Everyone is getting excited for March Madness that is about to come this week. The Men’s and Women’s NCAA basketball teams will play until there is one winner that will be the champion of the March Madness bracket. The final four games will be at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. There will be sixty-eight teams that have to play, including eight teams that will play in the first four games that will be competing to win their way into the first round.
Media Representation is a big deal when it comes to March Madness. Most of the marketing is done on social media. It tells you all the details about these basketball games and everything you need to know. 64% of avid basketball fans get information off of social media. It is estimated that 10 million people are engaged with March Madness from the media.
Men’s March Madness had around 15 million viewers during the championship game in 2023. The women’s March Madness championship game had around 10 million viewers in 2023. Basketball stats show that men have higher television ratings and also receive more financial support for sponsorship’s and advertising deals than women do. The main reason women’s sports are less viewed than men’s sports is because it has decreased coverage. Men’s sports are broadcasted and streamed on the media and television and have more options for channels to watch on. Men’s basketball has a very wide variety of streaming apps and channels to tune into and women’s basketball only has ESPN and ABC. This makes the viewing rates lower than they already are.
Women’s sports only cover 5% of ESPN broadcasting, but the percentage of the popularity has gone up 300% since 2021. For example, refer back to the fall and winter volleyball seasons at the division one level who were having sell out crowds, using large stadium capacities and making sure ESPN plus was not the main platform for viewing. The tournaments for March Madness are somewhat similar on both sides except that women’s basketball plays all four games in different places and men play them at the same place. The men’s tournament is also two 20 minute halves and women’s is four 10 minute quarters. They both have 68 teams that go play to be the new champion.
In the 2021-2022 academic school year the NCAA got 1.15 billion in total revenue. The March Madness tournament brought in nearly 90% of that amount. It costs $1,500 per game/ per broadcast for the tournament. Most of that money made goes to d1 universities to help their programs. Usually the marketing for the games comes from companies that sign with NCAA, like CBS, ESPN, and Paramount.
As we kick the March Madness games off remember to switch over to watch the women’s side as well! Cheers to hoping your brackets are perfect, and upsets happen often!
