ORLANDO – UC San Diego Athletics captured a program-best seven "Best Of" awards by the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA) as revealed earlier this month at the Orlando World Center Marriott as part of the annual National Association of Directors of Athletics (NACDA) conference. In addition, the Tritons' marketing staff was a finalist in Group II for Marketing Team of the Year.
"We are honored to be recognized for our achievements as a marketing team during the 2024-25 academic year," said Todd Greenbaum, Associate Athletic Director, Marketing. "Receiving awards in seven NACMA 'Best Of' categories is a remarkable accomplishment that highlights the success and continued growth of UC San Diego Athletics marketing. These honors reflect our commitment to innovation, collaboration, and excellence—reinforcing our impact across the key pillars of revenue generation, brand management, and fan development. I couldn't be prouder of the marketing team for the incredible effort they put forth all year."
UC San Diego captured gold (highest) honors for three awards: lead generation campaign, sport-specific brand campaign, and sponsorship campaign.
LEAD GENERATION: 2 for $5 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TICKET SALES CAMPAIGN
UC San Diego targeted increased attendance for the Jan. 16 women's basketball game. Tickets were two for $5, with the first 1,000 fans in attendance receiving a free t-shirt. The single game attendance of 1,982 was the fourth highest in Tritons women's basketball history.
SPORT-SPECIFIC BRAND CAMPAIGN: THE BEST STORY IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UC San Diego men's basketball became the best story in college basketball, capturing the hearts of fans on campus, in San Diego, and across the country. The newly-refreshed athletics brand campaign spanned across digital media, OOH, campus collaborations, email marketing, and in-venue graphic assets. Social media engagement grew by more than 260% and ticket sales increased by 32%.
SPONSORSHIP CAMPAIGN: BASKETBALL X JLAB
During the peak of the men's and women's basketball success, new sponsor JLab joined the fold and signed NIL deals with two scholar-athletes. As part of the deals, they provided headphones for all of the scholar-athletes on both teams. Part of the sponsorship also included 1,000 JBuds minis, which Athletics used as giveaways to incentivize student attendance at remaining home games and drive season ticket renewals.
In addition to the three gold awards above, UC San Diego earned silver honors for multiplatform branding campaign, membership drives, digital media engagement, and branded static collateral.
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 24-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 39 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 93 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in NCAA Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.
