Could Horned Frogs’ Championship Run Force a ‘Flutie Effect’ For Fort Worth Real Estate?

After tonight’s game, we want the TCU Horned Frogs to know that they’re still the champions of our hearts here at Tarrant County Tuesday. Regardless, it has been a magical and impressive football season for the Frogs and their first-year head coach, Sonny Dykes.

Even from a die-hard, burnt-orange-bleeding, bow tie-wearing Realtor like myself, I have to admit it’s been pretty cool to see this small private college in little old Fort Worth being mentioned with the bluebloods of college football.

The Flutie Effect

In 1984 another smallish private university named Boston College played the pending powerhouse of the University of Miami. The last play of the game, a Hail Mary from 64 yards away, was thrown by Boston College’s 5-foot-9 quarterback Doug Flutie for the highly improbable victory. If this doesn’t give you chills, then something’s wrong with you.

Not only was that a clip of David beating Goliath, but it also gave so much attention to Boston College that, according to Forbes Magazine, the enrollment applications for Eagles, “increased 30 percent in the next two years.”

According to numerous articles and studies, the “Flutie Effect” is real. Colleges and universities that might not have the spendiest programs or the largest state institutions gain immediate interest with a big win or a short video of the campus lifestyle. Such attention and media can automatically garner newfound interest from many.

Not only do boosters and alums want to give to the next building fund, but incoming students from other states would have never heard of a school if not for the attention received from playing in a championship game. And yet, all of a sudden they have that school at the top their list.

TCU + Fort Worth = A Winning Combo

Not only will TCU gain attention from the championship game, but the City of Fort Worth will, too. According to those with knowledge of the student body at TCU, a large portion of students hail from Colorado and California. There are many reasons why so many students from those states attend the university, but a lot of it can be tracked to the overall success that former coach Gary Patterson and his teams have had over the past twenty years; including the 2011 Rose Bowl championship played in California.

Obviously the bright purple uniforms, the grit and class the team showed during the game, the beautiful scenes of the campus, and certainly of Fort Worth must have piqued their interest … but will it do the same now?

The ‘Flutie Effect’ on Fort Worth Real Estate

What we in the real estate industry are hopeful for is that those soon-to-be students will come to TCU and their deep-pocketed parents, (Have you seen tuition at TCU? No doubt these parents have deep pockets.) will come to love Fort Worth real estate as well.

As many know, home prices in Texas are vastly lower than in other states, there is no state income tax, you can play golf 350 days a year or pickleball 365 days a year, and the job and real estate market is still considered strong.

What a grand opportunity for TCU parents to invest their hard-earned money in a rental home for their students! Maybe parents will love the community so much that they’ll want to buy a second home or move to Cowtown full-time.

There are plenty of opportunities for rental, homestead, condo, or townhome properties within close proximity to the TCU campus.

So, is the “Flutie Effect” real? Only time will tell if the Horned Frogs’ success on the football field will turn into more incoming student interest or parents purchasing real estate. How great if it has an effect on the Fort Worth real estate community. Go Frogs!