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The NBA may have already established itself as one of the most watched sports leagues, especially during the playoff. However, if they wish to earn more from advertisements, they might want to follow the footsteps of the NCAA.
According to a piece made by Jon Swallen of Kanter Media, the annual NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament has generated $1.24 billion in 2016, which is the highest they've had in history. It includes studio shows, game programming, as well online streaming, both on mobile and over-the-top devices.
The increased earnings was partly made possible by the new social media strategies they have in place. Thanks to very effective gimmicks with different hashtags, it has caught the attention of the public, making them much talked about, leading to companies buying precious, yet expensive air time.
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Another outlet the NCAA took advantage of is on the digital marketing side. They bundled the linear TV ads on online video casts, which meant that advertisers had to pay a higher amount last year. With the popularity of live video streaming, as seen in its consumption, it became an easy decision for them to decide on bundling it.
The total revenue reportedly increased by 4.5 percent from the previous year and had the top companies in the country invest millions to have their products and services advertised on a center-stage platform. To put the astounding revenue into perspective, March Madness now ranks second to the NFL as the most valuable franchises in televised sports.
Despite only having 11 televised games during their playoffs, including the Super Bowl, the professional football league still owns the top spot by generating over $1.31 billion from ad buyers.
