The "Cinderella Effect": The Value of Unexpected March Madness Runs as Advertising for the Schools. (December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Collier, Trevor; Haskell, Nancy; Rotthoff, Kurt W.; Baker, Alaina
• Is Part Of: Journal of sports economics. Volume 21:Number 8(2020)
• Page Start: 783
• Page End: 807
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Subjects: university advertising -- NCAA basketball -- Cinderella runs -- academic outcomes; Sports -- Economic aspects -- Periodicals; Sports administration -- Periodicals; 338.47796
• DOI: 10.1177/1527002520944437
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1527-0025

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.