US college sports’ NCAA governing body has confirmed the expansion of its annual ‘March Madness’ men’s and women’s national basketball championships, which will each grow from 68 teams to 76 from the 2027 editions onward.
Eight teams will be added to each championship’s first round, with the ‘First Four’ play-in round expanded from four games to 12 (and will be renamed the ‘Opening round’) and from 8 teams to 24 (including the eight new team slots), which will feed into the 32-team First Round of the main tournament that will remain unchanged.
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The additional eight games in each tournament will net the NCAA an additional $50 million per year from media rights partners: Paramount-owned CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery-owned TNT for the men’s tournament, and ESPN for the women’s tournament.
This means that, through the end of the current broadcast deals in 2032, an additional $300 million will be drawn from the agreements.
Alongside the expansion to the number of games, the NCAA has also expanded the range of sponsorship categories open to the competitions, with the previously restricted areas – beer, wine, spirits, and hard seltzer – all now available for the body to leverage via sponsorship.
On its intentions for the funding, the NCAA said: “After accounting for expenses, the projected surplus will primarily be used to continue investing in the basketball tournaments and enhancing the NCAA championship experience for all student-athletes.”
The body added that the expansion of the partnership program will allow for “expanded in-game advertising opportunities during the linear and streaming coverage of the tournaments.”
ESPN has expanded its college basketball slate with the addition of the Players Era Men’s Championship tournament.
Through the multi-year deal, ESPN will cover both annual men’s tournaments, 37 games in all, starting with the 2026 editions, which will take place in November in Las Vegas.
ESPN’s events arm and the Players Era promoter will collaborate on “staging and operational elements” surrounding the events.
Speaking on the deal, Players Era chief executive Seth Berger said: “College basketball is the hottest and one of the fastest-growing sports properties in the country. The players have never been better, and record ratings for early-season college basketball reflect that. Led by top programs from multiple conferences across the sport, the teams in our field are stronger than ever.”
