RE: What's Better for Building Brand/Exposure? Football or Basketball
Clearly football. Butler, Gonzaga, and Wichita St. in basketball were mentioned, and we might as well throw in Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, and UTEP since they certainly haven't built their name recognition in football. But in all fairness to those basketball fans out there, football drives American culture and American money.
If you look at attendance alone, the national average attendance for NCAA Basketball in 2016 (Divisions 1, 2, and 3) was 2,168. Meanwhile the national average attendance for NCAA Football (Divisions 1, 2, and 3) was 13,268. If you say that football stadiums are just built with more seats, well why do you think that is? And why do six times as many people watch football as basketball even though you're dealing with the elements at football games and not sitting under an air-conditioned roof? It's just more popular, and for the most part, the schools known more for their football prowess (Notre Dame, LSU, Ohio State, Michigan) have more fans and are better known than your schools like Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, or UTEP who have always been recognized for their hoops.
Football is, and probably always will be, the bread winner. Aside from the uniqueness of the NCAA Tournament, football viewership is generally greater on TV, as well as butts in seats at the games. The only caveat to all this is that a school will play over 30 basketball games in the course of a season, and only 12 or 13 football games, meaning a good basketball program might get more airtime than a good football program would. But even given that, there's no comparison between the sheer amount of money that a good basketball program can generate for a school compared to what a good football program would generate. The most valuable college basketball program is the University of North Carolina, worth $26 Million according to Forbes. The most valuable college football program is the University of Texas, worth $152 Million. In the end, money talks, and football is clearly the winner. Mind you, the money from football is what keeps other college sports alive also, and builds even more exposure for your school.
(This post was last modified: 06-22-2017 04:51 PM by Volkmar.)
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