Michigan's NCAA tournament run generates up to $55M in free media exposure

The Wolverine basketball team may not have come home to Ann Arbor as national champions, but its successful run in the NCAA tournament was worth millions to the University of Michigan.

Crain's Detroit Business reports that the university received up to $55 million in free media exposure over the course of six tournament games.

The figure is an approximation from the Ann Arbor-based Joyce Julius & Associates Inc., which measures the impact of sponsorships across all forms of media. The firm calculated the worth of the vast, national publicity Michigan received by comparing the free exposure to the going rate for paid, national ads.

The firm told Crain's that U-M likely received between $10 million to $15 million in exposure during tournament events, through uniforms, announcer mentions and television graphics, as well as $40 million worth of exposure in print articles, television programs and ads.

• Read the full story in Crain's.

Kellie Woodhouse covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at kelliewoodhouse@annarbor.com or 734-623-4602 and follow her on twitter.