Following on the heels of the Winter Olympics, and still two months before this summer’s FIFA World Cup, March Madness has an opportunity to capture the attention of sports fans and marketers alike.

• The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is hitting viewership highs after completing the first two rounds.

The men’s college tournament, carried by a number of channels and streaming services, averaged 10.1 million viewers for the first- and second-round games, up 7% over last year, CBS Sports announced on X.

• The women’s national tournament is carried on ESPN, and streams on the ESPN App. ESPN gained 9% viewership over last year, with 401,000 viewers, per Hollywood Reporter.

Watch madness

After the Super Bowl, March Madness is the third-highest sports event viewers planned to watch this year, according to a January Epsilon survey.

• 33% of US consumers plan to watch March Madness basketball in 2026, just behind the Winter Olympics and World Series (each 37%).
• The Super Bowl led all sports events with 69% of consumers planning to watch it, per Epsilon.

“March Madness sits in a clean window,” said Dan Larkman, CEO and founder of Keynes. “Olympics are done, World Cup doesn’t start until June. It has the sports world’s full attention for three weeks with no real competition.”

Omnichannel sports fans

Thirty-seven percent of Gen Z consumers plan to watch March Madness, leading all age demographics, including millennials (36%), according to Epsilon.

• Gen Zers get sports news from multiple channels. While 78% of Gen Z uses social media to find out sports news, above the overall US consumer average of 52%, 40% of Gen Z also draws on TV and online sports shows, also above the national average (37%).
• 48% of Gen Zers gets sports news from online search engines; 191% from generative AI chatbots, according to Epsilon.

“Some budget is being reserved for the World Cup, but that’s mostly a linear problem,” said Larkman. “CTV buyers don’t have to choose. Streaming inventory scales differently than linear. Precise targeting means less waste across a crowded calendar.”

Women’s tournament growing March Madness pie

The women’s tournament has grown in popularity in recent years, with Caitlin Clark’s record-setting career at the University of Iowa catching viewers' attention.

• Now a star on the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, Clark remains one of the highest earning female athletes, although the only hoops star in the Top 15, according to Sportico.

“The women’s tournament has completely changed the calculus after Caitlin Clark,” said Larkman. “Brands now have two cultural moments, two audiences, and double the inventory to work with.”

NYX Professional Makeups broke ground for beauty brands in college athletics by teaming up with UCLA center Lauren Betts for the brand’s “Make Them Look” campaign.

Out-of-home live updates

Conference championships are played in the weeks preceding the national tournament. This year, one conference drummed up awareness for their tournament by executing a digital out-of-home (DOOH) campaign in the Chicago area, according to Luba Giglia, chief operating officer at AdOmni.

The campaign placed DOOH ads near key commuter hubs, hotels, and surrounding areas. The creative designed for the campaign covered every win-loss scenario for the conference tournament ahead of time. As results came in, the creative updated to reflect the latest developments in the tournament and capture the excitement building around the games.

“Live sports are one of the clearest examples of what makes DOOH so effective,” said Giglia. “The audience is highly engaged, momentum builds quickly, and messaging can evolve with the moment. That combination gives brands a powerful way to stay relevant and drive impact in real time.”

This was originally featured in the EMARKETER Daily newsletter. For more marketing insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.