The Final Four: How Sponsors Are Leveraging One of Basketball's Largest Events

The NCAA Final Four provides sponsors a unique opportunity to promote their brands. Through the NCAA Corporate Champions and Corporate Partners Program, numerous partners will be activating their brands in Houston this weekend. The NCAA has 3 Corporate Champions consisting of AT&T, Capital One, and Coca-Cola. The Official NCAA Corporate Partners Program consists of 14 partners from some of America’s top corporations.

The NCAA March Madness Music Festival

AT&T, Capital One, and Coca-Cola will all play a vital role in the NCAA March Madness Music Festival. The festival is 3 days and is taking place at the Discovery Green in downtown Houston. The 3 major events surrounding the festival consist of the AT&T Block Party today, The Coca-Cola Music Mix concert tomorrow, and the Capital One JamFest on Sunday. The AT&T Block Party will include performances from Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, and Lukas Graham.

The Coca-Cola Music Mix concert will feature Kendrick Lamar, Twenty One

Pilots, Jason Derulo, and Conrad Sewell. At the festival tomorrow fans can stop by the Coca-Cola Sound Bar to enjoy the latest tunes while practicing their lip syncing and dancing skills. On Sunday, the Capital One JamFest will feature Maroon 5, Pitbull, Flo Rida, and Aloe Blacc. There is also a Final Four Fan Fest presented by Capital One starting today and ending on Monday. The Fan Fest has youth clinics, giveaways, concerts, interactive games, special appearances, and

autograph signings.

Coca-Cola Takes The Court

Coca-Cola has been a Corporate Champion of the NCAA the last 14 years and this year is heavily involved with the NCAA Final Four in Houston. In addition to the Coca-Cola Music Mix concert multiple other Coca-Cola activations are occurring this weekend. Coke Zero is the official fan refreshment of the NCAA Final Four. Coke Zero activities at the March Madness Music Festival will include Texas-style mechanical bull riding, photo booths, and a Coke Zero sampling station. Additionally, participating Uber and Enterprise vehicles will be stocked with

Coke Zero for fans to try. Another Coca-Cola product POWERADE is the official sports drink of the NCAA Final Four. The Final Four Dribble Fueled by POWERADE will be on Sunday and will consist of a parade through downtown Houston led by former NBA player Kenny Smith.

Throughout the weekend there will be POWERADE NCAA Youth Clinics. The clinics are a community outreach program and will allow youths to receive basketball clinic instruction from NCAA coaches and student-athletes.

Ladders and Scissors? Well, it works.

Two of the most unique partners of the NCAA are Werner and Fiskars. Werner is the Official Ladder of the NCAA Basketball Championship and will be used when this year’s champions cut down the nets. As part of their deal with the NCAA, Werner be will sharing video clips from the only interview featuring the two NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Championship coaches together before the big game on Monday. Each coach will have the opportunity to share their personal journey through the tournament and aspirations to climb the Werner Ladder in the net-cutting ceremony the following day. Fiskars is in its 8th year being the Official Net-Cutting Scissors during the NCAA Basketball Championship. The scissors have serrated, gold titanium blades that are specially etched with the NCAA logo. After the Championship game on Monday, the winning team will keep one pair of the scissors for display on their campus.