NCAA Tournament run brought Gonzaga $406 million worth of media exposure

You couldn't buy the exposure the Zags got during their NCAA Tournament run

Gonzaga's run through the NCAA Tournament last season that yielded the program's first-ever appearances in the Final Four and championship game also yielded a wealth of local and national media exposure for the Bulldogs.

$406 million worth of wealth in media exposure, in fact. 

According to The Spokesman-Review, Gonzaga University hired San Francisco-based media tracking company Meltwater to estimate the value of Gonzaga's media coverage throughout the tournament. The company estimated the monetary value of the coverage to be worth $406 million.

The exposure on television, online and on social media helped boost interest in the university according to the report, which states early inquiries for the 2018-19 academic year are up by 10,000 compared to a year ago. Not to mention, new highs were reached for the university both in social media engagement and website traffic, with over 350,000 page views on the day of the title game alone.

"The opportunity to be in the spotlight gives us an opportunity to shine a light on our academic programs," Peter Tormey, a Gonzaga spokesman, told The Spokesman-Review. "We're able to reflect attention on the institution and why it's so strong."

Before this season, Gonzaga had never advanced past the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament -- doing so in 2015 and infamously coming up short in the Sweet Sixteen in the 2005-06 season with Adam Morrison steering the ship. 

In the 2016-17 season, Gonzaga carried a near-perfect 32-1 record into the NCAA Tournament and earned a No. 1 seed, winning five-straight before falling 71-65 to the North Carolina Tar Heels in the NCAA Tournament title game.