The NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament is putting up big numbers.
Ahead of the first round of the women’s tournament on Friday, Disney told ADWEEK that the ad inventory is “well sold,” but there are still some opportunities for advertisers to get involved. This year’s Championship Game, which airs April 5 on ABC, achieved ad rates of $1 million or more for the second year in a row, with the company hitting a new unit high, as at least one 30-second spot went for $1.5 million.
Danielle Brown, svp of sports brand solutions at Disney Advertising, told ADWEEK that pricing for the tournament, which will air across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, ABC, and streaming, was up double digits percent-wise, crediting the increasing demand, inventory scarcity, and the audience growth as leading to the ad sales achievements.
“We sell a lot of it in the upfront, so when you think about it, if there’s only a last few remaining units left, people are willing to put the money behind it to be a part of that momentous occasion,” Brown said.
Regarding revenue, Brown said the women’s college basketball regular season was up 72% from two years ago, and this year’s tournament was up 134% from the same period.
Brands getting in the game
The 2026 tournament has 151 unique advertisers—84 returning—across 66 total categories. The top categories include credit card and banking, finance and insurance, tech, telco, soft drinks, CPG, travel and leisure, auto, and QSR, according to Brown.
Overall, ESPN has 20 unique sponsors, with Capital One as the presenting sponsor. Intuit TurboTax is a sponsor for the First Four, first round, and second round; Coca-Cola is a sponsor of the Sweet 16; and AT&T is a sponsor for the Elite Eight and Final Four.
Brown noted that ESPN will also lean into streaming, social, and creators during the tournament. Fans can get personalized content feeds through the ESPN app, and creators such as Katie Feeney, who signed a deal with the network last year, will also be involved in content creation.
“[Katie Feeney] is going to be on site at the Final Four and the Championship Game, doing the first-ever creator cam for college basketball,” Brown said. “So she’s going to pick up the sights and sounds of the game.”
