Commentary
March Madness Media Marquee
- by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, March 19, 2007
As March Madness continues to be one of the marquee franchises in televised sports, over $2.73 billion has been spent on network TV advertising during the tournament games from 2000-2006 according to TNS Media Intelligence. For 2007, ad spending is expected to surpass $500 million in 2007- an all-time high, and a 65 to 70 percent increase in the current decade.
NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Network TV Advertising Revenue By Year Growth Estimates | |
Year | Total Ad Spend ($ Millions) |
2000 | 310 |
2001 | 310 |
2002 | 348 |
2003 | 362 |
2004 | 436 |
2005 | 468 |
2006 | 497 |
Total | 2,731 |
Source: TNS Media Intelligence | |
According to the report, he post-season NCAA Tournament games bring in more television ad revenue than the post-season games in professional football, basketball and baseball.
Post-Season TV Ad Revenue (2006) | |
Sport | Total Ad Spend ($ Millions) |
NCAA Men's Basketball | 497 |
Pro Basketball | 424 |
Pro Football (includes Super Bowl) | |
423 | |
Pro Baseball | 382 |
Source: TNS Media Intelligence | |
Jon Swallen, senior vice president of Research at TNS Media Intelligence , says "Among the major televised sporting championships, only the Super Bowl commands a higher advertising rate than the NCAA Men's Basketball championship game. College hoops has higher ad pricing than the major college football bowl games, the NBA championship, and the MLB World Series."
Network TV Ad Rates For Major 2006 Sporting Events | |
Avg. :30 Rate ($000) | |
NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament (2006) | |
Championship Game | $1,118 |
Semi-final Games | $653 |
National Football League (2006) | |
Super Bowl XL | $2,500 |
AFC & NFC Championship Games | $900-$956 |
Divisional Playoff Games | $547-$600 |
Other Events (2006) | |
College Football - BCS Bowl Games | $268-$530 |
NBA Championship Series | $359 |
MLB World Series | $400 |
Source: TNS Media Intelligence | |
The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament has a core group of TV sponsors that invest heavily in the broadcasts year after year. On average, 83 percent of the Tournament's network TV ad revenue comes from returning advertisers. (Over the past seven years, the top 10 advertisers in the Tournament have spent almost $1.1 billion to promote their brands in the games, accounting for about 40 percent of total network TV ad revenue generated by the event.
2000-2006 Top 10 Advertisers In NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament And Number Of Years Advertised((Includes Early Round Games, Semi Final Games, and Championship Game) | ||
Company | Total Ad Spend($ Millions) | # Of Years |
1 General Motors | $422 | 7 of 7 |
2 AT&T Inc | $111 | 7 of 7 |
3 Anheuser-Busch | $96 | 7 of 7 |
4 Coca-Cola | $88 | 6 of 7 |
5 Sabmiller Plc | $84 | 7 of 7 |
6 Microsoft | $76 | 6 of 7 |
7 Pepsico | $67 | 7 of 7 |
8 US Govt | $52 | 7 of 7 |
9 Daimlerchrysler AG | $49 | 7 of 7 |
10 Sprint Nextel | $48 | 6 of 7 |
Subtotal Top 10 | $1,093 | |
Source: TNS Media Intelligence | ||
Nearly75 percent of all measured national TV advertising dollars that are spent in college basketball each year are spent in the Tournament. Regular season games account for the remaining 25 percent, and there are over 300 nationally televised men's basketball games each season on broadcast and cable networks.
By comparison, college and professional football TV ad revenue is distributed exactly the opposite with 75 to 80 percent coming from the regular season and 20 to 25 percent from the post-season.
Network TV Advertising Revenue(2005-06 Regular Season vs. Post-Season | ||
Total Ad Spend ($ Millions) | % Of Total | |
Men's College Basketbal | $662 | 100% |
Regular Season | $165 | 25% |
NCAA Tournament | $497 | 75% |
College Football | $506 | 100% |
Regular Season | $396 | 78% |
Post-Season Bowl Games | $110 | 22% |
Professional Football | $2,041 | 100% |
Regular Season | $1,618 | 79% |
Post-Season Playoffs | $260 | 13% |
Super Bowl XL | $163 | 8% |
Source: TNS Media Intelligence | ||
In 2007, CBS will again offer "NCAA March Madness on Demand." All games from the first three rounds of the Tournament will be streamed live over the internet, available at no charge to PC users with a broadband connection.
For the 2006 Tournament, CBS signed up 18 advertisers to sponsor these webcasts including Courtyard by Marriott, Dell Computers, Lowe's, Pontiac, and State Farm Insurance. The aforementioned advertisers also ran spots in the TV broadcasts. Advertising units on the webcasts include billboard displays around the perimeter of the viewing window and video ads during the periods when the television broadcasts are in commercial break.
For more about TNS, please visit here.
Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.