CBS, Turner Sports Sell Out March Madness Ad Inventory

March Madness is ready to come roaring back, returning with fans for the first time since 2019—and advertisers have already staked out their positions. With Selection Sunday taking place March 13 before the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament officially tips off in one week with the First Four, Turner Sports and CBS have “for all practical purposes” sold out their advertising inventory for the event in a record-setting fashion, execs said. “We have had one hell of a selling season,” Jon Bogusz, evp of CBS sports sales and marketing, told reporters late Wednesday. “We’ve written more revenue in this tournament than we ever have before, record-setting revenues for this year. The sports marketplace continues to be very robust.” Sales are “close to double digit increases," compared to last year, according to Bogusz. Last year, spot prices ranged from “a couple of hundred thousand dollars” starting with the First Four, to well over $2 million for the championship game for a 30-second spot. Turner Sports and US Soccer Deal Brings National Team Games to HBO Max in 2023 That record-setting revenue likely means the two companies, which jointly broadcast the tournament each year, should see even more than their estimated $1 billion combined haul in 2021. “We’ve sold the tournament out in years past, but this is the earliest we've actually sold the tournament out, I think for a lot of good reasons,” said Jon Diament, evp and CRO for Turner Sports. “The power of live sports, especially programs like this that really do matter to society, and I’m sure will have some great ratings and great demographics.” Movie studios make a comeback The biggest categories for CBS included auto, insurance and fast food, which Bogusz described as “very strong” this year. The movie studios have made a strong return after a weak 2021, and that category are “back to a reasonable degree this year.” Turner also saw strength in studios, but also in travel and technology. As of now, cryptocurrency has not made an appearance in March Madness, despite the category's ubiquity during the NFL season. CBS and Turner lined up more than 140 advertisers across linear, digital and social platforms, with more than 35 new advertisers from last year. The companies also cited a strong corporate champions program, which brings in over 60% of advertising revenue for the tournament. This year features 17 partners: 16 partners returned from last year (following conclusions of deals with Lowe’s and Uber Eats) and LG returned for the first time since 2018. Corporate champions program partners can activate across all 90 NCAA Championships all year round, not just for the men’s tournament. Last year, there were 18 official March Madness sponsors, many of whom are locked into multiyear deals. Expect to see familiar appearances like AT&T at the Half and the Inside March Madness post-game show, presented by Buick. CBS and Turner Sports jointly operate and manage the program, with three corporate champions (AT&T, Capital One & Coca-Cola) and 14 corporate partners (Aflac, Buffalo Wild Wings, Buick, Geico, Great Clips, Invesco, LG, Marriott, Nabisco, Nissan, Pizza Hut, Reese’s, Unilever and Wendy’s). Programs go beyond just traditional ad spots, including integrated media amd branded content, marketing rights, event activations and hospitality. Bigger teams, bigger ad sales The companies attributed some of this year's strong sales partially to the strength and brands of teams competing. March Madness this year will feature teams like Duke, Kansas and Kentucky, whereas last year many of the top names weren’t in the tournament. “If you look at the top 20 or so teams, you’ve got a lot of teams that are all around the country,” said Diament. “You’ve got a UCLA, an Arizona, a Gonzaga, you’ve got a Baylor. You’re basically representing the entire country, and that should result in good ratings throughout the entire country, especially for the later windows.” While both companies hope for a Cinderella story, there’s still hope for some of the bigger names to stay in tournament as the field narrows to drive ratings. “It’s also nice to have a story,” said Diament, noting that this is Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski's final year before he retires. “If Duke advances there's some great storylines, some great content about the history of that program in his career.” Turner also sold out its digital product March Madness Live, where fans can stream games on alternative screens, including mobile. For Turner, it’s the first major sporting event besides the NBA All-Star game that has returned with fans. “We’re excited to go back to some normalcy if that’s possible,” said Diament. “Maybe there’s some rhyme or reason why we did so well on the ad sales side for these three weeks, but I think the seasonality might have helped us for timing purposes.”

Programming & Performance

CBS, Turner Sports Sell Out March Madness Ad Inventory With Record Revenue

‘We’ve had one hell of a selling season,’ topping last year's $1 billion haul

Mollie Cahillane

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Mollie Cahillane