In 1984, Boston College’s quarterback Doug Flutie threw a 48-yard Hail Mary pass within the final seconds of the game against University of Miami for the winning touchdown. This was the critical play that put Flutie and Boston College football in the public eye.
As a result of this increase in popularity, Boston College reported a 30% increase in applications the following year, thus establishing the “Flutie Effect.” The quarterback went on to play in the NFL, for teams such as the New England Patriots and the Chicago Bears, but his admissions phenomenon lived on in the college world of sports. The Flutie Effect is a prevalent theory that states a winning team raises the profile of the school, through championships or players, and ultimately attracts more prospective students.
“[Sports are] a point of pride, branding,” Upper Arlington High School Student Life Director Spencer Smith said. “That brand, when you send a team across the country to another community, you’re sending your university, your brand to compete. And people can take pride in that, they can learn about that university through the team; how they act, compete, what they look like. All those kinds of things.”
The Ohio State University (OSU), a school in Upper Arlington’s backyard, is a prime example of advertising their name through success.
“Our teams have been extremely successful winning conference and national championships in a number of sports,” OSU Senior Vice President & Wolfe Foundation Endowed Athletic Director Gene Smith said. “Buckeye athletics has always been a part of the reason that many students apply to OSU.” Smith concurs, referring to USA Today’s recent report on OSU’s $251.6 million total revenue in athletics.
“[It’s] one of the biggest athletic departments in the country… they’re the highest revenue generating athletic department in the country,” S. Smith said.
Women’s sports are also branding their names in history, such as University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s volleyball team, ranked second in the nation. Their game against University of Nebraska Omaha was hosted in Memorial Stadium and gathered an attendance of 92,003, actively setting a record for the largest crowd to watch a women’s sporting event in the United States.
Next to that recent national headline is the University of Colorado at Boulder’s (CU) football program. Deion Sanders recently took over as head coach and has helped the team become the most-watched program in college football.
“There may be more kids that are considering going to Boulder now because he’s kind of put them on the map,” S. Smith said. “They’re on TV every week. People want to be associated with that brand.”
As the Flutie Effect theorizes, the more attention a school gains, the more interest students have.
“We have kids that are dying to go to Boulder,” Moore said. “So you know, if they were to win and have him… it increases it because when you have thousands of more applications, it becomes more competitive.”
The average viewership of CU football from 2022 to 2023 increased by 2,336%. The anticipated rivalry game between Boulder and Colorado State University brought in 7.24 million viewers, drawing attention to the effect rivalries in sports can have on national attention.
Smith noted one of the most prevalent rivalries was that of OSU and the University of Michigan (UM).
“The rivalry with UM has always been significant and it maintains an international interest,” he said.
“I think once you go to a school that catches on really quickly, right? I mean, as a freshman, you’re kind of immersed in that whole culture of, you know, we don’t like this team or this is our big rival,” Moore said.
Collegiate sports: the history, the rivalries, the tournaments, the overtimes, the spirit, and the excitement. All of these factors add to the obsession with American athletics and can ultimately be a deciding factor between schools for an individual.
“Hence the reason or part of the reason that college sports exist for universities, to brand that reaches many people across the country, whether it be TV or coming to your town. So it’s just their athletes are ambassadors for universities in many ways,” S. Smith said. “You see this in March Madness. So when a team does well, maybe they have a big upset… not just student athletes, but just students want to go there.”
Winning sports teams raise the profile of a school, attracting prospective students from across the country.
“It just sounds crazy that we’re even talking about athletics impacting the landscape of admissions,” Moore said. “But it definitely is the reality.”
