily become loyal customers to the brand. Other teams in the National Hockey League, such as the Tampa Bay Lightning, have seen the success of the Penguins' Student Rush and are trying to emulate it in order to build their fan base as well.
Student Rush continues to be a successful and inspiring promotional event for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and there are no plans of disbanding it any time soon.
SOURCE: "Student Rush offers kids a chance to attend Penguins games"
Pictures are from the Pittsburgh Penguins official site.
This promotion is a great way to get more people into the games(not that they need it)! Students will even sit out in the snow to snatch up these tickets, and at such a low price you can't beat it. The majority of tickets certainly aren't bad seats either.
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