Unlocking Brand Deals During March Madness

📢 Athlete Branding in Action

We want to highlight this campaign we worked on with Duke QB (Darian Mensah) and Single Mom's Planet is the perfect example of developing athlete brand positioning.

If you look at Darian’s feed before this partnership, you would view him just as a football player.

But, as we got to know him, we saw that he cared deeply about supporting single mothers. He grew up with a single mother. He's also incredibly smart and caring.

We reached out to Single Mom's Planet with a partnership idea. They loved it.

From there, we created a video announcing the partnership and it was an easy story for press to pick up on.

Now, he's well positioned for brands to partner with him as well.

Article here

March Madness is one of the biggest moments in sports —with millions of fans locked in, brackets busted, and wild upsets creating instant viral moments. For talent managers, this isn’t just about basketball—it’s about harnessing the hype to secure partnerships that feel timely, relevant, and impossible to ignore.

1. March Madness is a Goldmine for Brand Deals

• Massive captive audience—everyone is paying attention, making brackets, and looking for the next Cinderella story.

• Viral potential—wild plays, buzzer-beaters, funny reactions, and upsets create instant memes.

• Brands are already in the space—they know March Madness matters, so your job is to show them why your athlete fits the moment.

2.  Looking at Last Year’s Best Brand Activations

Brands don’t just want endorsements—they want cultural relevance. They want authenticity. Brands that won March Madness 2024:

• Buffalo Wild Wings → Partnered with players who forced overtime.

• Degree → Partnered with 5 Walk-on’s with $25k deals honoring resilience.

• Epsilon → Offered an NIL deal to every female athlete in the tournament.

The best partnerships weren’t random—they were timely, reactive, and built on the emotion of the tournament.

The best partnerships happen when a brand can step in as the hero or an extension of an athlete’s story. Whether it’s fashion, gaming, wellness, or philanthropy, positioning a brand as a supporter of an athlete’s passion creates a natural, long-lasting relationship.

3. So what can you do to capitalize?

Reverse engineer which brands did partnerships last year. Reach out to them and share your athletes that are a good fit.

The teams who can be part of the major upsets are already punching their tickets. Find their best players to see if they have representation or partnerships.

Figure out a unique perspective to pitch a brand to land a partnership. Don’t have any ideas? No problem. Keep reading ⬇️

Final Play

March Madness isn’t just a tournament—it’s a marketing phenomenon. The key to winning brand deals right now is speed, creativity, and timing. You don’t need the biggest name to land a deal—you need the right story at the right moment.

I’m not sure why anyone would wait until the tournament is over. Get your pitches out now, align with brands who want in on the madness, and be ready to move fast when the viral moments happen.

Brands have been historically pretty lazy with their March Madness campaigns. Bracket challenges, Cinderella stories, great. These are what people expect to see and will quickly forget.

We’ve said it before but we’ll say it again: you need to be human-centric. Don’t you dare call your product a “slam dunk” and pat yourself on the back for the clever connection. Focus on the unique stories and attributes of the players. Focus on the madness within the teams that makes this tournament so addicting.

Idea #1: The star player who loses the game

Paige Bueckers x BetterHelp

Everyone focuses on the winner. Lets focus on the “loser” and the potential repercussions. For example, it’s entirely possible that Uconn makes it all the way. No one knows who is going to lose, but you can bet there’s going to be a notable player who gets knocked out way earlier than he/she is.

If Uconn was to get knocked out, Betterhelp could do a campaign with Paige about how to manage the emotions of coming up short. 

Idea #2: What it means to go up against the No.1 seed

Amaari Monroe x Nickelodeon

Tell the David and Goliath story, but add an interesting twist using that player’s weird, unique interests.

Looking at the bracket projections, Amaari’s Quinnipiac team is projected to be the 16th seed, matching up against #1 seed Duke. Amarri is also a self-proclaimed “big Spongebob guy.” Nickelodeon could put together a fun promo with Spongebob Amaari as David, going up against Plankton Cooper Flagg as Goliath. 

Watch player press conferences and you’ll learn a lot.

Idea #3: Calling out the super seniors

Hunter Dickinson x Recoop Insurance

“You can’t escape disasters. You also can’t escape Hunter Dickinson.” A funny take on things that are always there, always lurking, even when you think they’ve moved on.

Recoop is a local disaster insurance company in Kansas. Putting a fun campaign around their local star player would be an easy awareness play.

Idea #4: Score points, get job

Enterprise x ….there’s about 50 players in the tournament who could be a good fit

There are some companies like ADP, Northwestern Mutual and Enterprise who love hiring student athletes. Since they’re gonna do it anyway, might as well bring in some earned media.

Once the seeds are announced, find 5 of the players who probably won’t be going to the draft and offer them jobs once the tournament is over.

Idea #5: Boring wins

Johni Broome x OneTrust

Show that boring wins. Johni Broome is not flashy, not exciting to watch. But he’s one of the best players in the nation. Play on the idea that “boring gets the job done” with a company like OneTrust, a data protection company.

Idea #6: Fun with last names

Jeremiah Fears x Oklahoma Sky Diving Center

This doesn’t need much explaining. Last name campaigns are fun ways for brands to tap into stars. A “Face your Fears” campaign with the local skydiving center is almost too perfect.

Every team has at least one name to get clever with. If you’re a local business with your area’s team in the tourney, check out those rosters and see where you can have the most fun.

Idea #7: "Pure chaos. Just the way we like it."

Ian Jackson x Robinhood

Traders profit when the market is chaotic. Partner with an electric player like Ian Jackson who is electric and thrives when there is chaos on the court (usually thanks to him). I love these campaigns that pair a seemingly predictable industry with an athlete who doesn’t have an obvious connection.

Idea #8: Yeah, we do that too.

Flau’jae Johnson x TAG Heuer

Flau’jae = Rapper x hooper. TAG Heuer = Precision sports timing x high-fashion watches. Flau’jae balances two careers at once with precision. TAG Heuer could highlight their similar contrast while tapping into a new audience.

Idea #9: Keep sleeping

Ta’Niya Latson x Emma

“If you’re gonna keep sleeping on me, might as well make it on an Emma mattress.”

Ta’Niya is the nation’s leading scorer, and yet most people have no idea who she is. Similar to the Miami Hurricanes “Don’t Pick Us” campaign, this can go into that same reverse psychology by having Ta’Niya saying, “Please keep sleeping on me.” 

Idea #10: Stay ready

Ta’Niya Latson x REI

Just to show you that you can make multiple aspects of one player work for different companies: you can also take Ta’Niya’s story of adjusting to different circumstances (dad served in the army, moved around a ton, one of 6 siblings) and connect it with REI, a brand that keeps you prepared and ready for any situation.