Make up a number and you are right.
How much is free publicity worth to a struggling University of Colorado student who has very little money and is faced with paying down student loans sometime before the end of the decade? Nothing. But the people sitting in the ivy tower in Boulder at the University of Colorado are congratulating themselves for hiring Deion Sanders as the school’s football coach because Deion is making them invisible money. Pick a number, and that is how much invisible money the school has put into the bank. Forty-five million dollars? More? University of Colorado spokesperson Steve Hurlbert said school officials did some research and determined the “equivalent ad value” of Colorado’s media coverage this season and it totaled $90.55 million. The most important football booster on campus, the Colorado chancellor Phil DiStefano said he was not sure about that number but he could see the invisible money. “CU Boulder has been the epicenter of the national sports world, which has provided unprecedented exposure for our university across the country. I am impressed by the excitement that has permeated campus, which is less quantifiable but certainly as important as record-setting merchandise and ticket sales.”
The University of Colorado was never going to spend $90.55 million to promote itself. The football program got mentioned on various cable TV outlets and there is some print coverage and lots of words spoken about Sanders and the team on podcasts and mentions throughout the internet. But it is not worth anything and the invisible money is not trickling down to the faculty with salary increases for instructors or reductions in tuition or student fees. But there is invisible money out there. Ask the National Football League’s Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell. Glendale, Arizona lost money hosting the Super Bowl but Bidwell countered by saying think about how much free publicity Glendale got.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
