Could Advertising During March Madness be a Slam Dunk for Your Brand?
“Advertising around March Madness reaffirms a brand’s place in the community,” says Dave Neway, VP of Ad Sales Marketing at TEGNA. “The tournament offers advertisers a lot of frequency and exposure to a valuable audience, and by aligning with the unique content opportunities that TEGNA offers, your brand has an opportunity to be the talk of the town.”
If there’s one lesson we learned from all the big sporting events in February, it’s that nationwide audiences live for sports content. Following suit in delivering big audiences, the upcoming March Madness tournament is poised to score big ratings.
Last year, 16.9 million estimated U.S. viewers watched the 2021 championship game between Baylor and Gonzaga. Streaming was up last year too – more than 1 billion minutes were streamed across 32 games in just two days, making it the most-streamed tournament to date.
But high viewership also means less productive employees. According to WalletHub, the average worker spends six hours watching the tournament, and 56% of millennials are willing to miss work deadlines to catch the games, making this a great time to market to millennials.
But these audiences are doing more than just watching the games. In 2021, 47 million people filled out brackets – and according to ESPN, the network alone collected 16.2 million brackets; at peak times, fans submitted more than 15,000 brackets per minute.
Audience Breakdown
So who exactly are these engaged viewers? According to data from the Intercollegiate Fan Report and MRI Simmons*:
- There are approximately 182 million college sports fans in the world, making it the largest fan base in the U.S. over the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL.
- College sports fans are much more likely to be in the 35-64-year-old age range than the general population, and 51% of the March Madness audience is between the ages 25-54*.
- *This audience is most likely to be college-educated males*. However, 42% of college sports fans are female.
- *87% of March Madness viewers prefer to watch games at home.*
- 73% of March Madness viewers also watch local TV news.*
- Almost half of March Madness fans have $100K+ HHI.*
*© MRI-Simmons 2021. The data herein derives from a confidential, proprietary syndicated product owned by GfK US MRI, LLC.”
Additionally, WalletHub detailed how these audiences spend their money before, during, and after the games:
- There’s a 75% increase in indoor restaurant capacity ahead of the tournament.
- Orders for chicken wings increase 23% during the games.
- Beer sales increase 19% during the tournament.
- After losses, pizza and dessert orders increase by 19% and 9% respectively.
How can your brand reach this attractive audience?
TEGNA delivers proven results through simplified multi-platform advertising solutions that connect your business to the audiences that matter most via Linear Broadcast TV, OTT Advertising, Digital Solutions, including Targeted Display & Retargeting, and offers Campaign measurement and optimization with TEGNA Attribution. TEGNA stations also offer a variety of customizable content sponsorships that include:
- Bracket Mayhem: a multi-layered bracket contest that will engage fans throughout the NCAA Basketball Tournament, offering hoops fans three chances to win.
- Full Court Fever: a program to drive awareness, traffic, and consumer brand engagement by inviting fans to submit a photo and description of their favorite basketball rituals via social media.
- Game Day Guru: a content-driven, integrated marketing program that captures the true meaning of being a football fan. Through a series of quiz questions, fans will answer fun facts about the history of the game, rules, and other topics that only a true fan will know.
- Trick Shot Challenge: a multi-platform campaign utilizing user-generated content in which fans upload a video of their best trick shot via Facebook for a chance to win a prize.
What’s the value provided to your brand?
“Advertising around local teams reaffirms a brand’s place in the community,” says Dave Neway, VP of Ad Sales Marketing at TEGNA. “The tournament offers advertisers a lot of frequency and exposure to a valuable audience, and by aligning with the unique content opportunities that TEGNA offers, your brand has an opportunity to be the talk of the town.”
SOUND GOOD?
If you’re thinking of how you might amplify your brand’s March Madness efforts, let’s get in touch.
