Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Media & Entertainment Law Blogs -> Sports Biz

Media & Entertainment Law

: Sports Biz

CBS & March Madness: Recession, What Recession?

CBS and the NCAA appears to be weathering the economic downturn in fine shape. With a little over a week to go before March Madness begins- that would be Tuesday, March 19 in Dayton in case you forgot - the old gray lady network has sold at least 90% of available ad time throughout the tournament at rates that are roughly comparable to last year's.

The top tier sponsors are GM, Coke and AT&T, all of which are returning from last year. I should note that before Geithner and the boys in DC get all upset, GM has a multi-year contract with CBS to sponsor the tournament, so buying ad time is likely significantly cheaper than litigating a breach of contract. The rates for 30 second spots in the Final Four are roughly the same as last year's, clocking in at between $1.3 to $1.4 million. Spots in earlier rounds can go for as "low" as $350,000.

One area showing significant growth in both viewers and revenue is the digital presentation of March Madness On Demand. Internet delivery of the entire tournament will be available for free to anyone with a computer and will come equipped with a "boss button" sponsored by Comcast. AT&T, Coke and GM, through Pontiac will extend their Tier One sponsorships to March Madness On Demand by becoming the presenting sponsors. With almost all of MMOD sold, CBS expects to receive "well north" of the $23 million received last year with viewership to significantly exceed last year's 4.7 million unique viewers.

This year, it will not only continue to be free, but CBS has decided to do away with registration which a number of its targeted demographic found offensive. If it can continue delivering online numbers similar to these, the sting of stagnant TV viewership can be partially overcome. However, while growth is certainly welcome, let' not lose sight of the overwhelming disparity in numbers that will continue to exist for the foreseeable future.
ARTICLEURL

Full post as published by Sports Biz on March 06, 2009 (boomark / email).