An Economic Slam Dunk or March Madness? Assessing the Economic Impact of the NCAA Basketball Tournament

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball tournament qualifies as a sports mega-event, and cities across the United States compete vigorously with one another to host what is, by most measures, the premier intercollegiate sporting event in the United States. The promise of substantial economic impact has convinced cities to “invest” substantial sums of money to meet the demands of the NCAA. Boosters claim that the “Final Four” typically induces an influx of approximately 50,000 visitors as well as exposure to millions of television viewers. Does this fan and viewer interest translate into elevated levels of economic activity for the host city? Our analysis of Men’s NCAA tournaments since 1970 and Women’s NCAA tournaments since 1982 indicates that the economic impact for host cities for the year the event is hosted is on average small and negative for the NCAA Men’s Final Four and small and positive for the Women’s FF. The economic impact, particularly for the men’s tournament, appears to fall short of booster claims of a financial windfall. Furthermore, the economic impact does not correlate with either the size of the facility or the size of the city.. The sum of the evidence indicates that cities ought to exercise restraint in undertaking public spending to host the NCAA Final Four. JEL Classification Codes: L83, R53