Few sporting events capture the interest of the American public, like March Madness. Since the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament was created more than 80 years ago, it’s been one of the most anticipated events in all U.S. sports. The NCAA Tournament is watched by millions of viewers yearly. The top college basketball picks are featured among the 68 teams battling for three weeks to determine the national champion of the current NCAA basketball season.
The country’s most popular NCAA basketball programs have fans flocking online to buy merchandise from their favorite schools. That leaves many questioning how March Madness affects consumer habits.
It leads to some wondering which schools benefit the most from fans purchasing gear online to support the country’s top teams. It also creates a bandwagon of fans bigger than all sporting events except the Super Bowl who aren’t just watching the tournament and want to become a part of it.
Demand For Merchandise Increases For March Madness
The NCAA had more than $1.1 billion in revenue in 2021, most of which are TV rights from CBS and Turner to broadcast games. However, more than $30 million is from sales of NCAA merchandise and licensing deals. As a result, fans will develop strong ties with their favorite teams throughout the tournament and the Cinderella teams that change the face of the tournament each year.
The same emotion that gets fans excited about the upcoming tournament also leads to impulse buying online. This is why it’s become easier than ever to purchase gear from your favorite team.
Fans may be watching their favorite school, and there is no time better to buy a new jersey from a favorite team than right after a big win. These massive impulse buys are usually related to the fan’s emotional connection to the team and the chance to purchase merchandise from their mobile phones instantly.
March Madness Interest In Decline
Before the start of the 2022 NCAA Tournament, fewer U.S. adults planned on watching at least part of the tournament. Twenty-nine percent said they planned to watch last year, which was down from the 31% that said they would watch in 2021 when the tournament was played in an Indiana bubble. While this doesn’t seem like a big difference, this number is down from 43% in 2017.
The trend in the last five years indicates that interest in college basketball and online merchandise is on its way down. The fall in popularity could be due to many college athletes only playing one season before moving on to the pros.
This also leads to a decline in familiar faces among the players, who need to evolve their personas over several seasons to increase their popularity, like in the NBA. However, now that college athletes can profit from their name and likeness, those still in college are finding ways to increase their brands through off-court activities and social media to drive merchandise sales.
Cinderellas See Huge Increases In Sales
The St. Peter’s basketball team is still seeing the benefits of its run through the 2022 NCAA tournament. The team had one of the tournament’s biggest upsets when they defeated the University of Kentucky and advanced to the Elite Eight.
St. Peter’s saw a 47% increase in new donors, doubled the number of out-of-state enrollments, and increased total applications by 7%. In addition, just days after the upset victory, the school had online orders for team merchandise from 45 states throughout the country and doubled its merchandise sales for the entire fall semester at its campus store.
College sporting events at the level of March Madness can significantly increase the demand for the NCAA basketball merchandise that fans buy to make them feel more connected to the schools they follow. Additionally, as the 2023 NCAA Tournament approaches, more schools will emerge as underdogs and make their way through some of the top teams in the country while increasing their online presence and merchandise sales.
