College sports is all about winning, and so is alumni donations. An analysis of gifts to Middlebury College published last month in the Journal of Sports Economics shows that a winning season in high-profile sports leads to more donations for the school.
The study also showed that former athletes are 22 percent more likely to give than their couch-potato counterparts, and that hockey players are more generous than football alums, but that there’s no difference in generosity between men and women.