West Virginia making effort to schedule games in different areas of state
West Virginia is set to play neutral site games at other locations in the state this season in both men’s and women’s basketball.
The Mountaineers are set to play Wake Forest in Charleston, while the women’s team will take on Duke in White Sulphur Springs. The two games will provide a key scheduling option for each of the programs against quality opponents but also open another door.
That’s taking the product to a different group in the fan base.
It’s a concentrated effort to take the sports programs in front of a different section of the fan base in those areas, according to Athletics Director Wren Baker.
“Opportunities to get in southern West Virginia is important. Some of our most passionate, loyal fans,” he said. “I know you all travel some too. Like when I go to southern West Virginia, I’m not so sure because they get less opportunities to engage with it. Like when you go to the caravan stops, the ones down there have a little more energy, a little more passion sometimes,” Baker said.
Those fans typically don’t have as many opportunities to see the Mountaineers and these games give the fanbase a chance to see both of the basketball teams compete against a power conference opponent on what is considered a neutral site.
“It’s an intentional effort by us to try to put some things in southern West Virginia, knowing that it might be easier for some of our fans down there to get tickets and to travel to the game than it would be to come all the way to Morgantown,” he said.
Offer Alert
Fall camp is here and there’s no better time to sign up with us to get all your WVU intel! Sign up today – $1 for the first week, plus a complimentary year of access to The Athletic included. Join – http://gowvu.us/Join
__________________________________________
• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot
• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting
• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel
• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan
•Like us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
