Written By: Steve Macy, NM State Associate Athletic Director

On Saturday night, I watched as San Jose State beat Louisiana Tech in the last nationally-televised WAC football game. It was surreal, sad and emotional as I shared text messages with former and current WAC commissioners, former SJSU AD and former La Tech AD. We all watched from afar, but our thoughts were similar in realizing that something great was ending.

I worked in the WAC office from 1994-2007, before moving to Las Cruces. There were some great times, but also some trying. I will never forget the day of the announced creation of the Mountain West and the split of the league of 16 into two eight-team conferences. Nor will I forget when Nevada and Fresno State elected to leave the WAC, rather than building it with BYU as a member.
But, I will also more fondly remember watching LaDainian Tomlinson make light of the UCLA defense in the Sun Bowl, enjoying three teams ranked in the top 12 in 1994, the incredible inaugural WAC football championship game in Las Vegas between two ranked teams (#5 BYU vs. #24 Wyoming) in 1996, an SI cover for Fresno State and David Carr, and of course, the first WAC team to play in a BCS game was one of the greatest games ever played, as Boise State beat Oklahoma in overtime at the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: Steve Macy, NM State Associate Athletic Director

For the past five years, NM State fans have been enjoying the fruits of AggieVision, which produces 40 live athletic events a year and is distributed to over 8.8 million homes. Recently, there has been some confusion about the game on Saturday against in-state rival UNM.

In order to understand whether a game is going to be produced by AggieVision, you first must understand how TV works in college athletics. Each conference has some level of national television deal that it has sold to rights holders (ex. ESPN, Fox Sports, CBS, etc). In addition, some conferences have second tier rights that have been sold to regional, over-the-air or other national rights holders. In the WAC, there is only the national TV rights deal. Once ESPN selects its games, all other games are available to the home institution to barter, sell or produce for television.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: Steve Macy, NM State Associate Athletic Director

Marketing is a funny word. To some it means sales. To others it means branding. To a few it means promotions. Still others believe it is about advertising. Each person holds their own “definition” of marketing and it filters into their perception of what is being done or not being done.

Truly, marketing is some of it all.

In the coming weeks, NM State athletics will be partnering with Ticketmaster to upgrade the ticketing system to allow renewals of season tickets online. Personally, this is a very welcome addition, as I have shared the frustration of many at being unable to renew my season tickets online with a simple credit card transaction.

Further, we are working on ticket sales assistance that has been needed for some time. Major league clubs in the NBA, MLB, NHL and now even the NFL have been relying on ticket sales associates to sell distressed ticket inventory to businesses and fans alike. NCAA schools have been slow to recognize this need, but now we are seeing the trend enter the college athletics arena.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: Steve Macy, NM State Associate Athletic Director

The last few days have been filled with terrible news out of Penn State. I can’t even fathom what those parents are going through. It has allowed many of the sometimes-too-silent-majority a chance to step up and talk about doing the right thing, the moral thing. We get so inundated with doing what is politically prudent and even celebrating those that are good at politics or “playing the game.” People are actually talking about doing what is right, instead of what is easy. People are talking about integrity. I applaud and hope it brings more straight and plain talk.

The same thing is needed in the conference realignment madness. And it is madness. I have seen first-hand, on too many occasions, a respected member of an institution say one thing publicly and then privately do the very opposite the next day. They hide behind things like, “in the best interest of my institution” or “I must serve my boosters and supporters.” Fine, I get that. But, what is right? What is just? Are you a person of integrity, or not?  Continue Reading This Post >>

Earlier this week, we announced that the men’s and women’s exhibition games, always treated as a regular game from a ticketing perspective, would be free for the whole community. Free? Really?

We looked at the past four years of data and saw that we only averaged about $1400 in revenue from those games, with the high being $2000. Further, very few of our season ticket holders attended these games (less than half). So, instead of chasing after a few hundred dollars, we elected to make this an opportunity for the whole community to come out and experience a game at the Pan Am.

In other words, we really had nothing to lose by making this a great event for the whole community and we look to sell some tickets to future games in the process. During the game, we will make sure that everyone is aware of available season seats, as well as promote mini-plans that will be announced that night. What can you expect to see that night?  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: Steve Macy, NM State Associate Athletic Director

A Win is a Win, Unless it is Against Your Rival

Is it wrong to still be excited about the football win over UNM in Albuquerque? Add that to the big win over the Lobos in volleyball last night and it makes for a pretty good four-day stretch. It just goes to show that a win is not a win when it comes against one of your rivals… it tastes soooooo much better!

Between the euphoria, there is still a lot to work on, and not just in the current sports. With the bye week in football this coming weekend, we have been hammering away at men’s basketball. To be more accurate, we are busy making announcements about things we have been working months on relative to the upcoming season.

Starting last January, we undertook a massive assessment of our external relations operations. Collegiate Consulting was hired to come in and look at marketing, promotions, funding, staffing, effectiveness, best practices, pricing, etc. They used focus groups, meetings and surveys to collect opinions, while also looking at data pertaining to where we are, where we have been and the best way to get to where we all want to be. One of the major areas of concern was men’s basketball.

We wanted to know what needed to happen to make the Pan Am THE place to be for home men’s basketball games. While they are many things that will be tweaked to make the game experience better, several major recommendations came about:  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: Steve Macy, NM State Associate Athletic Director

Last Saturday night, we had the great pleasure and honor to recognize the victims of 9/11, as well as our men and women in the armed services. This celebration showed that collaboration between the university, athletics, the Pride Band, the community and our military bases is indeed a worthwhile and achievable goal.

You may have heard the term, “town and gown,” which symbolizes the bond between the university
and the city it serves. Here in the Mesilla Valley, we have seen a strengthening of that bond and an
event like last Saturday brings that goal closely to reality. This can be seen in President Couture’s firing of the cannon and being part of the on-field presentations to our sponsors and military leaders. It can be seen in the ROTC and student groups that chalked the names of the 9-11 victims on the concourse. It can be seen in contribution of tickets to our WWII veterans. Most of all, it can seen in the long standing ovation received by our military.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: Steve Macy, NM State Associate Athletic Director

I have been trying to stay out of this and keep my mouth (and fingers) shut on this issue, but I think it is too important to ignore.

During most of the season, I read and heard people disparaging the men’s basketball program, and especially Head Coach Marvin Menzies. Even the Sun News Sports Editor, Teddy Feinberg, took a swing at Coach Menzies, saying that since he took over, the program has been spiraling downward. The attacks on Coach Menzies and the program were at times viscous, but always consistent. Those attacks continued up until the WAC Tournament.

Forward ahead by three weeks and the Aggies season is over, with a WAC Tournament Championship and a near-miss in the NCAA Tourney against nationally-ranked Michigan State. You would expect these same people who spent so much time and energy disparaging the program and the coach to admit they perhaps they were quick to judge, or maybe they were wrong. But, no.

What are we hearing instead? Really, it is two things:  Continue Reading This Post >>

Editor's Note: This entry was written yesterday afternoon

Written By: Steve Macy, NM State Associate Athletic Director

I am excited about watching tonight’s game at Fresno State on AggieVision. Fresno State is one of the few teams in the league that can match our athleticism, so it is always a tough assignment. I also hope we continue our winning ways to make a dent in the attendance issue we have been having.

I spent most of the day on Tuesday talking to various people in the community. Some go to games; some do not. I was trying to get a better sense of what is keeping fans away. It was a long list and some mentioned several things, some mentioned one or two.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Written By: Steve Macy
NM State Associate Athletic Director

So now that the men’s team is 4-1 in league play, are we prepared as fans to get behind this team? The Sun News sports editor wrote a particularly nasty opinion piece about the state of Aggie men’s basketball and it specifically pointed the finger at Coach Menzies.

I am waiting on the opinion piece to be written that states that team has improved and is playing well. I thought about holding my breath awaiting that type of opinion piece, but decided the headache from passing out would not be worth it. That is too bad (the opinion piece being written, not me passing out).

I like this team. They are fun to watch. They play with passion. There are guys all over the floor after loose balls and the offense seems to be playing in rhythm. I believe that pieces are in place for a great run to the WAC Tourney and hopefully, the NCAA Tourney.  Continue Reading This Post >>