An Ohio State at Notre Dame football watch party at a minor league baseball park turned into a blast for thousands of fans. “I’ve always wanted to host a big Ohio State watch party,” says Jason Doyle, WDTN’s creative services director. So Doyle came up with WDTN’s Buckeye Blast.
If you happened to be in Dayton, Ohio on a recent Saturday night, you might have had the opportunity to watch a college football game on a giant screen while sitting on blankets with your family inside a minor league baseball field.
And not just any college football game, but a rivalry that goes back to 1936.
Dayton, Ohio is about an hour west of Columbus, home of Ohio State University.
“I’ve now been in the Dayton market for just over 20 years and if there’s anything that I’ve learned, this town and state is crazy for Ohio State football,” says Jason Doyle, creative services director at WDTN, Nexstar’s NBC affiliate in Dayton.
“With the announcement of BIG10 coming to NBC and our 40th year of Coats for Kids, we really wanted to do something different to connect with our community,” says Melissa Jones, WDTN’s GM. “The Miami Valley showed up big time to watch the Buckeyes last second win against the Fighting Irish.”
So, when Doyle saw that the Ohio State Buckeyes were playing the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday night, September 23rd, he got an idea to go big.
“I’ve always wanted to host a big Ohio State watch party,” Doyle says. “But not just any watch party. I wanted it to be family friendly.”
So Doyle came up with WDTN’s Buckeye Blast.
An Ohio State at Notre Dame watch party at Day Air Ballpark, home of the single A Dayton Dragons baseball organization.
“The Dragons were a perfect partner and location for the event,” Doyle says. “They had seats, concession stands and restrooms, security, etc.”
When organizing WDTN’s Buckeye Blast, Doyle had some must-haves.
He wanted it to be free to attend. The event was free and concession were available for purchase
He wanted a dedicated kid’s zone. There were multiple inflatables and a football field painted on the outfield grass for kids to play, catch passes, kick FG’s, etc.
He wanted a band. The Wright State University pep band was on hand to help with entertainment.
He wanted cheerleaders. The Wayne Varsity cheerleaders were on hand to bring spirit and fun.
He wanted lots of cool raffle prizes. They gave away 15 raffle prizes including a signed jersey, mini helmets and a grand prize trip to Gatlinburg.
He wanted to bring back some OSU alums that fans would want to meet. Former Heisman trophy winning OSU QB Troy Smith and former OSU running back Boom Herron attended for meet and greet pictures for any fan that wanted them.
And most importantly, he wanted to raise money for charity. In conjunction with the station’s 40th Coats for Kids campaign, the event raised additional dollars by offering more chances to buy raffle tickets.
“We had nearly 5000 people show up and raised nearly $4000 for our 40th annual Coats for Kids campaign,” Doyle says.
Doyle says local television news is all about connecting with your viewers.
“We take great pride that the majority of our on-air staff is born and raised from the Dayton area. We scream local.”
“We’re very proud of what we accomplished with WDTN’s Buckeye Blast and we truly thank everyone for joining us for this event,” Jones says. “Not only did our community have the opportunity to come out to a free, family friendly event, but they also made an impact for children in the Miami Valley to receive coats and accessories this winter through our Coats for Kids Initiative. We’re grateful to all our partners and contributors that helped make WDTN’s Buckeye Blast a success. We will continue to do our part as a local news leader by making more community connections and directly impacting the Miami Valley.”
NOTE: The Ohio State/Notre Dame football game on September 23rd was NBC’s most watched college football game in 30 years. The final comScore numbers for the Dayton DMA was a 33.77 Rating / 59 Share, according to WDTN.
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