Home  >  Championships  >  Broadcasting and Marketing

About Championships

The NCAA conducts 89 national championships in 23 sports. Competition is conducted in Divisions I, II and III, with 44 championships administered for women and 42 for men. Three are coed.

Broadcasting and Marketing

Broadcasting

In 2010, the NCAA signed a 14-year television, internet and wireless rights agreement with CBS Sports and Turner Broadcasting System to present the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. The $10.8 billion agreement runs from 2011 through 2024. In 2011, for the first time ever, all games in the championship were shown live across four national networks.

NCAA Corporate Relationships

The NCAA Corporate Champion and Corporate Partner Program is dedicated to excellence and committed to developing marketing and promotional activities in support of all 89 NCAA championships.

Some of America’s top corporations participate in the program, which emphasizes the role of academics and athletics by supporting NCAA youth programs, student-athlete awards and honors, scholarship initiatives, fan interactive experiences and more.

The program  consists of two tiers of marketing and promotional rights − Corporate Champions and Corporate Partners.

These outstanding corporate citizens provide dollars, personnel and expertise to benefit intercollegiate athletics.

NCAA Corporate Champions and Corporate Partners are granted a variety of benefits, including certain category exclusivity around use of NCAA logos, marks, designations and championship tickets.

Licensing and Trademarks

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between an NCAA license, conference license and a school license?

An NCAA license allows authorized licensees to produce approved NCAA-branded products The NCAA does not manage or monitor the licensing agreements of the conferences, schools or its other member institutions. If you are interested in using their school or conference logos and/or trademarks, you will need to contact each conference or institution individually. The NCAA does not maintain a list of each school's licensee contact, however, CLC may be able to assist you with questions you have as related to individual schools and/or conferences.

Does the NCAA own trademarks and logos?

Yes, all rights to the identifying marks and symbols of the NCAA are reserved. No one may reproduce or copy them without the permission of the NCAA. Vigorous legal action will be taken against violators.

Can I use the NCAA's logo on a Web site?

Every use of an NCAA trademark requires permission from the NCAA. The internet has made it easy for NCAA supporters to build web pages with the NCAA's name and logos, and the NCAA appreciates this support. However, federal trademark laws require that the NCAA control its name and marks; therefore, the NCAA must be very selective in granting permission in these and all instances. For more information, contact the NCAABroadcast/ Digital team (317-917-6222).

The Collegiate Licensing Company (part of IMG College) serves as  the licensing representative for the NCAA.

CLC is responsible for administering the licensing program, including processing applications, collecting royalties, enforcing trademarks and pursuing new market opportunities for the NCAA.

The licensing program has three main objectives:

  • Produce revenue to support and enhance NCAA programs and to fund scholarships, programs or services to NCAA student-athletes.
  • Ensure the quality and consistency of all licensed NCAA merchandise.
  • Protect all service marks, trademarks and NCAA-related verbiage and ensure that the use of those marks reflects favorably on the NCAA.

An NCAA license allows licensees to create products in advance of and during the 89 NCAA championship events. The NCAA does not manage or monitor the licensing agreements of conferences, individual schools or its other member institutions.

All rights to the identifying marks and symbols of the NCAA are reserved. No one may reproduce or copy them without the permission of the NCAA. 

Here is a list of current NCAA trademarks.

Merchandising

Event 1 serves as the official event merchandise concessionaire for the NCAA. The NCAA retains the exclusive right to sell souvenir products at all rounds and sites of the 89 National Collegiate Championships. Host institutions and sponsoring agencies for all NCAA championships are required to work with Event 1 to sell officially licensed items at NCAA championships.

Ticketing

NCAA championships seek to create meaningful and enhanced student-athlete, fan and stakeholder experiences.

The NCAA identifies and incorporates the latest technology in ticketing to promote the values of intercollegiate athletics.

The staff examines the industry trends that can help the fans of intercollegiate athletics obtain tickets to NCAA championships with ease. This group looks to build customer relationship management and explore technology, such as e-mails, that sends and track sales for NCAA championships. These industry trends can help generate revenue, which in turn can create better championship experiences for the student-athletes

Click here to buy NCAA championship tickets.

Last Updated: Feb 1, 2013