Slam dunk: Lessons for advertisers from 2025’s college basketball tournaments
This year’s college basketball tournaments are poised to captivate audiences like never before — a testament to sports’ power to unite and inspire fans. But beyond the thrilling dunks and impressive assists, there’s a bigger story about audience engagement and innovative advertising strategies. Let’s explore how “March Madness” sheds light on winning ways for brands, advertisers, and agencies to reach fans during sports’ most memorable moments. With strategies like contextual targeting and cross-channel advertising, brands can tap into the magic of March basketball fever all year long.
Meeting fans on multiple screens
Effective programmatic advertising for sports works best when brands make a splash on multiple channels via cross-channel advertising. That’s because over 80% of internet users in the US engage with the internet on a separate device while simultaneously watching TV. In 2025, 75% of March Madness viewers were using a second screen while watching the games.
There’s so much interesting content to supplement their watching experience: refreshing in-app news, stats, and scores; posting reactions on social media; or killing time with a mobile game during a lull in the action.
March Madness content was projected to generate 2.5 billion views on social media with around 52% of those posts mentioning brands directly. It’s a perfect opportunity for brands to run synchronized ads alongside live broadcasts. And don’t forget the simple benefit of engaging with sports fans who mention your brand: organic replies can inspire brand loyalty in the long run.
Another indicator that brands need to hit multiple screens with cross-channel advertising? The NCAA offers dedicated March Madness apps for iOS, Android, Apple laptops and desktops, multiple CTV platforms, and even Xbox.
This multi-channel behavior presents a unique opportunity for brands to reach diverse audiences across devices and at different touchpoints in the customer journey.
By the numbers: 2025 college basketball tournaments
Just how big were the 2025 college basketball tournaments?
- 136 teams played in 128 games
- 26.6M TV viewers: combined men’s and women’s championship games
- 9.4M viewers per game on average for the men’s division
Expanding interest, growing audiences
But who exactly are brands reaching across all these screens? Gone are the days of assuming a monolithic, stereotypical college sports fanbase. In 2025, the NCAA women’s tournament continued making records,.
The final game between UConn vs. South Carolina was ESPN’s third most-watched championship match in March Madness history, having brought in an average of 8.6 million viewers and peaking at 9.9 million TV viewers. In fact, the final game had a 75% viewership increase from the women’s final game in 2022.
Brands score big with CTV, cross-channel advertising
With nearly 90% of US households using a connected TV (CTV) at least once a month in 2025, and over 80% of US adults using their phone or computer as a second screen while watching TV, it’s no surprise that CTV can become a powerful performance channel for user acquisition.
Brands can reach sports viewers by using cross-channel, cross-screen tactics that begin with a CTV ad on the large screen in the living room and continue onto the mobile second screen via social media or a dedicated app. It’s a powerful combination that boosts the brand, converts mobile users from TV impressions, and fuels branded search.
Julia Kan, Managing Director of Advertiser Solutions at Kochava tells us that CTV ad exposure precedes search 96% of the time or precedes social 94% of the time when these channels are in the same app conversion journey.
Teaming up for purposeful advertising
While the 2025 college basketball tournaments are already in full swing, there are still plenty of meaningful sports moments for advertisers year-round. Check out some of our prepackaged deals: March College Basketball Tournament audience package, the Soccer (football) enthusiast package, or the sports fanatic audience package.
The March College Basketball Tournament audience package connects your brand with highly engaged fans following brackets, buzzer-beaters, upsets, and championship matchups during the men’s and women’s college basketball postseason. Learn more.
Tap into nonstop global fandom. The soccer (football) enthusiast package gives your brand turnkey access to premium inventory aligned with soccer content across mobile, web, and CTV. Learn more.
Designed for brands that want to be part of the full fan experience, showing up in the moments that matter, from first whistle to final recap and everything in between. Learn more.
Want to get in the game? Let us know anytime.