TV Ad Reach Grows For Men's March Madness

This year's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament has centered on the top teams winning the games in front of them, culminating in the second Final Four ever featuring all No. 1 seeds. Despite the event largely going as expected, though, audiences have been tuning in en masse, creating a major boost for advertisers.

• Data from iSpot shows that men's college basketball is the No. 1 programming on TV by share of ad reach (new airings only) from Mar. 20-30, with 25.21% of impressions in that timeframe.
• By raw TV ad impressions, that represents a 9% year-over-year increase from last year's tournament (which featured UConn largely running roughshod through the field).
• The increase in TV ad reach for this year's tournament is yet another sign that live sports retain major value for brands, and a signal to networks that the steep (and rising) rights fees are worthwhile.
• Some of the biggest beneficiaries of March Madness's rise so far, among brand advertisers: AT&T Inc. (3.94% of ad impressions), The Home Depot (3.78%), GEICO (3.06%) and Buffalo Wild Wings (2.27%) – all major NCAA corporate partners.

Want to discover more about TV advertising trends and the data behind the NCAA Tournament's success this year? Get in touch with an analyst at The Measure today.