March Madness is a massive advertising event, with TV ad spend surpassing $1 billion—and growing. In 2024, the tournament broke revenue records, proving its immense value for advertisers. With millions of engaged viewers across linear and streaming, it’s a prime but costly opportunity—championship game spots can exceed $2 million, while earlier rounds still command hundreds of thousands per 30-second ad.
While TV is a cornerstone of March Madness advertising, it isn’t the only channel to consider. Whether inventory is sold out, prime spots are out of budget or you want to amplify your TV ads, digital out-of-home (DOOH) offers a powerful way to reach consumers in the real world. By incorporating offline touch points into your campaign, you can take advantage of key moments when sports fans are fully immersed in the excitement of the tournament.
Whether your goal is boosting brand awareness or driving sales, here are four DOOH strategies to leverage leading up to the final four.
Targeting your audience with all-star precision
DOOH empowers brands to target audiences in the real world through first- and third-party data, enabling you to reach specific groups at scale. Whether you're targeting students, alumni, general sports fans or even customers of your competitors, you can be assured your messaging is reaching the right people at the right times and places.
Meet your audience at key moments
When NCAA fans aren’t in front of their TV or scrolling on their phone, they’re on their way to work, at the gym, in the mall, getting dinner and engaging in a variety of other activities. With DOOH, you can reach your audience in these key moments by activating media in a variety of contextually relevant venue types when your audience is:
- Watching the game
- On campus
- Out and about
This makes outdoor billboards, transit stations, urban panels, gyms, bars, restaurants and gas stations all fantastic options for engaging with consumers throughout their day. Because DOOH blends seamlessly into these environments, it is a less intrusive way to capture attention—unlike other ads that can be tuned out or blocked. In fact, OOH generates the highest recall rate at 84%, making it a smart investment for brands looking to build awareness and drive performance results.
Strategically surround DMAs with your ads
Sports fandom is often geographically segmented, with certain areas favoring specific teams. This creates a unique opportunity to surround designated market areas (DMAs) with targeted messaging that resonates with local fans.
Utilizing programmatic technology, you can also implement proximity targeting to activate your campaign with city-specific messaging within a defined radius of key points of interest, such as stadiums, bars and airports near the game venue. You can also layer in day-parting to make the most of your campaign, timing your messaging to activate at key venues during peak hours to maximize your budget and the relevancy of your ad.
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React in real-time
March Madness is unpredictable, and your advertising should be just as agile. DOOH lets you optimize campaigns and activate media in near real-time, ensuring your message stays relevant as the tournament unfolds. Whether it’s a major upset shaking up the bracket or a last-second buzzer-beater, DOOH gives you the flexibility to pivot at a moment’s notice. Swap creatives as teams advance, celebrate Cinderella stories or roll out special promotions tied to game results—keeping fans engaged and your brand top of mind when it matters most.
Take this flexibility one step further by leveraging dynamic creative to create tailored ad messaging without any manual work. For March Madness, you can consider the following strategies:
- Before the game: Build anticipation by running ads featuring elements like the competing teams, game time countdowns, win/loss records, etc.
- During the game: Create excitement and increase viewership by showing real-time game updates, live scores and more.
- After the game: Enforce relevance by swapping out creative messaging based on which team wins or loses the game.
Ready to plan your March Madness campaign?
