“As a sports marketing event, the collegiate basketball tournament is part of a Final Four along side the Super Bowl and the Summer and Winter Olympics,” said Jon Swallen, senior vice president of research at TNS Media Intelligence. “The popularity of March Madness extends to a broad, diverse cross-section of the population and this makes it a valued opportunity for certain marketers.”

For many of the companies linking themselves to the tournament, the focal point will be commercial spots airing during the 65+ hours of game telecasts on CBS. The financial stakes are certainly high for the network, which this year is paying the NCAA a base license fee of approximately $529 million covering exclusive TV, digital, radio, publishing and merchandising rights for the tournament.

TNS Media Intelligence has once again drawn upon its extensive database to provide the most current statistics and trends on March Madness advertising.

1. March Madness: An Advertising Bonanza
Over the past 10 years (1998-2007), advertising during the Tournament has translated into $3.83 billion of network TV spending from nearly 300 different marketers. For the 2008 edition of March Madness, network TV ad sales are projected to reach $545 million.

NCAA MEN’S DIVISION I BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
NETWORK TV ADVERTISING*: 1998-2007

2. Outpacing The Competition
The post-season NCAA Tournament brings in more national TV ad revenue than the post-season playoffs for professional baseball, professional basketball or college football. Only the National Football League playoffs, which includes the Super Bowl, is more lucrative.

3. The Price of Advertising
Among the major televised sporting championships, only the Super Bowl commands a higher advertising rate than the NCAA Men’s Basketball championship game. College hoops has higher ad pricing than the major college football bowl games; the NBA championship; and the MLB World Series.

AVERAGE NETWORK TV AD RATES FOR MAJOR SPORTING EVENTS

4. Top Spending Advertisers in March Madness
March Madness has a core group of TV sponsors that invest heavily in the broadcasts year after year. On average, 81% of the tournament’s network TV ad revenue has comes from returning advertisers, an above-average retention rate versus other top sporting events.

General Motors has consistently been the top TV advertiser in the tournament, spending an average of $70 million annually during the past five years and accounting for 15 percent of total ad spend in the CBS telecasts. GM’s outlays were nearly as much as the next four largest advertisers combined.

TOP 5 TV ADVERTISERS
NCAA MEN’S DIVISION 1 BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT: 2003-07

The three leading TV advertisers – General Motors; Coca-Cola; and AT&T – pay additional fees into the NCAA’s “Corporate Champions” program, the organization’s top sponsorship level. This gives them additional opportunities to build marketing programs around March Madness and other NCAA sports.

5. Audience Ratings to March Madness
TV ratings to last year’s tournament were on par with the averages over the past 5 years. The championship game was seen in whole or in part by 40.3 million viewers. More than 130 million people tuned in at some point during the tournament.

Over the past several years, audience ratings to the opening weekend (Rounds 1 & 2) have been very consistent. As the tournament progresses to its third and final weekend, viewing naturally increases. But the gain fluctuates from year-to-year depending on fan interest in the specific teams and matchups.

In 2008, CBSSports.com will again stream live tournament games over the Internet, making them available on demand and free of charge to PC users with a broadband connection. The ad-supported webcasts offer presenting sponsors another way to get their commercial messages in front of viewers. Ad units include billboards around the perimeter of the viewing window and video ads integrated into the streams.

Though growing rapidly, the online video audience is still dwarfed by the traditional TV broadcast audience, accounting for less than 1 percent of the combined total viewing.

About TNS Media Intelligence
Established in 25 countries with more than 16,000 customers, TNS Media Intelligence is part of TNS, the global marketing insight and information group. TNS Media Intelligence monitors 3 million brands worldwide across a multitude of media, including TV, radio, print, Internet, cinema and outdoor. The company offers a full range of insights and analyses, including the tracking of advertising expenditures and advertising creative, as well as news and social media monitoring and sports sponsorship evaluation.

In the U.S., TNS Media Intelligence is the leading provider of strategic advertising intelligence to advertising agencies, advertisers, and media properties. The company's tracking technologies collect advertising expenditure and occurrence data, as well as select creative executions, for more than 2.8 million brands across 20 media in North America. The U.S. headquarters are in New York City with sales locations in major markets throughout the United States.
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