Sponsors come and go. That’s just the nature of the business. But the NCAA’s cast of corporate partners and champions (17 of them) has been remarkably stable, given how much these deals cost -- into the tens of millions annually. What really stands out are the three at the "champion" level -- AT&T, Coca Cola and Capital One. AT&T’s deal was inherited when it bought Cingular, but the Capital One and Coke deals grew organically over time with the help of some truly expert marketing minds.
Other NCAA sponsorship thoughts:
- MELT Chair & CEO Vince Thompson has been a guiding force for Coke’s 20-year-old sponsorship from the agency side through the many internal disruptions inside the soft drink’s marketing department.
- It’s hard to think about Capital One’s different NCAA campaigns since '10 without acknowledging VP Byron Daub and Rick Jones from FishBait Marketing, who helped launch the sponsorship.
- AT&T Director of Corporate Sponsorships Jamie Kerr has been around since the start of the NCAA’s longest-running deal. Can you remember when AT&T didn’t own “At The Half?”
To see sponsorship rosters for every D-I school, check out SBJ Atlas and sign up for a demo. And see more analysis in the latest SBJ College newsletter.
| NCAA sponsors |
| BRAND |
CATEGORY |
SINCE |
| AT&T |
Wireless |
2001 |
| Coca-Cola |
Beverage |
2002 |
| Reese's |
Candy |
2008 |
| Capital One |
Bank, credit card |
2010 |
| Buick |
Auto |
2011 |
| Unilever |
Personal care |
2011 |
| Buffalo Wild Wings |
Hangout |
2013 |
| Marriott Bonvoy |
Hotel |
2017 |
| Nabisco |
Cookie, cracker |
2017 |
| Wendy's |
QSR |
2017 |
| Pizza Hut |
Pizza |
2018 |
| Geico |
Auto, home insurance |
2019 |
| Invesco |
Asset management |
2019 |
| Nissan |
Auto |
2019 |
| Great Clips |
Hair salon |
2020 |
| Aflac |
Supplemental insurance |
2021 |
| LG |
TV, home appliances |
2021 |
