Few would ever confuse a crowd at the Pizzitola Center with the student sports enthusiasts you might find at Duke University, home of the notorious Cameron Crazies. But this fall, a group of students is trying to change that.
The new school year marks the debut of a recently created a student fan group known as BrowNation. Founded and led by Moses Riner '08, BrowNation will promote attendance at athletic events by offering incentives according to the number of games fans attend.
Riner, who transferred to Brown after attending Duke for his first two years of college, said the idea came from his former school.
"I initially got the idea from Duke who has a student group called 'The Inferno,' " Riner said. "I knew one of the guys who helped start the group (at Duke), and I talked to him and said 'Hey, I'll do it here.' He kind of coached me through the steps of starting up a group like this."
Riner first started promoting the idea during his campaign for president of the Undergraduate Council of Students in the spring, and said he "went all over campus so it was easy to get the word out."
Riner knew that the group, then under the name of 'The Blaze,' would be popular among athletes. But what surprised him was the high level of support expressed by non-athletes.
"Everyone was like 'If I knew I could get free stuff, I'd definitely go to the games,' " Riner said. "I guess all Brown students need is a little bit of incentive."
After filling out a form and paying a $20 entrance fee to join BrowNation, members will receive one point for each game attended. The group will have a table set up at each game where members can check in to receive credit for attendance. There are currently 12 games listed on the September schedule, all of which can be found at the group's Web site, hosted at brownbears.com.
At the end of the semester, each member will receive Brown sports apparel based on the number of points accumulated. Students receive two points for each event they attend with their face or body painted, and another point for participating in a halftime show.
Riner said that, midway through the semester, the group will begin offering a point for anyone who can sign up a new fan to help increase membership. For the fall, 10 points will earn a member a pair of athletic shorts, 15 points will earn a hooded sweatshirt, and 20 points will earn a hat.
Students who earn 20 points in a semester will also be eligible for a grand prize drawing.
Over the course of the fall, staff and student representatives will publicize BrowNation at most home games. The group kicked off its season at last Thursday's women's soccer game against Boston College and was also present at the men's soccer team's victory over No. 5 Santa Clara University last Friday. Hall manned a table outside the entrance to Stevenson Field promoting the group and signing up new members.
The current membership is somewhere around 100, Riner said, as there were 90 members at the last meeting and at least eight members joined at Thursday's men's soccer game.
The men's soccer team's Friday night victory over Santa Clara, coupled with the impressive turnout of fans and students chanting, "Let's go, Bruno," created "exactly the type of atmosphere BrowNation is trying to build," Riner said.
While Riner has taken the lead in the effort from the outset, the group has already created a large support system. BrowNation has a four-member executive committee which includes Riner, executive vice president and men's lacrosse player Jeff Hall '08, women's tennis player and vice president of special programs Alexa Baggio '09 and Jack Walsh '09, of the men's lacrosse team and vice president of membership.
The committee meets to discuss group issues and promote events and is trying to build a network of student representatives to recruit across campus. Riner said he works closely with Rick Merriam, assistant athletic director of marketing, on sponsorship and finance issues.
In order to fund the project, Riner has relied on help from the Department of Athletics. The program's posters and brochures were printed by the department, which has also funded the acquisition of the apparel.
In the future, however, Riner and Merriam hope to gain enough sponsors to support the program's expenses. Riner said the group's costs will depend on the quantity of clothes that need to be ordered at the end of the semester, but said the total will be "in the thousands."
While the group does collect a $20 membership fee, Riner said the fee will only begin to cover the costs of the group.
"Many students balk at the $20, but that doesn't cover anything," Riner said. "You get a t-shirt for joining and you probably couldn't get the t-shirt for $20, much less a windbreaker or sweatshirt or some of the other things we're offering."
Merriam said that attracting sponsorship is a goal of the group, but that crucial decisions as far as funding are up to the executive committee.
"Many sponsors are interested to see what it's going to turn into," Merriam said, "but it's difficult to get sponsors for such a young club. (The companies) are asking questions like 'What is your membership?' and over the spring and summer when we talked to sponsors, we had no members. Eventually, Moses and the others will have to decide if they want Coca-Cola, Citizens Bank and Spike's Hot Dogs all over the logo or if they want to preserve the purity of it."
Based on last week's turnout, Riner is encouraged about the initial success of the program.
"I'm excited, the group started out very strong," he said. "Hopefully, we can at least double the membership by the end of the year. And depending on how many people we get and how much money we raise in the future, we're going to try to expand the program and do things like go to away games and have barbecues. It's gonna be a lot of work, but hopefully it'll all pay off."
