College football does more than just create excitement for sports fans and promote friendly rivalries. According to a study done by Michael Anderson, an economist from the University of California – Berkeley, it can mean the difference between an average school and a school with serious interest. Anderson decided to show his class the principle of propensity score design by taking the number of applications, donations, perceived reputation and average in-state test scores for applicants and comparing them to the school’s football statistics.
What he found surprised him. The school statistics showed an increase in each category immediately following a successful football season. The largest increases were following seasons that had a huge upset or a dramatic turnaround. “There are effects, but they’re not so large you’d want to run a huge deficit on the team”, said Anderson. “You definitely still want the team to break even.” Anderson makes clear; his study is in no way a reference to be used in determining the effectiveness or sustainability athletic spending, but a good football team can increase exposure, funding, academic interest and bring in higher quality students.
Michael Granof, an accounting professor at the University of Texas, says a lot has to do with the expectation of the team. “At Texas, you’re expected to win,” said Granof. “If you have a 9-4 season, that’s not too hot around here.” Following the Longhorns victory over USC and claiming the 2006 national title, the school admissions department said they saw a 14% increase in freshman applications.
The Aggies, who have been playing roughly .500, are instead seeing a massive revamping of the entire athletics department, not just their football team. Average is being seen as a failure, especially regarding Texas football. There is no evidence showing that the lackluster performance of the Aggies has hurt the school academically, but there is a huge amount of money being spent on acquiring new management and improving facilities. Money that may never come back.
Granof has his concerns regarding the huge athletic budgets many academic facilities run. Very few departments can support their own programs and even fewer contribute back to the academic portion of the school. “Professional-type athletics is just a horrible business model for universities,” he said. “Whether there is a transfer (to academics) or not, at best it’s pretty small and it can only happen at Texas, Ohio State, Michigan and schools like that. Other than that, athletics are heavily subsidized.” But, he also admits that after a big season there tends to be an increase in large donations and a revitalized school spirit.