The Flutie effect or Flutie factor is the increase in fame of an American university caused by a successful sports team. This is named for Boston College's Doug Flutie, whose game-winning Hail Mary pass in the 1984 game against the University of Miami purportedly boosted applications to the college the following year.
Boston College
Writing in the Spring 2003 edition of the Boston College Magazine, Bill McDonald, director of communications at Boston College’s Lynch School of Education determined that “Applications to BC did surge 16 percent in 1984 (from 12,414 to 14,398), and then another 12 percent (to 16,163) in 1985. But these jumps were not anomalous for BC, which in the previous decade had embarked on a program to build national enrollment using market research, a network of alumni volunteers, strategically allocated financial aid, and improvements to residence halls and academic facilities.” He also observed that “in 1997, one year after revelations about gambling resulted in a coach’s resignation, 13 student-athlete suspensions, an investigation by the NCAA, and hundreds of embarrassing media reports, applications for admission came in at 16,455, virtually unchanged from the previous year. Two years later, when applications jumped by a record 17 percent to 19,746, the surge followed a 4-7 year for football.” Going further back in history, he reported that applications had increased 9 percent in 1978, a year when BC football had its worst year ever, with a 0-11 record.
Mr. McDonald posed the question: “How does an idea like the 'Flutie factor' become sufficiently rooted that The New York Times cites it as a given without further comment and some universities invest millions of dollars in its enchanting possibilities?” He was provided with an answer by Barbara Wallraff, author of the “Word Court” column in The Atlantic Monthly: “It’s painful to fact-check everything. Media will often reprint what has been published, especially when it appears in reputable publications. ‘Flutie factor’ is a short, alliterative way to describe something that is complicated to explain. But what makes a good term is not always the literal truth.”
Other examples
According to a 2009 study, applications to a university whose men's basketball team played in the first round of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament rose by an average of 1% the following year. Teams with greater success saw larger rises; tournament winners typically saw applications increase by 7% to 8%. As most schools did not raise enrollment after participating in the tournament, the greater number of applications caused them to be more selective in their admissions.
Gonzaga
One alleged "Flutie Effect" occurred at Gonzaga University. The school had seen its undergraduate population drop from over 4,000 in 1990 to just under 2,800 in 1998, when the school had operated at a budget deficit for several years, seen declines in its credit rating and a shrinking endowment, and had reduced its staffing. A few faculty members suggested that Gonzaga athletics drop from Division I to a lower level.
During the 1998–99 school year, Gonzaga made an unexpected run to the Elite Eight of the 1999 NCAA tournament; that August, freshman enrollment jumped to 701. The Bulldogs won two games in each of the next two NCAA Tournaments, as freshman enrollment increased to 796 in 2000 and to a then-record 979 in 2001. In 2004, Rev. Robert Spitzer, then-Gonzaga University president, said that the team's success was responsible for the school receiving the $23 million required to build the Bulldogs' current basketball home of McCarthey Athletic Center, most of which was received through major gifts.