Your client
at the NCAA Final Four
Advertisers can connect with fans at the big games
By Diego Vasquez
Feb 22, 2010
March Madness brings in more national TV ad revenue than the playoffs for professional baseball, professional basketball or college football, and no wonder.
College basketball fans are a very desirable audience. They're young, with nearly half under age 44, and wealthy, with 42 percent boasting a household income of $75,000 or more.
To give their clients a little extra oomph at these hugely popular events, media buyers can also place their ad messages in the arenas and at pre-game events when the men's or women's Final Four are held during the first weekend in April.
Final Four attendees are often influential local businesspeople with whom advertisers can connect on a personal level through events that weekend, from fan festivals and foot races to all-star games.
To find out how to get your client at the Final Four, read on.
This is one in a Media Life series on buying out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.
Fast Facts
What
Advertising at the men's and women's college basketball Final Four, being held in Indianapolis and San Antonio, respectively, the first weekend in April.
Who
The NCAA handles all advertising and sponsorships at the Final Four and surrounding events. Participation is limited to NCAA corporate sponsors.
How it works
Out of the 88 championships sponsored by the NCAA, the Final Four is easily the organization's most high-profile championship event.
The men's and women's Final Fours draw more than 180,000 spectators combined for the three-day events.
There are at least half a dozen opportunities for advertisers to interact with basketball fans in the days before the semifinals and all the way through the final tipoff. The number and nature of the events vary from year to year, and the NCAA works with sponsors to plan them well ahead of time.
At this year's men's Final Four in Indianapolis, for example, Coca-Cola Zero will sponsor the Bracket Town fan festival at the Indiana Convention Center from April 1-5, an interactive event where fans can play games, watch basketball competitions, get autographs and hear musical performances.
Hershey’s Reese’s brand will sponsor a college basketball all-star game at Lucas Oil Stadium on Friday April 2, the night before the national semifinal games take place in the same venue.
And the following day Coca-Cola's vitaminwater will sponsor a series of youth basketball clinics for kids ages 8-16 at Butler University’s Hinkle Fieldhouse, the University of Indianapolis' Nicoson Hall and at Warren Central High School.
In San Antonio, where the women's Final Four will take place at the Alamodome, similar youth clinics will be held Friday, April 2.
In Powerade's Dome Dribble, kids 18 and under will dribble basketballs just over a mile from the Alamodome to the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. Vitaminwater will hold youth clinics at Trinity University and Sam Houston High School.
On April 3, vitaminwater will also sponsor a 4K run alongside San Antonio's famed River Walk to benefit the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund.
On Sunday, April 4, the day of the women's national semifinals, State Farm will sponsor the River Rally, a pep fest also at the River Walk.
NCAA sponsors can also advertise on concourse signage at the arenas where the Final Four games are played by making a buy through the stadium itself.
All Final Four stadium signage is restricted to NCAA sponsors, and their signage trumps any existing signage at the stadium as part of the exclusivity agreement those sponsors have with the league. For example, Pepsi is a sponsor at the Alamodome, but Coca-Cola is an official NCAA sponsor. Thus all Pepsi signs will be covered up during the women's Final Four.
Unlike most events, the Final Four does not permit any advertiser signage inside the arena's actual seating areas or near the playing court, such as LED boards that show up on television. The NCAA uses that space to promote the teams involved and the NCAA itself.
Markets
This year the men's Final Four is in Indianapolis April 1 to 5. Next year the men will play in Houston, then New Orleans in 2012, Atlanta in 2013, Dallas (Arlington) in 2014, Indianapolis in 2015, and Houston in 2016.
This year’s women's Final Four is in San Antonio April 2 to 6. Next year the women will play in Indianapolis, then Denver in 2012, New Orleans 2013, Nashville in 2014, Tampa in 2015, and Indianapolis in 2016.
Numbers
The 2009 men's Final Four games in Detroit drew 145,378 fans over two days, a Final Four record.
Many of those fans attended other Final Four-related activities: 1,772 participants took part in the 5K run/walk Saturday morning, 11,500 attended Hoop City basketball clinics, nearly 30,000 were at Final Four Friday practices, and 40,000 attended Friday’s AT&T Block Party/Big Dance.
Last year's women's Final Four games in St. Louis attracted 37,099 fans over two days.
How it is measured
Attendance at Final Four games and related events is used to estimate impressions.
What product categories do well
Ad categories among NCAA sponsors include insurance, telecommunications, beverages, rental cars, electronics, candy, financial services and home improvement.
Demographics
Nearly 12 percent of avid NCAA basketball fans are ages 18-24, 17.3 percent are 25-34, 18.6 percent are 35-44, 19.8 percent are 45-54, 15 percent are 55-64, and 17.4 percent are 65 and older, according to Scarborough Research.
Avid NCAA hoops fans are 68.6 percent male and 31.4 percent female.
Just over 10 percent of avid fans have a household income of less than $25,000, with 16.3 percent between $25,000 and $40,000, 11.1 percent between $40,000 and $50,000, 19.5 percent between $50,000 and $75,000, 18.3 percent between $75,000 and $100,000, 14.7 percent between $100,000 and $150,000 and 9.7 percent above $150,000.
Making the buy
The NCAA doesn’t enlist sponsors for individual events such as the Final Four. Rather it has partners who sponsor all 88 NCAA championships and programs.
The notoriously tight-lipped NCAA also doesn’t disclose the financial terms of its sponsorship deals, but they're believed to be in the low six figures.
SportsBusiness Journal has reported that sponsorships cost between $1 million and $5 million annually.
Who’s already an NCAA sponsor
This year's NCAA corporate sponsors include AT&T, Coca-Cola, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Hershey’s, The Hartford, LG, Lowe’s and State Farm.
What they’re saying
“Certainly you’re getting your brand in front of a strong target market. In addition to the fans, there are also a lot of corporate types -- a lot of influential people will be there. So if you’re setting up something like a fan experience outside of the arena, you’ll get great traction locally and get exposure among corporations entertaining clients, as well as the fans."
Zach Anderson, a marketer who runs the blog BrandDunk
Web site info
NCAA
http://www.ncaa.org
2010 Men’s Final Four
http://www.ncaa.com/sports/m-baskbl/champpage/m-baskbl-div1-index.html
2010 Women’s Final Four
http://www.ncaa.com/sports/w-baskbl/champpage/w-baskbl-div1-index-main.html
2011 Men’s Final Four
http://www.ncaa.com/sports/m-baskbl/champpage/m-baskbl-div1-index-2011.html
NCAA Corporate Relationships
http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/ncaahome?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/ncaa/ncaa/about+the+ncaa/corporate+relationships
Alamodome
http://www.sanantonio.gov/dome
Lucas Oil Stadium
http://www.lucasoilstadium.com
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