March Madness isn’t just a bonanza for basketball fans. It’s also a fun time for television advertising executives, because the NCAA Tournament is “virtually sold out”.
Warner Bros. Discovery Executive Vice President of Advertising Sales Jon Diament reports that the company “significantly surpassed the previous year” with its advertising efforts.
Meanwhile, Executive Vice President of CBS Sports Sales John Bogusz claimed the network saw increases as well, noting that 30-second commercials in the NCAA Championship Game were sold for more than $2 million.
“You’ve probably heard about headwinds in the advertising community and spending being a little softer. That is not the case in the sports marketplace,” Bogusz said. “[It] continues to hold up extremely well in this economic environment, and that holds true for the NCAA tournament.”
A report from AdWeek’s Mollie Cahillane claimed every corporate partner from the 2022 tournament is returning, excluding Geico. However, Dick’s Sporting Goods replaced the insurance provider, keeping the corporate sponsorship total at 17.
Cahillane also noted that while other major sporting event advertising had been affected by the collapse of the cryptocurrency market, the NCAA Tournament did not see any advertising from those companies in 2022.
