TNS Media Intelligence Profiles the Advertising Side of March Madness; The Biggest Spenders, Increasing Ad Rates and Dunking On the Competition

Business Wire, March 10, 2006

NEW YORK -- As the start of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on March 16 approaches, it's more than just the sports fans who are anxiously awaiting the final outcome of March Madness. Advertisers and marketers are also anticipating the event that has become one of the marquee franchises in televised sports. TNS Media Intelligence has searched its extensive database to provide an interesting perspective on the past several years of March Madness advertising.

According to TNS Media Intelligence, over $2.2 billion has been spent on network TV advertising during the tournament games from 2000-2005. For 2006, ad spending is expected to be close to $500 million.

NCAA March Madness
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               Total Ad Spend
   YEAR         ($ Millions)
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   2000            310.6
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   2001            311.2
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   2002            348.2
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   2003            361.6
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   2004            435.8
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   2005            467.7
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  Total          2,235.1
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Source: TNS Media Intelligence
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Over this same period of time, gross advertising spend in the Super Bowl game was $834 million and in baseball's World Series $880 million.

In 2005, the 26 tournament games that CBS programmed generated three times as much advertising revenue as the 300 regular season men's basketball games that aired on ABC, CBS, ESPN and ESPN2, the national outlets for NCAA hoops action.

"Among major TV sports, college basketball is unusual," said Jon Swallen, senior vice president of research at TNS Media Intelligence. "Despite a regular season that stretches over three months and features at least one nationally telecast game almost every single day, a majority of the ad revenue is generated during the short post-season. By contrast, college and pro football, see most of their national TV ad money during the regular season."

TV ADVERTISING SPEND(1): 2004-05 SEASON
                        REGULAR VS. POST SEASON
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                                             Ad Spend*      % of Total
Sporting Event                             ($ Millions)
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Men's NCAA Basketball Season                  159.2             25%
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Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament              467.7             75%
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NCAA BASKETBALL TOTAL                         627.0            100%
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NCAA Football Season                          328.5             69%
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NCAA Football Bowl Games                      146.8             31%
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NCAA FOOTBALL TOTAL                           475.2            100%
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NFL Season                                  1,415.8             74%
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NFL Playoffs (excluding Super Bowl)           350.0             18%
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NFL Super Bowl                                158.4              8%
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NFL FOOTBALL TOTAL                          1,924.2            100%
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(1) Ad spend for National Broadcast and Cable TV networks
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Source: TNS Media Intelligence
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The top five March Madness advertisers since 2000 have spent $649 million to air their message during the games, accounting for 29 percent of total ad dollars spent in the Tournament. Who are they? General Motors far outdistances the rest with $348 million spent, which is more than the next four biggest spenders combined. Nearly one of every six March Madness ad dollars since 2000 has come from General Motors.

TOP 5 MARCH MADNESS ADVERTISERS
                               2000-2005
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                          # of Years With Ads    Ad Spend
Rank   Advertiser              In Tourney      ($ millions)
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 1     General Motors               6             $348.2
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 2     AT&T                         6             $ 81.8
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 3     Anheuser Busch               6             $ 81.2
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 4     Microsoft                    5             $ 69.6
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 5     SABMiller                    6             $ 68.1
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       Top 5 Total                                $648.9
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Source: TNS Media Intelligence
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