The UMass Department of Athletics put a unique twist on its 2018-19 men's basketball season ticket stock this year that has been catching on around the country during a ticket-reveal social media campaign over the last week. Today marks the culmination of the reveal with the full stock shown to fans for the first time. The twist on design? UMass placed a focus on fans by highlighting tweets across the design from those who support the Minutemen.



Believed to be the first of its kind in college athletics, the final full image of the ticket stock was finally unveiled today.



With renewed enthusiasm after head coach Matt McCall 's first season at the helm in 2017-18 and a talented corps of players returning bolstered by four transfers who sat out last year and three high-level newcomers for 2018-19, the ticket design reflects the common sentiment among the fan base that something special will be happening at UMass this upcoming season.



A unique aspect of the fans of Massachusetts basketball is the high index use of the social media platform Twitter by fans and supporters from near and far. Coining themselves as "#UMassTwitter", last season saw an abundance of vocalized support from the members of the digital community.



With this in mind, Massachusetts Athletics identified a new pathway for innovation in creating a commemorative ticket stock which highlights some of the best Tweets from fans themselves during the previous season and marries those with images of current players on the roster.



"We wanted to do something special this year that no one has done before," said Chris Tucci , Director of Marketing and Digital Strategy. "The day we came up with this idea, I immediately knew that #UMassTwitter had the content we needed to make this a reality. This was a great way to creatively utilize our Twitter fanbase while adding value to our season ticket holders. As our #PackSectionW and #MaroonPantMovement campaigns last season show, we are constantly listening and engaging with our fanbase on Twitter."







"We are grateful to have such a favorable, yet unique, Twitter user base as our most vocal core of Massachusetts basketball fans," said Alan Pandiani , Associate Athletics Director for Sales and Fan Experience. "No matter the outcome of a game or launch of a new initiative, you're assured you're going to hear feedback. It provides us a tremendous resource as were able to grasp fan sentiment with reasonable certainty. Our staff did an unbelievable job in having the awareness and creativity to not only recognize this anomaly among our fan base, but to commemorate it in a powerful way. People and their respective digital presence continue to become increasingly indistinguishable with the benefits of modern technology, and we've exhibited it well here as it pertains to sport."



The Minutemen begin their season on November 6 at the Mullins Center against UMass Lowell in a 7pm tip-off. It will be part of a doubleheader opening day with the women's team tipping off at 4:30 PM against Sacred Heart.



Season tickets remain on sale and can be purchased online here or by calling the Mullins Center Box Office at 866-UMASS-TIX. Single game tickets, mini-plan and Parquet Passes are also now on sale.



For continued coverage of UMass Men's Basketball, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @UMassBasketball and online at www.UMassAthletics.com.





