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It appears that Brad Bates and the BC Athletics department have listened to your suggestions made in the surveys and town halls meetings. Today Boston College released a press release laying out their plan for the "You are #1" campaign, aimed at improving the fan experience at Alumni Stadium.
New procedures will be put in place with the goal of efficient entry to parking areas to maximize the tailgating experience. Shuttle bus service from the various free satellite parking areas will begin earlier. Some regulations affecting access between key areas on gameday will be altered. To enhance customer service, BC will place greater emphasis on training and communications for gameday employees who interact one-on-one with fans. The theme "You're No. 1" is intended as a message that every single fan is valued as an important part of the football program. In-game entertainment will be enhanced through several changes that will be announced in August when the team begins practice.
It is great to see that the staff will be trained to prevent run in with fans, something that most season ticket holders are well accustomed to. Also the satellite parking situation has made little sense. Tailgating starts 3 hours before a game, but busing from Newton begins two?
Greg Joyce of the Heights further elaborated that additional parking will be available at the St. John's lot for $150 for the season. Whether that includes tailgating or not, remains to be seen.
"We realize there are many entertainment options in the Boston area, so it's vital for us to make the BC football gameday experience as exciting, entertaining and fan-friendly as possible," Bates said. "Today's sports fans expect more than just a great football game; they expect to spend an entertaining day with their family and friends, they expect value and they expect to be treated with courtesy and respect. We want our fans to leave BC saying `wow, that was a great day; I can't wait to go back!'."
While the press release was lite on details, it did give a few morsels of optimism for those BC fans that have been clamoring for an improved gameday experience. Tailgating times and prices were not mentioned in the release, fingers crossed that Bates is working on that as we speak.
The "You are #1 Campaign" sounds like it could be the catalyst for change that we have all been hoping for. Hopefully Brad Bates will be rolling out even more of these changes as we get closer to the season.