Admist major NCAA basketball events, a night of sports bingo was held by the University of Connecticut’s Student Union Board of Governors on April 7 in the Student Union Ballroom.
Sports bingo was originally planned to begin at 6 p.m. but was moved to 6:30. The entire event lasted a little over an hour and planned to include eight rounds of bingo, but the final two rounds were combined, resulting in a total of seven rounds.
The sports bingo event took place between the UConn women’s basketball championship rally and the airing of the men’s NCAA basketball national championship game. As a result, the event received low attendance when compared to February’s Squishmallow bingo; for sports bingo, the ballroom was estimated to be less than half full.
“I thought [sports bingo] was pretty successful,” SUBOG member and sports bingo announcer Delanee Hernandez said after the event ended. “We were concerned about the men’s national championship game affecting attendance. We were also worried about the welcoming back for the women’s team, but all in all, I’d say we had a pretty good event.”
Hernandez is a sixth-semester student majoring in physiology and neurobiology. She is also a member of SUBOG’s sports committee, which was responsible for planning the event. According to Hernandez, this process involved getting approval during SUBOG meetings and setting a budget before Hernandez and her advisors began ordering prizes for the event.
Prizes for the event consisted of not just UConn merchandise, but also jerseys, hats and other items from various New York and New England teams. This included jerseys from athletes like Josh Allen and Jayson Tatum, and other items like a signed New York Rangers puck and a Bruins hat.
The final round had two prizes: a golf set and two tickets to a New York Yankees versus Red Sox game in June.
With the exception of the final round, each round of bingo included three prizes. The first winner of each round would get their pick of the prizes, while subsequent winners would have their choice of what prizes were left for the taking. In the event of ties, Hernandez used an online randomizer wheel to determine who would get the prize.
Mackenzie Browne was one of the players who ended up on Hernandez’s wheel of fate. In round three, Browne and another student won at the same time with only one prize left: a Cristiano Ronaldo jersey. Browne unfortunately lost.
“I think [sports bingo] was fun,” Browne said. “I like bingo. It’s nice to get out and meet people. But I didn’t win, so that’s upsetting,” she added with a laugh. “[There were] pretty good prizes. They’re definitely for a more local area, because I’m not from Connecticut or New York.”
The next two rounds passed without ties, but they did include one student who later ended the night having won multiple prizes. After a refresh of the bingo cards, round six and seven took place. The game ended in a tie, with each winner getting a prize.
When asked if she would recommend sports bingo to a friend, second-semester student Jimena Trejo said she would.
“Yes, definitely, especially if you are a first year or a second year and trying to make friends or socialize, or don’t have anything to do in the evening. I would definitely recommend joining these events and just being involved,” Trejo said.
Trejo compared the sports bingo event to the Squishmallow bingo event in February.
“Honestly, the Squishmallow bingo beats most of the events SUBOG has done,” Trejo said. “But I really like that they’re trying to incorporate different categories.”