IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/jospec/v21y2020i8p783-807.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The “Cinderella Effect†: The Value of Unexpected March Madness Runs as Advertising for the Schools

Author

Listed:
  • Trevor Collier
  • Nancy Haskell
  • Kurt W. Rotthoff
  • Alaina Baker

Abstract

This study looks at the impact of a university making a surprise (“Cinderella†) run in the men’s NCAA basketball tournament. Our results suggest that surprise success in the tournament has little to no impact on the quantity of applications in subsequent years. However, we find that freshmen enrollments increase for private schools two academic years after a Cinderella run (with mixed results on the quality of freshmen—although not worse). Given an average private school, with 1,253 freshmen and paid tuition of $24,428 (each year) plus room and board, a Cinderella run is worth approximately $7.3 million in 2012-dollars.

Suggested Citation

  • Trevor Collier & Nancy Haskell & Kurt W. Rotthoff & Alaina Baker, 2020. "The “Cinderella Effect†: The Value of Unexpected March Madness Runs as Advertising for the Schools," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 21(8), pages 783-807, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jospec:v:21:y:2020:i:8:p:783-807
    DOI: 10.1177/1527002520944437
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1527002520944437
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1527002520944437?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Devin G. Pope & Jaren C. Pope, 2009. "The Impact of College Sports Success on the Quantity and Quality of Student Applications," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 75(3), pages 750-780, January.
    2. Bremmer, Dale S. & Kesselring, Randall G., 1993. "The advertising effect of university athletic success: A reappraisal of the evidence," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 409-421.
    3. Tucker, Irvin B., 2004. "A reexamination of the effect of big-time football and basketball success on graduation rates and alumni giving rates," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 655-661, December.
    4. Robert Kirby Goidel & John Maxwell Hamilton, 2006. "Strengthening Higher Education Through Gridiron Success? Public Perceptions of the Impact of National Football Championships on Academic Quality," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 87(4), pages 851-862, December.
    5. F. G. Mixon & L. J. TreviNO & T. C. Minto, 2004. "Touchdowns and test scores: exploring the relationship between athletics and academics," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(7), pages 421-424.
    6. Tucker, Irvin III & Amato, Louis, 1993. "Does big-time success in football or basketball affect SAT scores?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 177-181, June.
    7. Doug J. Chung, 2013. "The Dynamic Advertising Effect of Collegiate Athletics," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(5), pages 679-698, September.
    8. Jason M. Lindo & Isaac D. Swensen & Glen R. Waddell, 2012. "Are Big-Time Sports a Threat to Student Achievement?," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 254-274, October.
    9. Michael T. Maloney & Robert E. McCormick, 1993. "An Examination of the Role That Intercollegiate Athletic Participation Plays in Academic Achievement: Athletes' Feats in the Classroom," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 28(3), pages 555-570.
    10. Devin G. Pope & Jaren C. Pope, 2014. "Understanding College Application Decisions," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 15(2), pages 107-131, April.
    11. Murphy, Robert G. & Trandel, Gregory A., 1994. "The relation between a university's football record and the size of its applicant pool," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 265-270, September.
    12. McCormick, Robert E & Tensley, Maurice, 1987. "Athletics versus Academics? Evidence from SAT Scores," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 95(5), pages 1103-1116, October.
    13. Brian Jacob & Brian McCall & Kevin Stange, 2018. "College as Country Club: Do Colleges Cater to Students’ Preferences for Consumption?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(2), pages 309-348.
    14. Austin F. Eggers & Peter A Groothuis & Parker Redding & Kurt W. Rotthoff & Michael Solimini, 2019. "The negative effect of NCAA football bowl bans on university enrolment and applications," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(54), pages 5870-5877, November.
    15. Irvin B. Tucker, 2005. "Big-Time Pigskin Success," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 6(2), pages 222-229, May.
    16. Franklin Mixon & Rand Ressler, 1995. "An empirical note on the impact of college athletics on tuition revenues," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(10), pages 383-387.
    17. Mixon, Franklin Jr & Hsing, Yu, 1994. "The determinants of out-of-state enrollments in higher education: A tobit analysis," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 329-335.
    18. Irvin B. Tucker & L. Ted Amato, 2006. "A Reinvestigation of the Relationship Between Big-Time Basketball Success and Average SAT Scores," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 7(4), pages 428-440, November.
    19. Steven B. Caudill & Shannon Hourican & Franklin G. Mixon, 2018. "Does college football impact the size of university applicant pools and the quality of entering students?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(17), pages 1885-1890, April.
    20. Mixon, Franklin Jr & Trevino, Len J., 2005. "From kickoff to commencement: the positive role of intercollegiate athletics in higher education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 97-102, February.
    21. Austin F. Eggers & Peter A. Groothuis & Parker Redding & Kurt W. Rotthoff & Michael Solimini, 2020. "Universities Behaving Badly: The Impact of Athletic Malfeasance on Student Quality and Enrollment," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 21(1), pages 87-100, January.
    22. D. Randall Smith, 2009. "College Football and Student Quality: An Advertising Effect or Culture and Tradition?," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(2), pages 553-579, April.
    23. TA. Rhoads & S. Gerking, 2000. "Educational contributions, academic quality, and athletic success," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 18(2), pages 248-258, April.
    24. Hernández-Julián, Rey & Rotthoff, Kurt W., 2014. "The impact of college football on academic achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 141-147.
    25. Mulholland, Sean E. & Tomic, Aleksandar (Sasha) & Sholander, Samuel N., 2014. "The faculty Flutie factor: Does football performance affect a university's US News and World Report peer assessment score?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 79-90.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Austin F. Eggers & Peter A. Groothuis, 2021. "The Impact of Winning an NCAA Men's Basketball or Football Championship on Academic Quality," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 41(2), pages 263-275.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Austin F. Eggers & Peter A. Groothuis, 2021. "The Impact of Winning an NCAA Men's Basketball or Football Championship on Academic Quality," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 41(2), pages 263-275.
    2. Austin F. Eggers & Peter A. Groothuis & Parker Redding & Kurt W. Rotthoff & Michael Solimini, 2020. "Universities Behaving Badly: The Impact of Athletic Malfeasance on Student Quality and Enrollment," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 21(1), pages 87-100, January.
    3. Candon Johnson & Bryan C. McCannon, 2022. "Athletics and Admissions: The Impact of the Penn State Football Scandal on Student Quality," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 23(2), pages 200-221, February.
    4. Jerome Segura III & Jonathan Willner, 2019. "Athleticism in NCAA D-III: It Ain’t Only Football That Matters," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 20(7), pages 929-958, October.
    5. Benjamin Baumer & Andrew Zimbalist, 2019. "The Impact of College Athletic Success on Donations and Applicant Quality," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-23, April.
    6. Devin G. Pope & Jaren C. Pope, 2009. "The Impact of College Sports Success on the Quantity and Quality of Student Applications," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 75(3), pages 750-780, January.
    7. Behera, Sarthak & Sadana, Divya, 2022. "The Impact of Visibility on School Athletic Finances: An Empirical Analysis using Google Trends," MPRA Paper 114818, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. D. Randall Smith, 2009. "College Football and Student Quality: An Advertising Effect or Culture and Tradition?," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(2), pages 553-579, April.
    9. Michael L. Anderson, 2017. "The Benefits of College Athletic Success: An Application of the Propensity Score Design," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 99(1), pages 119-134, March.
    10. D. Randall Smith, 2008. "Big-Time College Basketball and the Advertising Effect," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 9(4), pages 387-406, August.
    11. Daniel C. Hickman & Andrew G. Meyer, 2017. "Does Athletic Success Influence Persistence At Higher Education Institutions? New Evidence Using Panel Data," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 35(4), pages 658-676, October.
    12. Jerome Segura & Jonathan Willner, 2018. "The Game Is Good at the Top," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 19(5), pages 645-676, June.
    13. Mulholland, Sean E. & Tomic, Aleksandar (Sasha) & Sholander, Samuel N., 2014. "The faculty Flutie factor: Does football performance affect a university's US News and World Report peer assessment score?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 79-90.
    14. Craig McFarland & Peter A. Groothuis & Dennis Guignet, 2024. "The role of football win percentage on college applications for Power Five and Group of Five schools," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 42(3), pages 474-482, July.
    15. Malcolm Getz & John Siegfried, 2010. "What Does Intercollegiate Athletics Do To or For Colleges and Universities?," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 1005, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics.
    16. D. Randall Smith, 2019. "The Lure of Academic and Social Reputations Versus Athletic Success: Influences on Enrollment Yield at NCAA Division I Institutions," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 60(6), pages 870-904, September.
    17. Robert Baade & Robert Baumann & Victor Matheson, 2011. "Big Men on Campus: Estimating the Economic Impact of College Sports on Local Economies," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(3), pages 371-380.
    18. Daniel R. Marburger, 2015. "How Are Athletic Directors Rewarded in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision?," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 16(3), pages 254-267, April.
    19. J. D. Pitts & B. Evans, 2016. "The role of conference externalities and other factors in determining the annual recruiting rankings of football bowl subdivision (FBS) teams," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(33), pages 3164-3174, July.
    20. Robert A. Baade & Robert W. Baumann & Victor A. Matheson, 2008. "Assessing the Economic Impact of College Football Games on Local Economies," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 9(6), pages 628-643, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:jospec:v:21:y:2020:i:8:p:783-807. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.