March 12, 2018: When it comes to the NCAA Div. 1 Men’s Basketball Tournament, marketers are simply mad over the number of people who watch games and see their commercials.

Last year, 23 million viewed all or part of the National Championship game when UNC defeated Gonzaga, 71-65; and 19 million watched the two semi-final games, according to broadcast network CBS.

In 2017, national TV ad spend during March Madness was a record $1.28 billion, up slightly from 2016’s $1.24 billion, according to media intelligence firm Kantar Media, NY.

The 2017 Tournament also saw a record 97 advertisers, up slightly from 95 in 2016 and 96 in 2015, when national TV ad spend was $1.19 billion.

Ad spend in 2012 was $.1 billion — the first year it topped the billion-dollar mark — 2013 was $1.12 billion and $1.13 billion in 2014, when there were 89 advertisers each year, according to Kantar Media’s 2018 March Madness Ad Report.

Final Four games the year are in The Alamodome, San Antonio, March 31 and April 2.

Last year, the men’s Final Four in Phoenix generated $324 million in economic impact for the area, according to a study from W.P. Cary School of Business at Arizona State University.

In terms of national TV ad spend, "The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is consistently the second largest post-season sports franchise, trailing only the NFL playoffs," according to Kantar Media.

This past season, ad spend during the NFL’s post-season, including Super Bowl LII, was nearly $1.55 billion, according to Kantar Media. The NFL post-season hits its total with just 11 televised games, including the Super Bowl, while the college basketball tournament has 67 game broadcasts.

NBA post-season ad spend was $934 million last season and MLB’s was $569 million.

One drawback: Although tracking upward, NCAA March Madness ad spend growth rate has been just 3.3% since 2012, behind that of the post-season at 11.7%, MLB at 9.8% and the NFL at 9.7%.

The Top Ten advertisers during the 2017 Tournament accounted for $460 million in ad spend, 36% of the total among.

That was down slightly from the $464 million Top Ten spend in 2016.

Each year 90-95 different companies purchase air time in the basketball tournament, but "the Top Ten consistently account for more than one-third of total spending," according to Kantar Media.

The leader in 2017 was General Motors, with $83 million in ad spend and 329 units, including pre- and post- game programming.

The Top Ten also included AT&T with $66 million (334 units), Coca-Cola at $56 million (268 units), Capital One at $50 million (198 units), Berkshire Hathaway with $41 million in ad spend (186 units), Samsung at $40 million (112 units), Nissan with $32 million (133 units), Anheuser-Busch with $32 million in spend (195 units), Apple with $31 million (149 units) and Yum Brands at $29 million (250 units).

The Top Five categories accounted for $733 million, some 57% of national ad spend in 2017, dow nfrom $766.1 million in 2016.

Spend was led by auto at $216 million with ten advertisers, telecom at $136 million with six advertisers, insurance at $132 million among seven advertisers, restaurants at $126 million among ten brands and financial services at $123 million with six firms.

Among the basketball shoes represented this year, according to Apex Marketing Group, Nike has 47 schools, (up from 40 in 2017), Under Armour 10 (down from 12), adidas 10 (down from 15) and Russell Athletic one (Texas Southern).

Live TV broadcasts of all games are spread across CBS and Turner Sports' TBS, TNT and truTV networks via a 14-year, $10.8 billion signed in 2014, which was extend through 2032 via an $8.8 billion deal signed in 2016.

TBS gets the Final Four and National Championship game this year.

As part of the NCAA Final Four, the March Madness Music Festival (pictured) is sponsored by AT&T Coca-Cola and Capital One, with Capital One also presenting sponsor for the Final Four Fan Fest presented by Capital One (in the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center).

As an integrated complement to their paid media advertising on linear TV and digital platforms, Kantar Media said that "many NCAA sponsors also seek to capture and convert consumers through social media campaigns tied to the basketball tournament."

In addition, all of the games are streamed online through the branded March Madness Live service. People can access ad-supported video casts, real-time scores, statistics and other related content through Web browsers, mobile apps and over-the-top services.

NCAA Corporate Champions are AT&T, Capital One and Coca-Cola.

NCAA Corporate Partners include Buffalo Wild Wings, Buick, Enterprise, Google Cloud, Infinity, Intel, Lowe’s, Marriott, Nabisco, Northwestern Mutual, Pizza Hut, Reese’s, Unilever and Wendy’s.

Capital One Mad Again For March With Charles, Spike, Samuel L.

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