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SENSOR TOWER · ABRAHAM YOUSEF · MARCH 2024
MMM: March Madness Advertising Trends 2024
March Madness commercials are sold out as brands compete for sponsorship. Sensor Tower data shows how the top sponsors for the tournament (AT&T, Capital One, and Coca-Cola) leverage the opportunity for brand awareness and which digital advertising channels have best resonated with target audiences. The DOJ announced a lawsuit against Apple, aimed at curbing anti competitive practices. ST data shows that more than a third of Apple’s IAP revenue has come from the US since 2023, which may be materially affected in the future should the company face regulatory action.
Key Takeaways:
AT&T, Capital One, and Coca-Cola have been the premier sponsors for March Madness over the past few years. However, ST data shows that this sponsorship is not being leveraged on digital platforms, accounting for only 1% of each brand’s total US ad spend when filtering by basketball-specific keywords for the four weeks in 2023 when the tournament took place (3/11-4/7)
Drilling down into each company’s brand portfolio provides more insight into the top brands connected to the event. When filtering by basketball keywords, Coke promoted Vitamin Water, Coke Zero, and Glaceau SmartWater in Mar’23 with 47%, 35%, 14% of US ad spend, respectively
The three listed NCAA March Madness sponsors (AT&T, Capital One, and Coca-Cola) were all ranked within the top 50 US advertisers by overall spend in 2023 as each company has a nuanced digital advertising strategy across multiple digital platforms
Filtering ad spend by creative text keywords provides context into specific advertising strategies for individual campaigns, including March Madness. In Mar’23, the top three advertisers averaged ~40% of spend on desktop and mobile display when filtering by basketball-specific keywords (compared to an average of 13% of overall spend) as the brands could place ads on sites that increased the likelihood of reaching target audiences
The DOJ announced a lawsuit against tech giant Apple, alleging that the company has engaged in anti competitive practices. Demonstrating Apple’s sizable share of the in-app purchases market, ST data shows that more than two-thirds (70%) of all US in-app purchase revenue on mobile was from Apple devices in 2023. Potential US regulatory action in the wake of the DOJ’s lawsuit could materially affect Apple’s services revenue in the US
For more information, request the full report from reports@sensortower.com.
