Media in March:


Go beyond the bracket

From Selection Sunday until “One Shining Moment” is played, the excitement of buzzer beaters, Cinderella stories, and bracket busters keep fans deeply engaged for nearly the entire month.

With 414 billion minutes of March Madness viewed since 2016¹, opportunities abound for advertisers, brands, and media. Especially those who look beyond the live game broadcasts to embrace the deeper intelligence surrounding the Men’s and Women’s NCAA Tournaments.

Nielsen has taken a deep dive inside its proprietary data and created a list of 5 key takeaways marketers should be considering when it comes to partnering with the iconic sports event – whether for this year or future opportunities.

Engagement opportunities across every platform

The popularity of both the men’s and women’s tournaments highlights the impact that high-demand content has regardless of platform or channel. While 78% of college sports fans watch major events live, 31% use a second screen or device to engage on social media² That figure jumps to 38% for Hispanic fans specifically using TikTok to get sports news.3 And it’s not just social media, college sports fans are 60% more likely to identify as dedicated podcast listeners ranking podcast influence on their purchases on par with YouTube and Streaming TV.²

Engagement opportunities across segments

The NCAA Tournaments are truly multi-cultural viewing events that allow advertisers access to extensive fanbases that continue to grow in their diversity. In 2025, 1/3 of the audience for the women’s tournament identified as Black or Other, up from just 23% in 2024.⁴ Meanwhile, Asian American viewers spend the largest share of broadcast and cable viewing time watching sports, including the NCAA Tournaments.⁵ Diversity also extends across gender lines, with women representing 47% of fans of women’s sports in 2024, up from 45% in 2021.⁶ We also saw, in 2024, the first time ever that the total viewership for the women’s championship game eclipsed that of the men’s championship game.⁷ This can be partly attributed to the media frenzy around popular women’s players including Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, but it was also driven by the overall growing popularity of women’s sports. Viewership also shows a strong culture of crossover. Nearly 40% of tournament viewing is streamed across men’s and women’s events. Tournament viewers are nearly 3x more likely to stream men’s games and 6x more likely to stream women’s games vs audiences overall.⁸

National attention elevating local viewership

Although they are nationally broadcast, the tournaments have created storylines that drive local engagement opportunities for savvy regional and local marketers. For example, viewers in Chicago flocked to watch the women’s game between Notre Dame and TCU in anticipation that Hailey Van Lith would be drafted by the Chicago Sky.⁹ This local-level engagement also builds connections with fans in the women’s professional game, with NCAA tourney viewers in Dallas, the market with the first pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft, being 3.5x more likely to be very interested in the WNBA.¹⁰ Nielsen also exclusively created a ranker of the most watched college basketball teams to help marketers identify further opportunities on a local level.

Engagement opportunities off the court

Sports fans don’t just tune out when live coverage ends, and this is especially true of NCAA basketball fans. From streaming series to sport-specific podcasts, creators have taken notice, leading to a proliferation in content designed to tap into the passions fans have for sports. In fact, total viewing for streaming sports documentaries reached 12.4 billion minutes in 2025, up from 4.7 billion in 2021.¹¹ In fact, Apple TV+ recently announced a new three-part docuseries featuring the legendary (UConn) women’s basketball team.

Loyalty to trusted brands

In addition to their fandom, sports fans are notably some of the most brand conscious and brand loyal consumers around, and NCAA Tournament audiences are no different. Sixty-one percent of college sports fans are more likely to purchase from brands that partner with creators, personalities, or organizations connected to their fandoms and interests.² As well, 52% of NCAA women’s and 43% of NCAA men’s basketball fans are more likely to engage with a brand because a college athlete promoted it.¹³

With audiences engaging across platforms and cultures, successful strategies are built around media intelligence that elevates your planning and your campaigns. Last year, the first two rounds of the men’s tournament averaged 9.2 million viewers per game.² This was the highest average audience for the first week since 1993.

Connect with a Nielsen expert to reach the right sports fans for your brand.

1 Source: Nielsen National TV Ratings, Live+SD, Panel-Only
2 Nielsen Advanced Audience Attitudes Study, 2025
3 Nielsen Fan Insights, July 2023-June 2024
4 National TV Toolbox, Reach & Frequency Analysis, Live+SD, 6 Minute Qualifier. Measurement Intervals include 03-17-2024 through 04-07-2024 (69 telecasts) and 03-16-2025 through 04-06-2025 (65 telecasts).
5 Nielsen AANHPI Diverse Intelligence Series, 2025 (Reference to Asian American consumer segment above is inclusive of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.)
6 Nielsen fan insights, 2022 – 2024 (Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, U.K., U.S.)
7 Nielsen National TV Panel, Live + Same Day Viewing
8 Nielsen Scarborough USA+; 2025 State of Play Report; Nielsen Audience Measurement
9 Nielsen Local TV Ratings, Chicago P18+, Impressions, 1/5/2025-3/29/2025
10 Nielsen Scarborough – Dallas/Ft. Worth, 2025 R2
11 Nielsen Streaming Content Ratings
12 Nielsen Fan Insights, 2023
13 Nielsen National TV Panel, Live + SD viewing. Includes First Four, Round of 64, and Round of 32.