Women’s March Madness Scores Big with Brands, Breaks Records

Louisiana State University’s 102-85 victory over Iowa in the National Collegiate Athletic Association women’s Division 1 basketball championship game proved women’s hoops can bring as much on-court excitement and trash-talking controversy as a men’s final. This year, a record-setting number of viewers watched the women in action as brands flocked to support the players.
 
Women’s college hoops is coming into its own, thanks in no small part to the NCAA’s 2021 decisions to extend the men’s March Madness current branding to the women’s D1 tournament and allow student-athletes to monetize their own names, images and likenesses (NIL).
In this Chicago Daily Law Bulletin article written by Douglas Masters, managing partner of the firm’s Chicago office, and Advanced Media & Technology partner Seth Rose the authors explore how the NCAA’s March Madness branding and NIL decisions resulted in increased viewership and proved to be game changers for women’s college basketball.