Ohio State’s Ross Bjork says review underway to improve atmosphere at all OSU venues

Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork joined Skip Mosic on 97.1 The Fan during halftime of the Buckeyes football 45-0 win over Purdue, and while on the air, Bjork admitted “a lot of improvement” can be made when it comes to the atmosphere at OSU’s sporting events.

“Our players deserve it,” he said. “The fans want to be entertained; the fans want to have fun, and that’s really what we’re after. You want to walk away from there and, forget the game, you want to say, ‘Boy, I had fun. Boy, that was entertaining.’ That’s what we want to create.”

Mosic specifically brought up at “The Schott,” also known as Value City Arena.

In response, Bjork praised new Ohio State men’s basketball coach Jake Diebler and his energy. Bjork also said the Buckeye women’s team plays an electric style of basketball and features a freshman in Jaloni Cambridge who will be really exciting to watch.

Bjork then went on to explain that the athletic department has a “comprehensive review” of all its venues underway, and secret shoppers are a part of that project.

“We have somebody that comes in that nobody knows they’re there,” Bjork said.

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Those secret shoppers take notes on their experiences and share them with OSU.

For Bjork, the hope is that what is reported back helps Ohio State consistently recreate the atmosphere that the men’s basketball team saw during its NIT run last season.

“To me, that’s kind of the blueprint of how our fans can be engaged, how our students can be engaged,” he said. “We need that every game.”

bmackay@dispatch.com

@brimackay15