TOLEDO, Ohio (June 19, 2024) – The University of Toledo Athletic Department produces an average of over $81 million in annual advertising value, according to the study conducted by Collegiate Consulting, an Atlanta-based consulting firm that specializes in providing services such as feasibility and benchmarking reports for collegiate athletic programs. Toledo launched a website, highlighting the entire study – The Value of Intercollegiate Athletics; University of Toledo Athletics Impact Study (utrockets.com)
The study, which looked at data from 2021 through 2023, also found the overall economic impact of Toledo Athletics on the Toledo area in fiscal year 2023 was $79.34 million. This figure includes factors such as athletic events, sports camps, special events, athletic employees, and the impact of student-athletes who remain in the Toledo area after graduation, among many others. Toledo Athletics annually hosts more than 300,000 visitors to campus.
The study helps contextualize the value brought to the University and the Toledo community by assigning a dollar value to the many benefits of sponsoring a successful Division I athletics program, according to Toledo Vice President and Director of Athletics Bryan B. Blair.
“We’ve spoken a lot about #TeamToledo the last few years, which highlights the power of the University, the community and Toledo Athletics operating as a team, celebrating each other’s success and pulling in the same direction,” said Blair. “Our department has a profound impact on the vitality of our University and the Toledo community, and this study does a great job of attaching facts and figures to that sentiment.
“The achievements of our student-athletes help shine a positive light on the University of Toledo, as well as contribute to the national notoriety and economic prosperity of our community. The best part about this study is we are just getting started and have so much more potential. The success of the University and community are major factors in our trajectory, and we look forward to growing the Toledo brand throughout the country in years to come.”
The study included an examination and analysis of a variety of factors, including, but not limited to media exposure, brand visibility, net tuition, event visitor data, student-athlete volunteerism, academic institutional impact and others. Each factor was calculated utilizing category-specific direct and indirect multipliers to create conservative calculations for compiling the value of intercollegiate athletics to the University, the City of Toledo and Northwest Ohio.
The local and national profile of Toledo Athletics has grown significantly in recent years. Just a few examples include:
- The football team has appeared on national television 19 times in the past two years, with a total viewership of more than 10 million.
- The men’s basketball team (16) and the women’s basketball team (5) has made a combined 21 national TV appearances over the past two years.
- Football player and first-round selection Quinyon Mitchell was featured prominently in this year’s NFL Draft, which drew 12.1 million viewers on the first day of the event. Mitchell also appeared in numerous national media stories leading up to and following the draft.
- The football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball programs ranked first or second in the MAC in attendance in each of the past four years.
- Over the past two years, Toledo has won an unprecedented 11 Mid-American Conference Championships, twice received the Cartwright Award as the top program in the league, made five appearances in NCAA championships and played in two bowl games.
- Over the past two years, Toledo has won 76 conference games in the sports of football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball, the most of any FBS school in the country.
- Toledo was awarded the Reese Trophy and the Jacoby Trophy in the same year for the first time ever as the Mid-American Conference’s top men’s and women’s athletic programs, respectively, for the 2023-24 season. The Rockets received the Reese Trophy for a third-consecutive year, and the Jacoby Trophy for the third time overall.
- In the 2022-23 season, the Rockets had their highest finish ever in the Learfield Cup standings, which ranks all NCAA Division I programs based on national championship competition.
Collegiate Consulting has conducted similar revenue and economic studies for Valparaiso University, University of West Florida, Coker University, Little Priest College, and Winona State University over the past 36 months.