INDIANAPOLIS — As the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s men’s basketball team prepared to face UC-Irvine in the championship game of the National Invitation Tournament on Thursday night, the payoff for the Mocs coaches and players was easy to see.
Historic Hinkle Fieldhouse was full of screaming Mocs fans — including NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Owens. ESPN cameras were trained on the court and legendary broadcaster Fran Fraschilla was courtside to call the action. Outside of an NCAA Final Four, this was just about as big as it can get for Chattanooga basketball.
But what value does this moment have for the broader UTC community, and how can Chattanooga take advantage of this shining moment in the spotlight?
That value is maybe a little harder to calculate, but the UTC Athletics Department has tried. According to figures provided by UTC Associate Athletic Director for Strategic Communication Corey Belonzi, the estimated value of the Mocs four nationally televised NIT games is worth between $1.9 million and $4 million, with games against Dayton, Bradley, Loyola Chicago and UC-Irvine all being broadcast on either ESPN or ESPN2.
“Just the exposure of being on ESPN and ESPN2 nationally for the past four to five weeks is hard to define,” said Ryan Jones, senior associate athletic director for advancement. “It’s hard to put a value on it, but I know this — there’s been a lot of talk about Chattanooga over the past month.”