March Madness is an annual college basketball championship. The name erupts from the fact that the championship starts every March and the atmosphere it brings along with it is exciting and crazy. The predictability of the championship tournament makes it very notorious, every year comes with it all sorts of upsets. Careers are on the line here, both the coaches and the players who have not even built their careers. Here we will see about How much does NCAA March Madness make a year?
The NCAA made $986,000, 000 from just March Madness alone in 2021. This was a record number for the NCAA, and it is even expected to keep getting higher every year.
Television rights for March Madness
Television rights is the new money-generating machine in the sports world right now. Fans want to watch their favorite teams play even while being away from the stadiums, others just want to watch the game, maybe relax, or just be hating on teams. Whichever one it is, Broadcast numbers keep going up. More people than you can imagine tune in to watch March Madness all over the world.
They are just college games, but the level of performance and the atmosphere in the arena in most games surpass that of professional athletes’ games. The heat in the championship event often stems from the fact that it is a one-match elimination tournament. The NCAA took a major hit financially with the covid-19 disruption of march madness, but it is now back making record financial numbers. A high chunk of the money coming from the broadcasting right granted to CBS, to televise the much sought-after March Madness games. Both parties (The NCAA and CBS ) have benefitted immensely from the good relationship that exists between them. It is predicted that these numbers already recorded will be shattered soon enough. Hopefully, the next march madness will have the NCAA realizing over $1 billion just from the basketball championship event.
How Popular is the NCAA March Madness?
The NCAA March Madness has always been a very popular championship tournament but the numbers it recorded in 2022 just show how much it has grown in terms of size and popularity. About 18 million people were viewing the finals game between the almighty Kansas Jayhawks and the University of North Carolina. In terms of general numbers for the whole event, it still looked great. There was an average viewership of 10.7 million people for the March Madness games. CBS which is a broadcasting corporation has continued to record amazingly high numbers of viewership.
Attendance at March Madness games has been off the charts, hundreds of thousands of people constantly come to the arena to watch these athletes create stories and history. Even after the covid-19 disaster that resulted in the NCAA losing a lot of money, it is fascinating to see fans coming back to the arenas to come to watch the March Madness.
Which Colleges Participate in March Madness?
The teams that participate in the NCAA March Madness vary each year. It all depends on how well a team does in the regular season. It is quite similar to the NBA playoffs but this time, there are more upsets and lesser games.
A division 1 college basketball team aiming to compete in the March Madness will have to win its conference league tournament, there are about 32 Conferences. These 32 teams receive automatic spots in the championship tournament, and the remaining 36 slots are left to be decided by the NCAA selection committee. After the NCAA selection committee is done deliberating, the selected 36 teams are announced on a national television program called “Selection Sunday”.
Places in the NCAA March Madness are keenly contested, as it is a great platform for the athletes and the coaches to go show what they are made of and how well they can cope with pressure.
Conclusion
The NCAA March Madness generates a lot of noise which in turn translates to attracting a great number of fans and investors. With the NCAA’s large viewership numbers, it is not surprising seeing the huge sum of money generated in these national championship tournaments. As march madness continues to get bigger and better, the NCAA will generate even more money from the annual championship event.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Who are the sponsors of march madness?
The top sponsors of match madness in no order are; AT&T, Nike, Buick, Wendy’s, Capital One, Under Armour, Gatorade, Google, body armour, and Pizza Hut. All have invested heavily in the annual basketball championship tournament, and have in turn received a promotion for their different brands.
- Who is the current March Madness champion?
The reigning March Madness champions are the Kansas Jayhawks Men’s Basketball team. They beat the University of North Carolina 72-69 in the finals to lift the trophy. This was their fourth March Madness championship title, winning previously in the years 1952, 1988, and 2008 before securing this current one in 2022.
- Which is the most successful march madness team?
The most successful march madness team is the University of California, Los Angeles. The basketball team has 11 national championship titles. Having won the title in 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, and 1995. UCLA has not won any national championship title in 27 years but still holds the record for most tournament championship wins.