UTEP Athletics Launches ‘915’ Promotional Campaign with Discounted Tickets
A new football helmet decal, branded "915" apparel and $9.15 discounted single-game tickets highlights the 915 promotional campaign that was launched on Tuesday by UTEP athletics.
UTEP launched this initiative to get fans excited about the upcoming athletics year at the university, calling out to the city of El Paso to support the different teams.The athletic department unveiled the campaign with a promotional video featuring student-athletes from various sports at UTEP.
In order to get fans excited about football season, the department is selling discounted $9.15 tickets to the season opener against North Texas on Saturday, Aug. 27. The tickets are on sale now until 9:15 p.m. on Wednesday, June 1. After, discounted tickets at the $9.15 rate will be available by scanning special QR codes with your mobile device at different GECU and Jack in the Box locations.
All the different UTEP teams across campus will celebrate their own "915 Night," which aims to encourage local fans to support the different sports. Football's will be held on their first game against the Mean Green (Aug. 27), while volleyball will hold its night on Sept. 1 versus New Mexico and soccer will have its celebration on Sept. 15 against FIU. Fans will be able to purchase special 915 merchandise at the UTEP bookstore.
The athletic department is hoping for a sell out in the opening game for the Miners football team. GECU offered to purchase 5,000 tickets to the game. UTEP also partnered with The Great Khalid Foundation to purchase tickets and provide t-shirts to band students from the area, inviting them to attend the game and sit with the UTEP marching band on game day.
UTEP football is seeking its first sell out since Sept. 6, 2008, when they sold out the Sun Bowl as the squad hosted the Texas Longhorns (53,415 attendees). The largest home crowd for UTEP under the Dana Dimel coaching era was their season opener against Houston Baptist in 2019, which drew 34,646 fans. Last year, the Sun Bowl held 31,658 fans for the home game against UTSA. Following recent stadium renovations, the Sun Bowl can fit 45,971 fans.
“I’ve heard all about the glory days of UTEP Football in the ‘60s, the ‘80s and the early 2000s, when the Sun Bowl was packed,” UTEP coach Dana Dimel said in a statement. “We’ve seen how loud the place can get, even when there’s 20,000 in attendance. We had 30,000 for a game last season [against UTSA] and the atmosphere was electric, but we haven’t gotten to 40,000. I hope we can get there against North Texas, because I think our players deserve it.”
In accordance with the campaign, UTEP launched a "Coaches Caravan" idea on Tuesday, which will feature appearances by UTEP coaches, administrators and student-athletes around the city over the summer. The first event will be at The Outlet Shoppes on June 18 from 12-2 p.m. The athletic department will release a full schedule for this idea soon.
Some of the other campaign initiatives that the athletic department unveiled on Tuesday included updated menu items at the UTEP football games, featuring El Paso-inspired dishes like the 915 Nachos Supreme and the Sun City Burger.
And, in order to try and encourage more students to attend games, the athletic department is working on a new Student Rewards program. As students earn points from attending athletic events, they can cash out on prizes from the athletic department using the program.
For more information on the initiative, visit www.UTEPMiners.com/915.
“We believe the time is right,” Director of Athletics Jim Senter said in a statement. “We have a football program that is on the rise, with 14 starters returning from a seven-win team that played in a bowl game. We’re opening the season with a conference game at home for the first time in 30 years. It would be so impactful for this community and for our football team to fill up the stadium on Aug. 27.”