“Brands are noticing the high watermarks, but they’re also noticing the effectiveness,” said Deidra Maddock, vp of sports brand solutions for Disney Advertising. “It isn’t just about chasing or rating, it’s about chasing an effective viewer who they know is going to be engaged with their brand. When we see multiple brands and we’re able to diversify the kinds of brands who are participating in our content, that to me is a great measure of success.”
Putting up postseason numbers
As the Sports Innovation Lab’s Fan Project points out, women’s sports fans are acquired and retained at a 40% higher rate than average sports fans because they’re incredibly engaged with their sport and community. As a result, they also tend to spend more with supportive brands.
According to EDO’s data, engagement with ads during women’s March Madness surged with audiences. Fans paid more attention to brand spots during the first two rounds (up +42% from 2023), the Sweet Sixteen (up +68%), Elite Eight (+5%), Final Four (+98%) and title matchup (+8%) than they did at any point in last year’s tournament. For all of this year’s women’s March Madness, ad engagement increased by an average of 39%.
In some categories, the difference was far more pronounced. Ads for movies running on ESPN during Women’s March Madness saw double the engagement rate of similar ads aired during the latest Super Bowl. During the women’s Final Four and title game, engagement for those movie trailers nearly tripled similar Super Bowl spots.
“We’re getting the flywheel going—the economic flywheel,” said Kevin Krim, CEO of EDO. “The audiences are engaged with the programming and stars. The brands are following the audience and seeing positive engagement rates on the ads that are placed in these programs. That’s driving more money into the sports, and it’s giving a broadcaster like ESPN a great return on investment.”
The Caitlin Clark [side] effect
Throughout March Madness and the WNBA Draft, Caitlin Clark was a presence on the court as the No. 1 pick and in the brand ad lineup.
As EDO noted, viewers were 8% more likely to engage with ads during the 2024 WNBA Draft on ESPN than competing primetime programming, making those ads 52% more effective than their 2023 counterparts. For State Farm, which backed Clark with name, image and likeness (NIL) deals throughout her career and sponsored the WNBA Draft broadcast, viewers were 275% more likely to engage with its ads that aired during the draft than typical primetime ads.