• by Danielle Oster , March 18, 2025

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Celsius is making the most of March Madness.

The energy drink brand signed name, image, and likeness (NIL) agreements with one player from every single team in the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournament for its “Energizing the Madness” campaign, following the “selection Sunday” bracket determinations on March 16.

With 32 teams in each tournament, that’s a total of 64 teams represented, and marks Celsius’ largest NIL initiative to date. With the new additions, Celsius expands its roster of college basketball players to 136.

In a statement, Celsius CMO Kyle Watson said that the campaign was designed to “embody the energy and chaos that makes this tournament so special” and reflects “a true illustration of the Celsius ‘Live Fit’ lifestyle” at the core of the brand’s “mission.”

Among the players reprresented are college basketball stars like UNC’s RJ Davis, Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr, LSU’s Aneesah Morrow, Kam Jones of Marquette, USC’s Kiki Iriafen, Memphis’ PJ Haggerty, and Olivia Miles of Notre Dame.

The brand highlighted the new signings on Instagram under the hashtag “#energizingthemadness,” with signed players posting about the news to their own audiences on their personal social media pages.

The expansive nature of the “Energizing the Madness” campaign seems to reflect a maximalist marketing strategy for Celsius.

“We're broadening some of the consumer segments that we're going after, and targeting, with our strategy of more people, more places and more often,” Celsius Holdings Chairman and CEO John Fieldly said during a recent earnings call with investors.

The campaign follows news last month that Celsius parent company Celsius Holdings agreed to acquire Alani Nutrition LLC, parent company for the energy drink brand Alani Nu, for around $1.8 billion.

“The acquisition represents a unique opportunity to enhance the Celsius platform with a complementary profitable, better-for-you lifestyle energy brand focused on a differentiated consumer segment within the category,” Fieldly said during the recent earnings call, citing Alani’s approximate “92% female following” on social media. Fieldly estimated that the two brands combined gave the company a market share of about 16% in the U.S. energy drinks category.

Back in 2022, PepsiCo entered into a long-term distribution agreement with Celsius, and acquired a minority stake in Celsius Holdings. The precise details of how Celsius’ acquisition will impact the distribution agreement remains unclear.