I run two college wrestling tournaments in the month of November. Both are quickly growing events - Journeymen’s Sprawl & Brawl (Binghamton, NY) and the Northeast Collegiate Duals (Troy, NY). These events are gaining popularity with the college coaches because they are pre-determined match ups early on in the season. They also are designed to promote, showcase and advocate wrestling. The Northeast Duals’ role in particular is a bit more elaborate. There isn’t a D-I, II or III NCAA wrestling program within 60 miles of Albany, so the event is designed to inspire our wrestling youth. “If they see it, they’ll want to be it”. With that notion in mind, we’ve worked hard at making these two events a bit more than a jamboree of dual meets. We’ve tried to fire up the fans. Make them “events”, not just wrestling tournaments. The events have ½ time shows, pep bands, announcers, vendors, interactive games, meet and greets with former wrestling legends turned MMA champions, etc. Needless to say it’s been a big success. Last year nearly 2,500 people showed to watch wrestling. Granted it’s not record setting attendance figures, but keep in mind we are not in “wrestling country”, so 2,500 people is noteworthy. Furthermore, year one drew 275 people.
Everything is good – right? Well not so fast. There’s been a change. This year the NCAA has added a rule change that may have slipped through the radar for most college wrestling fans –
Rule 9.1.6 and it states: “Noise Restrictions. Recorded music may not be played, bands may not perform and artificial noisemakers may not be used during wrestling action”.
The rule doesn’t really impact a single dual meet, because you can still play music in between matches without compromising the rule. However, it does impact events like ours, the VA Duals and the National Duals, which has multiple mats going on simultaneously. The point is once a match begins, no music can be played – Pep band, Recorded Music (that we traditionally play when widely recognized guys walk on the mat or when a fall occurs), etc.
It personally doesn’t affect me. I will watch wrestling all day, regardless if there’s music or not; however, 50% of the audience at the Northeast Duals are high school aged kids and the majority of them get bored quickly. Being keen on marketing and people’s input, I’ve asked fans, competitors and coaches at my events, “What is it you liked about the duals”? They’ve been unanimous in saying that they love the ambiance and the entertainment – the music in particular. I can’t help but to believe that this new rule will have a negative impact on the already atrophying fan-base of college wrestling. At a time where other sports are more aggressive in their marketing approach, wrestling seems to want to take a more conservative posture. Don’t get me wrong I’m all about preserving tradition and respect, but there’s ways to do that without hindering the marketability of the sport.
As soon as I heard of the rule I was proactive. I reached out to the NCAA rules committee. I asked for an interpretation of the rule and requested a waiver. I also reached out to many of the college coaches. It surprised me to find out that almost none of them knew of the rule. What was more shocking was I couldn’t find a single coach that was in favor of it. Many coaches brought up the point that almost all wrestling rooms have music on when they “Go live”. Ultimately my request for a waiver was denied.
I certainly respect the NCAA decision and plan on abiding by the new rules. But I guess I’d like to further inquire on a few things - How did this come about? Was music an issue in the past? Was it the referees that thought it was getting in the way of the matches? Were coaches and wrestlers polled in advance of creating this rule – because my findings show otherwise. I’ve emailed all D-I coaches and I have only had one somewhat disagree.
As I said earlier, it is my personal opinion that this new rule will significantly hurt the already atrophied wrestling fan base. I hope we can weather the storm and adjust accordingly in the very near future.
Frank Popolizio
Journeymen Wrestling
