How Towson Athletics Uses Texting to Boost Game Day Engagement

Download the Full Case Study

One of Towson’s lacrosse seniors opened a text from Towson Athletics and saw himself in the graphic. He told the Athletics Marketing team it was the coolest thing, and coming from him, that said a lot.

“One of our lacrosse seniors saw himself in a graphic we texted out and thought it was the coolest thing. He’s a chill guy, so when he said that, we knew it mattered.”

Towson Athletics Marketing Team, Towson University

Towson University is an NCAA Division I school in Maryland, known for competitive athletics and strong school pride. To rally students to games, its Athletics Marketing team adopted Mongoose Text in fall 2023. Game day engagement is now built around a short, visual text that reaches students before they open their email or walk past a poster.

Why Posters and Email Weren’t Driving Game Day Engagement

Before Mongoose, Towson relied mostly on email and physical signs to share athletics news, and neither reliably caught students’ attention. The team knew the problem firsthand.

“Even when we were students here, we didn’t know when games were happening. We’d walk past the same sign every day and never look at it.”

Towson Athletics Marketing Team

With limited time, a growing slate of events, and a Gen Z audience that prefers mobile-first communication, the team needed a faster, more direct way to reach students. Email promotions also came with formatting, approvals, and long lead times, which made last-minute changes hard to share.

How Towson Uses Text for Game Day Engagement

Towson’s approach is to send the right message at the right time. Text campaigns promote everything from senior days to giveaways to student buses headed to the CAA conference tournament, and many include a graphic showing what’s happening and why students should care.

“It’s all about reducing friction. If we can get the message to them instantly, with a clear visual, we know they’re more likely to see it and show up.”

Towson Athletics Marketing Team

Last-Minute Updates in Tournament Season

Plans come together quickly during playoffs and tournaments, and a text lets the team share them as soon as they’re set.

“When our basketball team went to the CAA tournament, we were able to send a single text with all the info about student buses, how to watch, and where to be. It made it much faster to get information out compared to our CAA emails.”

Towson Athletics Marketing Team

A Small Team That Builds and Sends Its Own Texts

The team doesn’t wait on email templates or design to get a message out.

“[Mongoose is] just easier. We can build and send something ourselves in a few minutes instead of waiting on email templates or design.”

Towson Athletics Marketing Team

What Changed for Towson Athletics

30+ student signups per campaign. Towson’s text campaigns bring in more than 30 student signups each.

Clearer event details. Student interns say texts make it clearer when and where events are happening, something email didn’t always do.

Replies, even to announcements. Most of Towson’s texts are one-way, but students still write back with jokes and excitement, a sign they’re paying attention. Students are turning announcements into conversations on their own, the same shift from broadcast to dialogue many campuses are working toward.

What Other Athletics and Student Life Teams Can Take From Towson

Put the details students need to act, like the time, the place, and the bus, in one text, and send it when plans are set instead of when the email template is ready. Add a graphic, and when you can, feature the students themselves. For more ideas on reaching student-athletes and fans, see how texting supports college athletics departments.

Event texting works well beyond athletics. Kettering University reached a 91.9 percent show rate for Accepted Student Day after a playful text invited students to request a “rule book,” and Thomas More University ran 30 students ahead for fall preview day with text campaigns that send the signup link on request.

Looking Ahead

Most of Towson’s texts today focus on awareness and logistics, and the team sees room to lean further into personality, visuals, and maybe mascot-driven messages. Knox College has already tried that: newly admitted students at Knox get a celebratory text from Blaze, the college’s mascot. For now, Towson’s focus is on making it easy for students to show up, cheer loudly, and feel connected to Towson Athletics.

“Mongoose Text is a good way to connect. Posters get ignored. Emails get deleted. But a text goes right to their phone, and that makes all the difference.”

Towson Athletics Marketing Team

Download the Full Case Study

For a two-page summary of Towson’s results to share with your athletics or student life team, download the Towson case study (PDF).

Want to see what Text could do for your athletics or student life team? Book a demo.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can colleges improve game day engagement with students?

Send a short text with a graphic at the moment plans are set, instead of relying on posters and email. Towson University’s Athletics Marketing team does this for senior days, giveaways, and tournament buses, and its campaigns bring in 30+ student signups each.

Why don’t posters and emails work for athletics promotion?

Students walk past the same signs every day and miss them, and email promotions need formatting, approvals, and long lead times. Towson’s team says texting gets information out much faster than its email updates did.

Can texts include graphics?

Yes. Towson attaches graphics to many of its texts to make them more visual, and featuring student-athletes in those graphics has created buzz among players and fans.

Do students reply to one-way announcement texts?

At Towson, they do. Most outreach is one-way, but students still reply with jokes and excitement, which tells the team they’re paying attention.

Is texting a lot of extra work for a small marketing team?

Towson’s team builds and sends texts itself in a few minutes, without waiting on email templates or design. That makes last-minute updates during tournament season much easier.