Existing NCAA Corporate Ad Sponsors Kick In 50% Of Record Tournament Haul

Total spending by current NCAA corporate sponsors during the upcoming men's basketball tournament "has reached about 50% of the record ad revenue taken in" by CBS and Turner, up "markedly from about 40% last year," according to John Consoli of BROADCASTING & CABLE. Each corporate partner has "multi-year ad deals" and include NCAA Corporate Champions AT&T, Capital One and Coca-Cola. There also are 14 NCAA Corporate Partners. CBS Exec VP/Sports Ad Sales & Marketing John Bogusz said that moving the championship game from CBS to TBS this year "did not negatively impact sales because the tournament is primarily sold as part of packages." He did say that there are still "'a few windows' during the tournament that still have some ad inventory left." Consoli reported all sponsors of last year's pregame (Infiniti), halftime (AT&T), bridge (Capital One) and postgame shows (Buick) "are also returning." Northwestern Mutual "will serve as presenting sponsor of the 'First Four' games on Turner's truTV," which begin tonight. AT&T, Capital One and Coke Zero "will be co-presenting sponsors of the March Madness Live streaming, and there will be different sponsors for streaming on different types of mobile devices." Buick, Capital One and Coke Zero will co-sponsor the "iOS device streaming, while AT&T, Capital One and Infiniti will co-sponsor the Android streaming." Capital One "will sponsor streaming on Roku," while AT&T "will be the digital sponsor" on Windows. Bing for the second straight year "will be the 'Official Data Bracket' partner and 'Bracketologist' for NCAA March Madness." Bing Predict "will combine search data and social sentiment with access to over a decade of the NCAA's historical data, plus stats on team history, tournament performances, win-loss ratios and home vs. away stats to create tournament data for fans" (BROADCASTINGCABLE.com, 3/14).

NUMBERS NEVER LIE: AD AGE's Anthony Crupi noted the ratings for the championship game on TBS "will almost certainly fail to out-deliver" Duke's win over Wisconsin on CBS last year, as that was the "highest-rated title tilt" since '99. However, ad buyers said that they are "confident that Turner's team-specific simulcasts will help bulk up the final numbers." Two dedicated "Team Stream" simulcasts during the Final Four last year on TNT and truTV "accounted for 30% of Turner's overnight rating." One ad buyer said, "It'll all come down to the match-ups, and whether there's a big national draw in the final. You'd like to see a Duke or a North Carolina in there. If there's a big basketball school in there and the game's not a blowout, I think the simulcasts could help make up a lot of ground." Crupi noted while some ad units are "being held back in the Final Four and the championship game, anyone who buys in scatter won't get the benefit of a ratings guarantee." Buyers said that the "few stray spots that remain up for grabs" in the title game are "pricing north" of $1.5M per 30 seconds of airtime (ADAGE.com, 3/14).