NCAA DOES THE RIGHT THING
They didn’t slay the Golden Goose after all. Several weeks ago, on this page, (Devaluing a Golden Goose: Why Expansion Will Hurt the NCAA Tournament) we wrote decrying the NCAA for what appeared to be a massive expansion of the NCAA basketball championship, one of the nation’s true sports treasures. Our problem with what was being considered wasn’t just that the tournament wanted to add teams, but with the approach to how the tournament would be structured (in essence turning the opening Thursday and Friday into a giant play-in festival).
Instead, as the NCAA announced a new, 14-year, $10.8 billion TV partnership with CBS and Turner, we learned that wiser heads have prevailed and, once approved by the Division I Board of Directors, the total number of teams advancing to the tournament will be 68. Rather than destroy the current structure, the “play-in” day will now feature four play-in games. There are reports that suggest the field will continue to expand in the future to 96 teams or perhaps even to 128 teams. As long as the structure that is being created with this current expansion is maintained, we’re comfortable with further teams being added.
Kudos to the NCAA for understanding how critical the structure of the tournament is and that expansion has to be done with an eye toward maintaining all that is great about the basketball championship. We’re also thrilled to see what the partnership between CBS and Turner will bring.
dp
Tags: basketball, CBS, championship, Deep Alliance Marketing, expansion, NCAA, Turner