Everyone is talking about Syracuse University right now— and the national attention is paying off.
SU stands to make millions from the television rights to the Final Four, but the city of Syracuse will also see its share of money from the national exposure.
Believe In Syracuse is a non-profit that aims to promote positive perceptions and to improve the quality of life in Central New York, and John DeSantis, who runs the non-profit, said the games are making his job easy.
“It’s not every year that you see a men’s and women’s program both in the Final Four. That’s something that you know you, you watch it on ESPN and it’s on all day. Jim Boeheim is on every show right now— it’s really exciting,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis says the pride is really growing in the community thanks to the men’s and women’s basketball programs headed to the Final Four. Now he hopes to turn that pride into progress.
“We channel the positive excitement about Syracuse into volunteerism and community action,” DeSantis said.
Believe In Syracuse has seen a 200 percent boost in support on social media from the national exposure.
On a regular day, they get about 4 fans on Facebook, but on Sunday after both teams made it to the Final Four, they had 200 likes.
DeSantis also said that the Final Four exposure is feeding Syracuse’s economy.
“Half of Manlius and half of Cortland County… people are coming up here to Marshall Street right now to buy their t-shirts. I mean, that’s stimulating the local economy.”
Syracuse was also the hot topic of discussion on social media.
More than 31 percent of all March Madness related mentions, according to Intelligence Platform Synthesio, was about Syracuse basketball.
The Orange also accounted for three of the top ten hashtags used during the second week of the Tournament, with #CuseMode at number five, #Syracuse at number seven, and #OrangeNation at number ten.
This all thanks to 30 student athletes trying to make their dreams come true.
