🏟️ Breaking Down College Basketball Championship Celebrations

Welcome to this week’s edition of Sports Industry Weekly as we share insights from the top business headlines from across the sports industry.

This Is How Brands Showed Up for College Basketball Champs

March Madness ended with two powerhouse programs raising trophies—Florida Men's Basketball and UConn Women's Basketball—and the brand instantly celebrated as soon as the nets were cut down.

From limited-edition collectibles to national TV moments, here’s how brands helped turn championship celebration into cultural moments:

🐊 Florida Men’s Basketball Breakdown:

🏀 Topps instantly secured the official game ball from the national title game and inserted it into a limited-edition trading card, capturing a piece of history.

📕 Sports Illustrated dropped a digital cover celebrating Florida’s third national title, solidifying its legacy in college hoops.

⚡️ Gatorade took to social media to highlight their “Gator Made” winning formula, leaning into the brand and school’s legacy partnership together.

🐊 Phoenix Suns & Boston Celtics had their alumni stars Bradley Beal and Al Horford celebrated their Gator roots with social shoutouts.

👟 Jordan Brand was in a no-lose scenario as they sponsored both Florida and Houston. Post-championship buzzer, Jordan celebrated with the message: “Only Gators Get Out Alive.”

🏆 UConn Women’s Basketball Breakdown:

🐕 Nike Basketball declared UConn as the Top Dogs with a celebratory commercial spot.

🗽 The Empire State Building lit up in UConn colors, honoring the team’s dominance in women's basketball as they won their record 12th national championship.

📍 Big East Conference took over Times Square with a massive billboard campaign honoring the champs.

📺 The Media Tour – Paige Bueckers made appearances on The Today Show and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, while Azzi Fudd joined Good Morning America, taking the team’s story to national audiences.

Both champs walked away with the trophy—but the real win might be how their championship stories were amplified far beyond the court.

👑 Barbie is teaming up with the LeBron James Family Foundation to release the first Ken doll of a professional athlete, LeBron James, to recognize his positive impact on culture, style, and community.

💰 Washington Spirit owner Michele King is investing an additional $25 million to support U.S. soccer, after she previously made a $30 million donation in 2023.

🐐 Tom Brady is launching "CardVault," a high-end sports card and memorabilia retail store, with its first flagship location at the American Dream mall in East Rutherford, NJ.

🎾 Coco Gauff has launched Coco Gauff Enterprises in partnership with WME, her new venture management firm focused on business, philanthropy, and innovation.

🧦 The new Netflix series “The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox” provides an insider look at the franchise’s unique team operations spending in 2024, which includes $490,000 on baseballs, $150,000 on bats, $19,000 on helmets, and $500 on mud.

🏈 Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions secured a first-look deal with 20th Television, granting them the first rights to develop and produce Omaha’s upcoming slate of sports scripted comedies, dramas, and animated projects.

🍻 Budweiser sent special-edition cans to the 28 goalies who faced shots from Alex Ovechkin, the new all-time NHL goal-scoring leader, and did not allow a goal.

🛑 Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and UFC’s Dana White have signed a multi-year partnership that will leverage the social media giant’s platform and tech innovations (Meta Glasses, Threads, Meta AI) to bring fans closer to the UFC action than ever before.

🚧 The Barclays Center in Brooklyn will begin its second round of $100 million renovations to the new terrace and upper concourse fan zone, which will start after the 2024-25 season.

🐏 The Los Angeles Rams’ announced plans for their new headquarters that will be part of a mixed-use development costing more than $10 billion, which will include two full-sized grass fields and an indoor practice facility as part of a larger Woodland Hills development.