March Madness Digital & TV Ads More Than 95% Sold Despite Being Priced At A Premium

Advertisers for the 67-game '15 NCAA Tournament have "snapped up more than 95% of all available airtime in the linear TV broadcasts and the March Madness Live digital stream," according to sources cited by Anthony Crupi of AD AGE. Last year on CBS, TNT, TBS and truTV was the "second most-watched tourney in a decade," so ads are "priced at a premium." A 30-second ad "in April's title tilt on CBS is just north" of $1.5M, "nearly trebling the price for a single unit" in the '14 NBA Finals ($520,000). With no Winter Olympics "siphoning away first-quarter marketing dollars, the annual college hoops showcase will have a veritable stranglehold on sports spending for the next three weeks." Turner Broadcasting President David Levy said, "It's like we've been seeing for years with the Super Bowl, where everyone wants to roll out a new ad when they know everyone's watching. This year, you're going to see a lot of clients breaking new creative in March Madness." Fans can "expect to see fresh campaigns from the triad of NCAA Corporate Champions (AT&T, Coca-Cola, Capital One) and a host of other official partners that includes Allstate, Buick and Burger King." At least two marketers (Amazon Kindle and AT&T) "will air new spots developed by Turner Sports' in-house custom ad unit" (ADAGE.com, 3/10).

WILD THING: MULTICHANNEL NEWS' Mike Reynolds reported CBS Sports Exec VP/Sports Sales & Marketing John Bogusz laughed when "asked if 'Kentucky premium' units were being held in reserve" in case the team continues what "could be men’s college basketball’s first undefeated season" since '75-76. Bogusz: "We certainly want Kentucky to go far, but no, we are not holding units back for that." He added that inventory is "still available throughout the event." Bogusz said that the tournament’s sales strength "comes from the foundation of NCAA corporate champions and partners." On top of this base, Bogusz said that the marketplace "has yielded a number of deals in the automotive, telecom and fast food categories." Without specifying, he added that "all of the telecasts' enhancements/feature positions have been sold out" (MULTICHANNEL.com, 3/10).