Shoot for a March Madness marketing package
Photo by Flickr user Erik Charlton
I barely know a basketball hoop from a goal post but even for the athletically clueless, it’s a given that March Madness is one of the year’s peaks for sports marketing, consumerism and office betting pools.
With Selection Sunday less than a week away, you’ll want to plan at least a couple of features between now and the April 5 finals.
Even if you don’t have a nearby team in contention, you’ll have local bars, restaurants and retailers cashing in one way or another. Look for ticketed events, private parties and group sales events, charity game –viewing events, team memorabilia sales and more.
Don’t forget local eBay sellers and other grass-roots entrepreneurs selling NCAA basketball wares, as well as travel junkets for alumni groups that cluster in your area. Chicago, for example, is known for its plethora of Michigan and Michigan State grads, so were those teams to make the final four, ticket sellers, charter coordinators and others in the Windy City would have quite the interested audience.
Perhaps you have a former NCAA champion in your midst, either as a business person or coach or just a general celebrity. Seek the player out for an endorsements story, a leadership profile or other career/financial feature.
Check talent agencies and speakers bureaus like TheAthletesAgency and PlayingFieldPromotions for both local names on their roster and experts to comment on post-college earnings tends.
As to the NCAA games themselves, here’s an extremely helpful TNS Media marketing report showing historical figures for advertising spending on the NCAA championship, which at $643 million in ad revenue in 2008 appears to rank second only to pro football in its lure for marketers.
Be sure to check into whether any local household names will be buying TV spots or creating new campaigns just to air to this fan base. Top advertisers in past have included giants like General Motors Corp. AT&T, Coca-Cola, Lowes and State Farm. It may be that troubled companies are pulling back, leaving space for smaller fry.
Here’s an interesting FindLaw article about trademark infringement and how the NCAA copes with the burgeoning electronic outlets and crafty methods – like similar sounding names – that opportunists have used to capitalize on terms like March Madness, “the Big Dance” and others.
Check with your state’s attorney general, county fraud departments and others about counterfeit merchandise and other financial scams related to March Madness. The ever-popular office pool story is always a possibility – by some estimates it’s a $500 million annual pie.
Sports betting is allowed in Las Vegas, of course, but that’s about it except for some obscure grandfathered laws in a handful of states. Checking for junkets from your area to the legal bookies of Sin City might be a fun angle. Online betting – a legal grey area – is revved up as well; I see some offshore sites are offering things like “March Madness” specials and come-ons to new members who want to bet on college basketball. You might check with local law enforcement task forces or even gambling counselors and 12-step programs about the effect of the tournament on problem bettors.
And, if you’re like me and need the remedial version, here’s a link to the CBS Sports site / with NCAA championship scheduling info and other helpful tidbits.
