“March Madness” and the Value of Words
I was in a meeting recently in my role as a faculty advisor to a student organization, and one of the students suggested using “March Madness” in the name of a campus event the organization is planning. It makes sense at this time of year that a group of college students, and hundreds of other groups around the country, would think of using the iconic NCAA expression for promotional reasons. But it is precisely because the expression March Madness is so well known, and valuable, that the NCAA vigorously protects against its unlicensed use. So I directed the student organization to pick a different name for its event and explained why.
“March Madness” is one of 68 trademarked expressions under NCAA control. Use of “March Madness,” “Final Four,” “The Big Dance” or any other NCAA trademark requires prior approval by the NCAA. Prior approval involves applying for a license, which can be costly depending on what your intentions are for the trademark, and licenses are not handed out frivolously. The NCAA licensing program is in place to protect the organization’s trademarks, ensure that uses of the marks reflect favorably on the NCAA, and generate revenue.
If you try to get away with unlicensed use of an NCAA trademark, you may be successful for a while, but chances are the NCAA will eventually catch up with you. The NCAA aggressively identifies trademark infringers, sending out hundreds of cease-and-desist letters annually. Even creative attempts to get around an official license will be pursued: Recently the NCAA filed a lawsuit against an online game developer that used the names “April Madness” and “Final 3” in its basketball contests. When I was on the NCAA staff, the general counsel’s office held a contest that rewarded whichever department in the office identified the most cases of unlicensed trademark use each spring. The winning department received lunch, and the infringers received cease-and-desist letters.
Before complaining about the NCAA acting like Big Brother in this scenario, it is important to understand what is at stake. NCAA corporate partners pay millions annually for the ability to use NCAA trademarks in promotions. If unlicensed uses of NCAA trademarks were ignored, the value that licensees pay for would soon erode, and the NCAA would eventually lose its trademark rights. NCAA trademark value accounts for a portion of the nearly $800 million in annual revenue generated through the men’s basketball championship television and marketing rights. That men's basketball revenue makes up the vast majority of annual NCAA revenue, which helps fund NCAA championships in all sports and is distributed to NCAA conferences and schools to support athletics programs on campuses.
As you watch the tournament this month, pay attention to advertisements that use trademarked expressions and logos from the NCAA website and recognize that those are examples of valuable intellectual property that corporations paid for the right to use. And if you are developing a promotion for your business or organization, avoid any unlicensed uses of trademarks that could put you on the NCAA legal team’s radar. Happy hoops season!