Joe Castiglione on the upcoming Oklahoma Football season, fan experience, and post-retirement plans

Oklahoma Athletic Director Joe Castiglione shared insights about the upcoming football season, changes to the fan experience, the university’s move to the SEC, and his plans after retirement.

Looking Forward to the Season

Castiglione said he is excited about putting the team in a strong position for success.

"Well -- putting our team in a position to be successful -- it's what we've worked hard on since the end of last season," he said.

"We've made a lot of improvements throughout the team. We've leaned into the way the world is changing and tried to be a leader in that space by hiring a full time general manager and an entirely new personnel department. To be sure that we are doing what our number one priority is - identifying the best and the brightest, bringing them here, keeping them here as long as we can and adjusting and pivoting through the every changing world of college athletics to help our fo."

He added that the focus extends beyond athletes to fan engagement.

"By and large -- we're about engaging everybody to try to have the best experience they want. Certainly it starts with the athletes and putting our coaches and staff that supports the athletes in the best position, but we're also driven by the engagement of our fans. We've tried to find other ways to improve the experiences for fans and continue to keep them incentivized in showing up to support the athletes because the emotion and the energy that we get in a stadium or an arena drives a lot of success too. It's a comprehensive but ever interconnected model that we have in front of us to be successful."

Upgrades to the Fan Experience

Castiglione highlighted significant changes to technology, concessions, and gameday experiences.

"We know how much technology is part of everybody's life so we've seen such a growth in use of phones being connected to the outside world when we're sitting in the stadium," he said.

"We made investments in connectivity over the years but the demand is constantly growing, so we advanced the WiFi in the stadium, installed a lot of new state of the art equipotment so it's going to be better. We have 80 something thousand people trying to do something on their phone all at the same time. I mean, it's never gonna be just crystal clear, it's a concentrated space, but it will be a lot better."

He also pointed to interactive features for fans.

"People are using their phones in different ways that actually engage with the game itself. We have second screen opportunities so they're watching highlights or other ways people stay connected to the game itself -- the second screen means it's not the gameday broadcast going out on linear television, it's a different telecast. People are obviously involved in social media so they want to continue to share their experiences with their followers. So that has been a big investment."

Concessions and tailgating were also priorities.

"We made improvements at concession stands -- we've done a lot of surveys of our fans, we've listened to our fans. When you do surveys you get data, so we've made improvements with food offerings: new food offerings, more stands of something they like, elimination of stands that had a product of something they didn't like and then brought in new products. So we brought in concessions," Castiglione said.

"Tailgating has been a huge **huge part of experiencing an Oklahoma game. I have to give props to the tailgaters themselves because they are the most creative I've ever seen. We had such a demand we opened up more space and the president Joe. We have now opened up more free tailgating spaces to the public on the North Oval. The tagline is the Oval is open -- there will be more and more tailgaters there. We have our concierge tailgating, some people love the tailgate but they don't want to set up a tent or get there earlier and mark their spot off, so we have the concierge tailgating that we do through a third party Revel, and we've had that for several y. Whether you want to do it free or you want somebody to do it for you -- we kind of run a gamut of offering that for our fans."

Transition to the SEC

Castiglione described Oklahoma’s move to the SEC as smoother than many might expect.

"It's been somewhat of a seamless transition than probably most would imagine," he said. "More than 10 years ago we saw the way the world of college athletics would change, it's maybe even changed in ways that could not have been predicted back then. We had to think about what was best for Oklahoma. The way the world was being shaped, we needed to find the best avenue for Oklahoma."

He noted the excitement of new competition and fan interactions.

"The transition has been everything we thought about and more -- and yes, part of it is the challenge of the best competition. We're going to go to places we have not yet been again this year and we're going to welcome fan bases who have not yet been to Norman this year, so it's going to be a change like that for the next several years. Sooner fans are known for traveling. The newness has been another attraction."

Welcoming New Opponents

Castiglione highlighted high-profile games this season.

"And we're welcoming an iconic blue blood if you will in the non-conference part of our season in the University of Michigan," he said. "This is a very special matchup that doesn't happen very often. It's a rare, unique environment. All of that continues to bring excitement, knowing we're going up against the best competition, knowing we're engaging with new fan bases and likewise they're engaging with us and showing the best of Oklahoma -- that's what we're all about."

SEC Fans’ Impressions of Norman

Castiglione said visiting SEC fans have been impressed with the OU environment.

"The first thing out of their mouth -- is that was one of the best road trips I've ever been on," he said. "They've become known across college football as being the type of fans that really make visiting fans feel welcome."

He added that the university enhances the gameday experience with music, energy, and traditions.

"We're doing a lot of other things in the stadium with lights and sound and energy and music to get the crowd fired up at all the right moments. We've got the best marching band in the world in the Pride of Oklahoma. You think about the way they're treated, the gameday presentation -- sure they're happier when their team wins, but we don't want that to happen. We want the Sooner fans going home happy, but they can have still experienced an epic environment and that's what we have here at Oklahoma."

Post-Retirement Plans

Castiglione spoke about his plans after retiring as athletic director.

"It's not about me first of all," he said. "I think this year is going to be exceptional in all of our sports. This can be a really special year."

He plans to remain involved in fundraising and teaching.

"As an athletic director, the thing that is most important is that you're always finding ways to pour into the people in your program, most notably the athletes and your coaches, and give them all the resources they need to be the best versions of themselves. In the year ahead for us is continuing to find ways to improve. I will be staying on in a fundraising capacity with big projects, including a potential massive renovation of the west side of the stadium. I have another big stake in this entertainment district that we are working with the City of Norman and Cleveland County, trying to help out there where we can. Personally, I am looking forward to the opportunity to go back to teaching, to create a center of sports leadership excellence that has a lot of different tentacles that come from that. We think there's a world out there that's continuing to evolve, and we think we can teach the next group of leaders to guide our communities in the right way."

Message to Fans, Coaches, and Athletes

Castiglione encouraged everyone connected to Oklahoma athletics to stay fully invested.

"We have to continue to have an all-in mentality. For Oklahoma to succeed, it takes everybody. We've long since had the mantra that the program is bigger than any one person. Yes, there are people that deserve praise, that make enormous contributions, or just by the nature of the role they may have -- a coach or a very notable player. The key to Sooner Magic is not some hocus pocus potion, it's not that -- it's making sure that the people that love the University of Oklahoma and support everybody that has a stake in it are inextricably linked. That's the secret sauce. And that their belief system is so deep that they never ever ever give up on it -- that is what we have to continue to build. Oklahoma has been and will be a leader in the future. It's not about a title, it's about the influence that Oklahoma can bring. Took a lot of people over a lot of years to create this position and we've always said that we're standing on their shoulders. I'll be there cheering and serving the University of Oklahoma every way that I can and I hope people just continue to follow that mantra that we win because everybody stays bought in."