By Staff
Athletic Management, 17.4, June/July 2005, http://www.momentummedia.com/articles/am/am1704/wuseats.htm
This past basketball season, San Diego State University ran into a little bit of a seating problem- for its growing number of Director’s Cabinet members-—there were too many members and not enough seats. In response, SDSU found an interesting way to create more seats while giving its big-time donors the opportunity to see the game from a whole new perspective: The school added 10 chairs at the scorer’s table.
“They absolutely loved it,” says Dave Powroznik, Associate Athletic Director at SDSU. “Cabinet members said that sometimes it was hard to see because Coach Fisher was in their way, but they really enjoyed being right on top of the action—hearing the officials, the coaches, and the players.
“A couple of times the donors got some drinks in their laps,” Powroznik adds, “but they didn’t complain. We let them all know that it’s a privilege to be at the scorer’s table and they had to keep a low profile—no excessive celebration, no talking to the refs, or anything like that. We had no incidents at all.”
An annual gift of $25,000 is required to be a member of the Director’s Cabinet, which has almost doubled in size over the past year. Along with specialized seating, Director’s Cabinet members receive personalized parking at home games, VIP travel accommodations for away games, and a chance to bid on being “Coach of the Game,” which includes joining the team for its pregame meal, in the locker room, and on the bench.
Powroznik says SDSU plans to continue seating donors at the scorer’s table next year. The school is also looking into similar specialized seating options for other SDSU sports teams.