Why This Year’s March Madness Presents Opportunities for Local Advertisers
Discover tips on how local advertisers can give their brands a boost during March Madness.
March Madness is one of the most celebrated sporting events, which is not just loved by sports fans but also by advertisers. Matt Bayer, president, AI Digital, discusses why local and regional advertisers will largely benefit from this year’s event and why stakes for these advertisers will be much higher.
Let the madness begin! March Madness, that is. This year marks the first time many tournament games
will be available on streaming platforms, giving way to new opportunities for brands and marketers to reach audiences at scale. 2022 was a record-breaking year for advertisers and the March Madness ad inventory. This year will be no different, with Warner Bros. Discovery and CBS surpassing 2022’s $1 billion ad inventory sales mark.
Sports and ‘big event’ TV are the last holdout events for linear TV. However, events such as March Madness are entering a new domain with advertising availability and opportunity on streaming platforms, much like other live sports events of today. While top brass media companies continue to drive ad sales volume and success, let’s not misplace local and regional advertisers being the biggest winners yet to benefit from March Madness this year.
Often forgotten due to their smaller budgets and lower resources to compete, streaming platforms have now given local and regional advertisers a chance to appeal to and engage with a whole new subset of audiences, especially with many platforms offering up ad-supported tiers.
Let’s explore how local and regional advertisers can strategize for March Madness, the impact streaming platform offerings can have on these advertisers, and what March Madness means to the intersection of linear to CTV ad buying for programmatic.
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Ad-Supported Streaming Tiers Even Out the Playing Field
In 2021, CBS announced Paramount+ would launch a new streaming bundle with an ad-supported option. With many streaming platforms competing for audiences, ad-supported tiers have become a viable selling point to reel in and boost new membership. As a result, advertisers will have more opportunities to engage with their target audience than ever before and at a significant scale. Now, Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount+, Discovery+, and of course, Netflix offer advertising in addition to Hulu, Peacock, Pluto and Tubi, there is a significant scale in ad-supported streaming.
Regional advertisers don’t have to operate with high out-of-pocket and minimum spend levels to engage with audiences on ad-supported platforms such as Paramount+ and/or March Madness. By leveraging the advertising inventory that the virtual multichannel video programming disruptors (MVPDs) own, such as DirectTV Stream, Sling, Fubo, etc., there is a mechanism to insert regional advertisers into March Madness on cable tv network coverage (i.e., TBS, TNT, TruTV) without the requirement of significant minimum spend levels and commitments.
Linear, CTV Ad Buying Is Bleeding Into Programmatic and With Benefits
While CTV has been a buzzword for a few years, plenty of advertisers are not yet accustomed to buying ads on streaming platforms, let alone using various programmatic technology for TV buys. Many are still operating in a linear TV fashion and allocating their budgets as such.
This year, March Madness is going to be an event that is viewed screen agnostically across linear tv, streaming, mobile, tablet, etc. This is evident in the NCAA’s March Madness Live platform debuting new expanded multi-game viewing options that will offer tournament fans access to more games and curated experiences and the opportunity to explore multi-game viewing on streaming devices like Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Google TV.
Advertisers should take note of this and follow the audiences. If they can lean more into programmatically buying streaming ads, this can draw in many benefits, such as increased ad efficiency, enhanced audience reach, tracking, magnified brand awareness and an omnichannel solid presence.
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Strategizing for Cross-Platform Audiences
Nothing says camaraderie like bars, sports, and hungry fans. March Madness is sure to be on multiple television screens in neighborhood establishments that draw in crowds this time of year, and every establishment will be using some cross-platform outlet. As demand for viewing options increases amongst audiences eager for sports and ‘big event’ entertainment, marketers can leverage this shift in consumption to drive media efficiencies and reach audiences at scale.
One approach marketers can capitalize on revolves around virtual multichannel video programming disruptors (MVPDs) for in-game content and ancillary programming. Complement in-game inventory with ancillary college sports or general sports programming from other streaming platforms. Also, stay current with the marketplace and availability of sports and premium events on streaming media. The ecosystem constantly changes and will evolve quickly, as evidenced by the Diamond Sports/Bally Sports announcement, which recently filed for bankruptcy.
While it’s not clear where local sports rights will land, streaming will play a significant role in sports coverage, and there will be ways for national and regional advertisers to leverage the medium to reach new audiences and ultimately drive business results.
What do you think local advertisers need to do to attract more audiences? Share with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn . We’d love to hear from you!
Image Source: Shutterstock
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