Category Archives: Basketball

$70 million.

That’s the projected economic impact the 2013 Final Four will have on Atlanta this weekend. While none of Georgia’s home teams are contending in the Big Dance, the state still has plenty to celebrate with an estimated 100,000 out-of-town guests flocking to its capital. This is the fourth time Atlanta has hosted the NCAA Men’s Final Four, but, as this year marks the 75th anniversary of March Madness, organizers expect the event to draw one of the largest crowds in tournament history.

The Georgia Dome, situated in the heart of downtown Atlanta, offers nearly 75,000 seats to spectators who are paying up to $1600 per ticket. Philips Arena, home to the Atlanta Hawks, will also play host to the Division II and III championships, luring an even wider fan-base. It’s not ticket sales that will be pumping dollars into the city’s bank account, though. Approximately 10,000 hotel rooms will be booked for the weekend, and the fine-dining establishments within driving distance from the Dome are jam-packed with reservations.

Drawing a crowd of this magnitude offers colossal opportunities to increase revenue. Hotels in metro Atlanta are showing spikes in nightly rates anywhere from 55-200 percent. According to atlantahotels.org, a King Room at the downtown Holiday Inn Express typically runs for $139 per night. This weekend, however, guests will pay around $382. The same model room at Hotel Indigo in midtown jumped from $129 to $406− an astounding 215 percent increase.

Though local businesses are certainly taking advantage of the chance to turn sizable profits, the city is not forgetting its dedication to Southern hospitality. The Georgia World Congress Center is offering plenty of fan festivities and Centennial Olympic Park will feature free concerts on Friday and Saturday, headlining artists such as Ludacris, Sting, Muse and the Dave Mathews Band.

In a struggling national economy, we rely on cultural staples to transcend financial strife. College sports will always be among these. While a trip to the Final Four (and especially a national title) will give hundreds of thousands back to coaches, universities, and conferences, the economic value of collegiate athletics can be appreciated across the board. This weekend, Atlanta, Georgia will be the obliged beneficiary.

By: James Maddox

It’s a forgone conclusion that in this day and age large sporting events will have a huge social media influence. This past February’s Super Bowl helped generate 24.1 million tweets during “America’s Game.” Now, the holy grail for college basketball fans is taking the spotlight as March Madness gets prepared to crown the 2013 national champion. And it seems the Twitterverse has spoken when it comes to which school and fan base is making the most noise. 

Fizziology, a social media research company, recently did an analysis of the NCAA tournament based on organic discussion on Twitter this past Tuesday and Wednesday. Organic discussion in this sense is defined as discussion pertaining to anything related to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament that users talk about on their own, without any prompt. The conversation was broken down as follows:

• South region: 37%
• Northeast region: 26%
• Midwest: 21%
• West region: 16%

It makes sense for the South region to lead in Twitter conversation. Louisville, the #1 overall seed, is in the South and Florida Gulf Coast has dominated headlines as they continue their miraculous tournament run. According to Fizziology, the South has 41% more conversation about March Madness than the Northeast, 79% more than the Midwest, and 124% more than the West on Selection Sunday. Keep in mind these regions refer to geographical regions and not necessarily the regions according to the tournament bracket.

With many of the 68 teams representing large metropolitan areas, it’s no surprise that the list of markets with the most Twitter users talking about March Madness reflected this as of 3/27/13: 

Fizziology was able to gather other interesting tidbits of data as well:

• Overall conversation among Tweets was 59% positive, 37% neutral, 1% negative, and 3% mixed
• Conversations regarding brackets constituted approximately 32% of the organic conversation.
• 83% of those filling out brackets completed at least two, 5% filled out at least 5, 4% filled out at least 10, and another 4% filled out at least 15.

Furthermore, ViralHeat was able to summarize an interesting collection of information regarding the tournament with an info graphic titled “March Madness: The Journey to the Socially Sweet Sixteen.” Here is what they discovered:

• Based on Twitter mentions the most talked about team among the Sweet 16 is the University of Miami with well over 312,000 mentions; the least talked about team is Michigan State with 29,980 mentions.
• The most positive messages on social media were related to Wichita State with 66% positive sentiment; the lease positive messages were regarding Syracuse with 44% negative sentiment.
• When Wichita State defeated Gonzaga, the Bulldogs’ overall positive sentiment dropped to 22% while Wichita State’s overall positive sentiment soared to 46%.
• Florida Gulf Coast’s upset over San Diego State landed the FGCU Eagles as the only team in the top 3 for both total mentions and positive sentiment.
• Based on a combination of the team’s seed and total social media attention, the social media world predicted Kansas, Indiana, Florida Gulf Coast, and Duke in the Final Four.

By: Jason Singer

When Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) burst onto the NCAA Basketball scene in 2011 and made it all the way to the Final Four, nobody thought anything of it. Everyone, including the teams in their own region, thought VCU was just another Cinderella team, one that  managed to get the magic slipper for one year, and would never get back amongst the elite of Men’s basketball again.  

However, this has not been the case, as VCU has now reached the past three NCAA tournaments, and has won at least one game in all three years. Most recently, they gained their highest seeding ever (#5 seed), with an at large bid from the Atlantic-10 Conference, and defeating #12 Akron, in their 2nd round matchup.  

VCU has now gained popularity all over the country, with support from celebrities like Spike Lee, who made sure to see them play at their conference tournament at the Barclays Center this year. He even tweeted to the coach and the players:

As evidenced by Spike Lee’s enthusiasm for the team, the uproar of VCU basketball has clearly reached a national level. 

Shaka Smart, the Head Coach of VCU, exemplifies the image of the basketball team, school, and the city of Richmond, Virginia in general. For example, a professor from the University of Maryland, Ronald T. Rust, said it perfectly: “By highlighting him … (officials) project an image of the city — young, hip, multiethnic and successful — that is not necessarily Richmond’s current image.” Rust and many others say that by Smart staying in Richmond and not bolting for a bigger, more well-known university, he shows that there is reason for kids to come to VCU, whether they play basketball or not. The basketball program increases tourism, merchandising, and business growth in general, and makes students who are applying for colleges want to attend VCU, since the university and city are becoming more reputable as a result. 

Furthermore, the program has increased interest by companies and businesses throughout the fifty states, as those travelling through town may be inclined to go see a great team play basketball. Lee Warfield, a president of a commercial real estate brokerage firm, in Henrico County, Virginia, says that the success of the team is lifting the profile of the region, and in turn luring clients in. VCU, and Richmond, being shown on national television gives the region a positive image, which is the exact image that Warfield and other in the area want.

Of course, VCU has benefited from the basketball success in other ways as well, from apparel sales to applications to donations. Last year, Kristi Dosh wrote on ESPN.com that apparel sales in 2011 topped $1.3 million during March Madness, donations to athletics were up 376 percent and donations to the university were up 46 percent.

All in all, it seems that having Shaka Smart stay in Richmond to coach VCU Men’s Basketball, at a time when the program is becoming increasingly better, will continue to have great outcomes for the region. VCU has now became a force to be reckoned with in Men’s Basketball, and nobody will be taking them lightly for years to come. Personally, I look forward to seeing what they can do in future years, and can’t wait to see when Shaka Smart and his players are cutting down the nets after winning it all. 

With March Madness well underway many assume that money is just given back to athletic departments without question after a big win. While some of that is true, money does in fact go back to the athletic departments, much of it is earmarked for specific types of uses and not simply deposited for general use. In addition, the NCAA keeps a portion to fund its operations. 

A total of $504 million (62 percent) was returned back to the Division 1 conferences and member institutions after the 2011 -12 fiscal year. 

Every year the money made is divided into six primary shares: Academic Enhancement, Basketball, Grant-in-Aid, Student Assistance, Sports Sponsorship and Conference Grant. This is how it’s all broken down: 

Academic Enhancement Fund ($24.6 million): A payment of $68,000 is sent to each Division 1 institution to use for academic support service for student athletes. 

Basketball Fund ($202 million): This is the one category where money goes back into athletic departments with no direction for its use. The NCAA distributes money to the conferences based on how many teams participated in the men’s basketball tournament and how many games each team played. Conferences are encouraged to split the money equally to all schools, but some conferences provide stipends to those who actually participated in the games. The payment amount from the NCAA is determined by each school’s performance in the tournament based on a six-year rolling average. 

In the 2011 – 12 season, each school participating in each game, excluding the championship game, received one unit (payment) of $242,000. No units are awarded for the championship game. 

In 2012 – 13, each basketball unit is worth $245,500. 

Here is how much money one team would make as they advance through the tournament: 

Round 1: $245,500

Round 2: $491,000

Sweet 16: $736,500

Elite 8: $982,000

Final Four: $1,227,500

However, units have six-year lives, so projections by Forbes have a Final Four participant this year earning its conference $7.7 million over the life of the units.

Grant-In-Aid Fund ($134.7 million): Distribution of money to schools is decided based off the number of scholarships given out the previous year. 

Student Athlete Assistance Fund ($66.1 million): This fund is made up of two separate funds: the Student Athlete Opportunity Fund ($51 million) and Special Assistance Fund ($15.1 million). Any athlete can use the Student Athlete Opportunity Fund even after they no longer partaking due to medical reasons or have surpassed eligibility. Students apply to this fund for a variety expenses. For example, they could apply if they need assistance with graduate school application fees or testing fees. 

Sports-Sponsorship Fund ($67.3 million): The schools with more non-revenue sports receive more money. This fund is used to help inspire schools to sponsor more sports. 

Conference Grant ($8.3 million): This grant is used to enhance officiating programs, compliance and enforcement, diversity, and drug and gambling education.

With regards to the Student Athlete Assistance Fund, Maryland recently brought to light an interesting question of whether student athletes are utilizing the resources available to them. Maryland recently used funds from the Student Athlete Opportunity Fund to purchase iPads for all it student athletes. Given that Maryland recently cut sports, many were upset with the move. 

However, Maryland quickly issued a statement saying the funds were from the Student Athlete Opportunity Fund, monies from which cannot be used to fund operating expenses, but instead must be used for educational purposes. 

Curious as to why Maryland had enough money in its fund to buy the iPads, BusinessofCollegeSports.com founder Kristi Dosh held an unofficial Twitter poll asking athletic administrators across the country whether or not student athletes utilize this money. Most of the responses Dosh received indicated that student athletes aren’t applying to use the funds, despite the administrator’s insistence that student athletes know about the fund. A couple inferred that perhaps the paperwork is too much trouble. Only one school, out of about a dozen, indicated its student athletes routinely use up all the money in the fund. 

Are you surprised at how March Madness money is divided up? For more information on just how much conferences take home from the tournament, check out Kristi’s piece from last year on ESPN.com.

Follow Mackenzie on Twitter: @KenzieThirkill

BY: CAITLYN LAWRENCE

Division I basketball is led by a powerhouse of six conferences (the Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, ACC, and Pac-12), but is it possible that there are conferences on the outside trying to edge their way in? After securing eight-year partnerships with ESPN, CBS Sports Network, and NBC Sports Group for its media television rights, the Atlantic 10 Conference looks as though it is making strides towards becoming a more dominant force in NCAA Division I basketball.

This new media agreement is linked to the conference’s basketball success. Outside of the big-six conferences, the A-10 is the only conference to have 41 at-large NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament selections in the past 20 years, including three last year. In the past decade, the A-10 has had 62 postseason appearances, and for the fifth year in a row, the Atlantic 10 has had 12 at-large selections, the seventh most among all other DI institutions, placing the A-10 right behind the big six conferences.

That success surely played an integral role in the A-10′s new television deal.

The agreement reached will more than double the amount of Atlantic 10 basketball exposure. There will be 146 men’s basketball exposures and 46 exposures for women’s basketball programming. For women’s basketball, that is a considerable increase of 77 percent. These appearances will be distributed among the three networks: ESPN, CBS Sports Network, and NBC Sports Network expanding the exposure of A-10 basketball. This new agreement will allow the Atlantic 10 to reach over 33 million television households, which is about 33 percent of the US television market.

This exposure will contribute to the success of Atlantic 10 basketball popularity, in turn promoting the schools of the conference. Success in sports often leads to increased student applicants. For example, the success of the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) basketball team during the 2011 NCAA tournament, translated into approximately $677 million in free advertising. This free advertising created an increase in admission inquiries by 350 percent. Therefore, basketball success can increase the interest of attending that institution, but the success is insignificant if there’s no reach to the public, which is why this media agreement is so important. With the Atlantic 10 being in 7 of the top 25 media markets in the US, this agreement could help popularize A-10 schools.

With the past success of the Atlantic 10 conference in DI basketball and the new exposure it is guaranteed with the new media agreement, it is possible more students, and potentially more student-athletes, will inquire about schools in this conference. This could increase the depth and level of this conference and maybe even give them the growth they need to stay competitive with the big six of Division I basketball.