In light of the NCAA’s changes of NIL legislation, much of the focus has been on student-athletes. However, companies have been presented with major sponsorship and branding opportunities as well. This is an outline of how brands can capitalize on the marketability of student-athletes in the wake of the March Madness tournaments.
The numbers behind March Madness
March Madness is one of the key events on the sports calendar. During the tournament, the eyes of the sports world are on the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments. In 2023, the NCAA Men’s basketball championship final averaged 14.7 million viewers for the matchup between San Diego State and UCONN. The NCAA Women’s basketball championship averaged a record 9.9 million viewers for the final game between Iowa and LSU. This exposure provides a great opportunity for brands to take advantage of the tremendous publicity that the student-athletes competing have. As an example, LSU star Angel Reese’s Instagram following doubled after the Final Four and championship games, with her Instagram and Tik Tok followings reaching more than a million each.
How brands can capitalize
Because of the student-athletes’ increased exposure during the March Madness tournaments, companies can strategically utilize athlete marketing to promote their businesses by announcing new product lines, facilitating customer interaction and acquisition, or simply increasing brand awareness. Athletes can use social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok to share high-engagement branded content on behalf of brands that sponsor them.
NIL deals and athlete marketing are not limited to large, national brands. Smaller companies can work with student-athletes from various schools, in various sports, with different levels of national exposure and social media followings. While March Madness champions and “Cinderellas” have tremendous notoriety in the months after the tournaments, student-athletes across the board see an increase in social media activity. Moreover, smaller companies—especially those located in college towns—can host in-person sponsorship activation events, in addition to utilizing social media. In-person activations can help drive customers to interact with products or services and can create extremely high ROI for sponsors.
Licensing implications
Importantly, however, companies cannot use the March Madness, NCAA, or school logos without acquiring appropriate licenses for those marks, which can be prohibitively expensive for many businesses. Companies looking to partner with student-athletes should ensure that they have all necessary intellectual property licenses before engaging in any paid promotions. Of course, businesses can work with athletes without acquiring IP licenses from the NCAA or its member institutions. They should then be considerate of what content can and cannot be used for purposes of sponsorship activity. NIL contracts should also include the relevant IP licenses and publicity rights from the student-athlete.
Companies interested in pursuing NIL deals should consult with experienced counsel as NIL deals with college athletes must comply with state and federal law, institutional policies, and NCAA regulations.
