Question: Who misses March Madness even more than the fans?
Answer: The advertisers. And they miss it badly.
With less than a week before the tournament’s kickoff, CBS has officially “virtually sold out” of all advertising space for the event.
Jon Diament, CRO of Turner Sports (who helps CBS with advertising), said the two companies have “never billed as much” as they have for this year’s edition. Diament also said:
Financially, we’ve never been in better shape. This is the best year we’ve ever had.
Considering the 2019 tournament brought in ~$910M, they’re not doing too shabby this year.
The top five advertising industries in 2021 will be insurance, auto (can’t wait for the Buick commercials), financial, telco, and restaurants.