About 5% of in-game ad units for last year's tournament were still available when it beganGETTY IMAGES
CBS and Turner Sports have "sold out the linear TV inventory" for the NCAA Tournament "in record time," according to Anthony Crupi of AD AGE. The client roster is "primarily made up of automotive, insurance, telco, fast food and financial services brands." CBS Exec VP/Sports Sales & Marketing John Bogusz said that "not a scrap has been held back for scatter," thereby "closing the books on the tourney a full month before the opening tipoff." Crupi noted last year, roughly 5% of the in-game units "were still in play" when the opening game tipped off. The "fast-break sales push comes on the heels of Fox's breakneck sellout of Super Bowl LIV and Turner's record turnaround" with the '19 NBA All-Star Game. The clip at which the market is moving is a "function of sports' massive commercial impressions and the fact that there's little else on TV that can still move the marketing needle." Meanwhile, Bogusz is "quick to acknowledge that the steadfast backing" of the tournament's Corporate Champions and Corporate Partners "plays a significant role in moving in-game inventory." At the same time, he "notes that the high-visibility positions assumed by a General Motors or an AT&T often spur big buys from their competitors in the brand space" (ADAGE.com, 2/19).
