Patrick Chambers - Head Coach, Penn State Basketball

Straight From His Inbox: 5 Questions with Patrick Chambers

We're talking all things Attendance, Atmosphere & Brand with Penn State Basketball Head Coach, Patrick Chambers:

Rob: What has been the biggest change in college athletics sports marketing that you've seen from your start in the coaching industry until now?

Coach: The scope. You're now competing with and teaming up not only the access people have on TV but also with social media. Fans can catch highlights whenever they want, sometimes within seconds of it happening at an arena on different social channels and websites or networks.

We always want the fans to show up and cheer on the squad and create that homecourt advantage. The networks have done an amazing job with the broadcasts and coverage, so it's always a balance of figuring out what the fan can get in-person that they can't quite get by just watching on TV or through social media...but at the same time working with both of those forums to promote what's going on and making people develop brand loyalty.

You can't fall behind in any of that - it's something you have to keep up with daily.

Rob: In your eyes, what is the perfect gameday driveway-to-driveaway experience for fans?

Coach: We want our fans to feel involved, have an amazing experience, watch a win and on the ride home talk about which game they are coming to next. Customer service is key for all of us...it's my staff, the student-athletes, the gameday production team, the arena employees. We all represent something way bigger than each one of us individually. We represent one of the greatest brands in the country... Penn State.

When people come to our event, they expect it to be world-class from start to finish. They want to see the bright blue and white lights and hear the fight song as they enter the arena and grab a poster of their favorite player and then watch a competitive team on the court. It's on all of us to make it the best possible event, treat each person like it's their first or last time ever coming to Penn State. You do that, everyone wins.

Rob: In today's world, what inspired someone to attend a sporting event?

Coach: The experience...hearing the cheers, the "WE ARE" chants and smelling the concessions. The camaraderie is up there as well. See the lady you share a row with on your season ticket plan or a student-athlete or mascot you want to get a picture with. Give you that opportunity to enjoy something that is as pure and unpredictable as sport in-person, and to be able to take that selfie or video to post on your social page to share with friends.

The "I WAS THERE" mentality will never go away. That's why it is so important for my staff and my team and everyone at Penn State to show gratitude to all of the fans and spectators in attendance. They make it fun!

Rob: Kudos to you, your staff and the Athletic Department as Penn State Hoops took a huge step this year in terms of driving attendance and creating an intimidating atmosphere for opponents to play in. As the head coach of a Power 5 program, how important are those two elements to your task of building a program?

Coach: You need it... the BIG TEN is tough. Road wins are not easy to come by so that makes home wins even more important. Anything our fans can do to give us that homecourt edge is important. I want the place so loud that I can't hear myself, that gets the student-athletes even more pumped up than they already are.

Our student section, The Legion of Blue, has done an amazing job the last few years getting back on the map and making this an event that students want to come to and be a part of. The other coaches in the conference have gone out of their way to tell me and talk about publicly how much more intimidating our atmosphere has been at The Bryce Jordan Center. Once those students get going it spreads around the entire arena...and we had several occasions this year where I couldn't hear myself think. That's exactly what you want at home.

Rob: As player image & likeness takes center stage, how important is the element of student-athlete person branding to your program? As a head coach, how do you balance promising a top recruit heavy individual exposure without getting away from Team-first principles?

Coach: It's all about the team. No one is bigger than the team. In hoops, you only have so many student-athletes on the roster and so many games a year. All of our student-athletes are involved and important to everything we do...on the court, in the community and in the classroom. No one is bigger than any of that.

We expect great results in all of those areas and have our 5 pillars of excellence to guide us throughout the course of the year. Each student-athletes brings their own flavor to the table, we embrace it and we let them do the talking on the floor, in the classroom and throughout town as they give back.