GOP debate at CU-Boulder: Worth it?

In return for covering the costs of a nationally televised Republican presidential debate most students and faculty members won't be able to attend, University of Colorado leaders say they expect "unprecedented" media coverage and a boost to the campus's reputation.

But just how much publicity value CU will truly garner from the debate is the subject of speculation. Universities and cities that have hosted similarly high-profile political events claim the benefits outweigh the costs, while CU students, angry that they'll be watching the debate on TV, question the university's rationale.

Faculty members, too, question the university's "obsession" with branding.

"Without any kind of attempt to provide a direct benefit to students, which is what the university should be doing in the first place, it's a real shaky argument that the media value is really that important," said Aaron Estevez-Miller of #StudentVoicesCount, the movement that formed when students learned that a limited number of tickets would be made available to the entire CU community. "I would just ask if you can remember any of the universities in 2012 that hosted presidential debates. I can't."

Fifty more tickets were released to students and faculty on Friday, bringing the total number of seats reserved for members of the CU community to 150. The total audience size will be 1,000.

Despite the limited number of students who will be in attendance at the Coors Events Center on Wednesday, the university is trying to make the debate a teaching and learning moment with pre-debate events, discussions and classroom visits from journalists and other debate-related visitors.

In a memo to the campus, Chancellor Phil DiStefano also encouraged professors to integrate topics such as presidential politics, campaigns, economics and media into their lesson plans.

He argued that, in exchange for covering the costs of the debate, CU will welcome 500 journalists to campus, whose stories and broadcast packages will "extend the reputation" of the university and "increase the broad recognition of CU-Boulder's name."

"CU will be providing the Coors Events Center rental, police, security and some other expenses at no cost," DiStefano wrote. "These are the basic conditions for all venues hosting televised debates this year. In return, our university will be garnering unprecedented national and international media coverage. More than 20 million people around the world watched each of the previous two Republican presidential debates."

Though the university won't know exactly how much it's spending on the debate until after it's over, campus spokesman Ryan Huff said the bill will likely be less than $1 million.

Republican presidential candidate and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, left, speaks as rival Donald Trump looks on during the CNN Republican presidential debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Sept. 16. (Mark J. Terrill / AP)

"These costs will be paid for via private fundraising and insurance premium rebates," Huff said. "Taxpayer and tuition money will not be used. We believe the worldwide CU name recognition and earned media equivalent from CNBC's debate programming — as well as broadcast, print and online coverage from 500 journalists — will be well worth our efforts."

'Best decision'

What exactly does "unprecedented" publicity look like? Lynn University may have one answer.

The small, private school with 2,500 students in Boca Raton, Fla., estimated it earned $63 million in publicity value when it hosted the final presidential debate in 2012 between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. The event produced huge amounts of social media and web traffic and journalists from around the world produced more than 33,000 news stories.

To measure the debate's impact, the university's Office of Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment worked with market research firm Nielsen, the Palm Beach County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Enigma Research Corporation and two media monitoring services.

"It's not a perfect science and it wasn't calculated in a perfect way, but anytime you have the sitting president of the United States come to your campus and you are engaging in worldwide conversations, it's important," said Greg Malfitano, Lynn's senior vice president for administration and development. "We made an investment (to host the debate) and we didn't know exactly what was going to happen when it was over, but looking back, it was one of the best decision's we could've made."

The university spent $3.5 million on the debate, but Malfitano said some of that money went toward infrastructure and technology upgrades that students are still benefiting from. This fall, the university saw its largest freshman class since 2006 and Malfitano gives the debate some credit.

He and the university's president gave up their seats to students, which he felt exemplified Lynn's overall goal for hosting the event.

"It was really about the student experience and we recognized that early on," he said.

For hosting the first presidential debate in 2012 between Obama and Romney, the University of Denver estimated it earned $56 million worth of publicity.

Kevin Carroll, a DU spokesman, said he didn't know how much the university invested in the debate. Denver police reported spending $500,000 to provide security.

In addition to the publicity value, the debate made alumni — one of a university's biggest sources for donations — "very happy," Carroll said.

"It's hard to put your calculator to it, but that's really good, goodwill," Carroll said. "It's hard to tell a student that there's a direct correlation to their immediate moment at the university, but I think it was one of a series of things that we've done to really improve our stature in the community and our reputation."

'Certainly wrong'

The value of that media coverage may be inflated, however, according to Victor Matheson, a professor for College of the Holy Cross who studies the economic impacts of events, among other things.

Matheson said there's no doubt the debate could have a small, direct economic impact for the city of Boulder, but the publicity value the university is expecting is unrealistic.

"I don't know of any economists who really put any sort of stock into the numbers that they throw around," he said.

Often, publicity numbers are calculated by multiplying the number of mentions or stories by the advertising rate for that event, Matheson said, but that can lead to an "over-the-top" exaggeration.

He said there's a "huge" diminishing return each time the university's name gets mentioned on air or in print. It's the same reason why Budweiser doesn't buy every commercial in the Superbowl — it loses its effect after the first or second time, he said.

Matheson also believes that targeted advertising has a much bigger impact on consumers than simple name recognition.

"There's something being said if I have 30 seconds of actual time saying 'Hey, come to Boulder, come to the University of Colorado, home of five Nobel laureates, home of the Pearl Street Mall, home of tech companies and government research labs,'" Matheson said. "That's something you can actually target and that has some long-term value to you, as opposed to saying 'Yeah, we're here in Boulder, Colo., and we're having a debate.'"

Though he agrees that Boulder and CU have great "money shots" for TV, Matheson argued that most people won't be surprised to learn that Colorado has nice views and a beautiful flagship campus.

"I don't think any economist has a problem with the idea that you should step forward and host these sorts of events," he said. "The costs are relatively mild here. Some congestion for a couple days, some security, some expenses on the part of the institution, those you'll probably make back. But thinking that there's this wildly large benefit on top of that is almost certainly wrong."

'Not what I expected'

Officials are projecting that the debate will be a win for the city of Boulder, too.

In Cleveland, the site of the first Republican presidential debate this year, tourism officials are hoping to capitalize on the 24 million viewers who were introduced to the city via the debate.

"In terms of when they'll come visit, we can't say and we obviously have a job to do as the convention and visitors bureau to get information in front of them that gives them a little bit more about Cleveland," said Emily Lauer, spokeswoman for Destination Cleveland. "But if we convert even a very small percentage of 24 million, that's a win for Cleveland."

For Boulder, it might be a chance to show viewers the city in a new, more balanced light.

"There might be some people that have heard about Boulder because of some of the policies or ordinances that the voters have voted on that may not align with their political views," said Mary Ann Mahoney, executive director of the Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau. "My hope is that they may look at Boulder with a different lens and say 'Oh wow, that's not what I expected.'

"It also opens the university up to potentially new audiences that think their student wouldn't get a balanced education there."

Sarah Kuta: 303-473-1106, kutas@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/sarahkuta