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Jan. 7—FRISCO, Texas — Everything is bigger in Texas. That includes gatherings of South Dakota State football fans.
In hopes of seeing SDSU capture a second straight Football Championship Subdivision national championship on the first weekend of the New Year, Jackrabbit Nation descended on the northern Dallas suburb of Frisco by the thousands.
And at the center of that frenzied yellow and blue-clad faction stands the content-creation crew from Jackrabbit Illustrated, aka JI.
But really, the work undertaken by Matt Tollefson, who founded JI in 2017 as a recruiting blog, and team members Ben Pierson, Brendan Luedtke, Chad Meirose, Dallas Clarksean and Alex Kenkel (along with many more friends of the program) isn’t limited to podcasting and blog posting. They’re helping build and strengthen the community surrounding South Dakota State football.
“Our goal is to promote the Jackrabbits and educate our fan base,” Tollefson said. “… Last year (January 2023) in Frisco, it was eye-opening. It was like, ‘Oh my gosh. There are a lot of people who are reading and listening and really care.'”
“It’s given fans an opportunity to feel really connected with us and with each other,” Pierson added. “Having other fans be the ones providing content and allowing that interaction, I think, has given fans more comfort to open up about their passion for SDSU football.”
JI’s influence within the SDSU fan base is evident. During their weekly podcast recordings for three different shows, which are broadcast live on YouTube and various social media sites, they frequently have triple-digit live viewers. In the early days of JI, Tollefson remembers being ecstatic when a few hundred people clicked on his blog posts. Today, JI, which is a partner with the larger scope FCS Fans Nation Network, reaches thousands each week between blog posts and…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/fervent-fan-creators-pride-helping-153100862.html
Author : The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D.
Publish date : 2024-01-07 15:31:00
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