LAS VEGAS, Nev. --- The Lobo Marketing staff, led by Associate AD Jeremy Parks and Director of Marketing Brandon Hurst, brought home four awards from the recently held National Association of Collegiate Marketers of America Convention, held at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The awards capped off a year in which the Lobo Marketing Team helped lead the entire Mountain West in total attendance across all sports.
The marketing department picked up three Gold Awards for Affinity Group Marketing, Year-Over-Year Revenue Increase, and Game Day Promotion, and the group also picked up a Silver Award for Fundraising Campaign.
The Year-Over-Year Revenue Increase was aided by Lobo Football’s attendance increase as the team led the country in percentage increase, with attendance increasing 57.1% from 2024 to 2025 under Jason Eck. The team went 9-4 overall and tied for first place in the Mountain West, playing in the Rate Bowl against Minnesota.
The Affinity Group Marketing Gold Award was for UNM’s Fan Friendly Initiatives during the 2025 football season, headed up by UNM’s unique “Kids Free” promotion, in which children 12 and under could go to Lobo Football games for free. There was also fan-friendly pricing at the concession stands featuring a variety of items for just $4, and a revamped tailgate experience called Louie Lane. All of that was promoted with a clever marketing campaign featuring videos, including a viral spoof of “The Office” starring football coach Jason Eck and a host of grade-school children.
UNM also took Gold for its highly popular Retro Game promotion for basketball, throwing a men’s and women’s game back to the 1990s. Every detail was seemingly covered, from the 90s jams being played to UNM’s retro uniforms and coaching gear. The in-house scoreboard was turned into a retro 1990s version, and UNM’s graphics package leading up to the game and postgame was straight out of the 1990s.
At the games and leading up to them, UNM built a replica 1990s-style living room, culling authentic posters, furniture, and playable video game systems, along with a 1990s-style stereo system playing 90s jams.
UNM’s Silver Award was for the department’s “Real Ones” campaign, a slogan that emerged from a pregame speech by football coach Jason Eck and became a campaign in which players from all sports announced their return to their programs, dubbing themselves “Real Ones”. That rolled into UNM’s season ticket campaign for Lobo Football for 2026.
While Parks and Hurst accepted the awards in Las Vegas, it was a true team effort with Parks and Hurst spearheading the way. Vivienne Sander handled many facets of the updated Louie Lane, and Chase Christiansen and Jonathan Tibbetts added their creative skills to bring the Retro Night promotions to life on the scoreboard and through UNM’s graphics packages. Nate Strong with PlayFly helped build the retro living room set, and Jalen Dominguez helped acquire many of the 1990s trinkets that adorned it.