Gold | "Select-a-seat" or select a sport?

After seeing Jerome Allen’s skills on the court, Penn basketball fans will get a chance to see how well he can cook.

In a promotional event entitled the “Select-A-Seat BBQ,” the men’s basketball coach will be grillin’ and chillin’ in front of the Palestra from 2 to 3 p.m. this Saturday. Meanwhile, Penn cheerleaders will be escorting fans inside the Cathedral of College Basketball in order to buy season tickets.

The event is one of multiple opportunities — including selling tickets at the freshman picnic during NSO — that Penn Athletics is holding in the hopes of reversing dwindling student attendance.

While innovative ways to create buzz about the basketball team and making the purchase of season tickets more accessible are a step in the right direction, flaws in this event show that the Athletics Department may still be missing the mark.

Most importantly, the basketball event directly coincides with the football tailgate that Penn Athletics sponsors on the opposite side of Lott Tennis Courts.

Not only will the cheerleaders be drawing attention away from the main grilling area, but fans who wish to purchase season tickets will be forced to choose between attending the football tailgate and picking their seats at the Palestra.

The fact that students will be forced to choose between supporting the football team and supporting the basketball team creates an unnecessary divide, especially when marketing efforts are supposed to be geared toward building a community unified around Penn sports.

While the walk between the Palestra and the 33rd Street tailgate area doesn’t seem like much, holding two events simultaneously but in separate locations indicates that perhaps the Athletics Department is trying to move too quickly without thinking through the logistics.

Students would benefit from fewer events in which more resources were allocated toward making them successful rather than several small-scale scattered events.

When it comes to getting a steady stream of students to head to the Palestra, it’s quality, not quantity, that’s going to make the difference.

MICHAEL GOLD is a senior cinema studies major from Reston, Va., and is Senior Sports Editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. His e-mail address is gold@theDP.com.

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