Strategies To Discuss March's Big Basketball Tournament Legally

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is vigilant about protecting its trademarks, including March Madness, and aggressively pursues claims regarding their unauthorized use. The NCAA has a strong incentive to prevent the unauthorized use of its trademarks, as it derives significant revenue from licensing March Madness and related trademarks to advertisers. Businesses that use these marks must be aware of the potential for liability. The NCAA has brought several infringement actions over the years, and any business wishing to use the term March Madness in promotions or advertising should be cautious and seek legal advice to avoid trademark infringement.

Avoid using March Madness in promotions unless you are an official sponsor

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is vigilant about protecting its trademarks, including "March Madness", and will aggressively pursue any unauthorized use of its registered marks. The organization has a strong incentive to do so as it derives a significant amount of revenue from licensing "March Madness" and related trademarks to advertisers.

Therefore, unless you are an official sponsor of the tournament, do not use the term "March Madness" in your promotions. The NCAA has previously sued companies that used variations of the phrase, such as "April Madness" and "Markdown Madness", and won. Even if you do not use the exact phrase, you could still be sued for trademark infringement if your variation is deemed "confusingly similar".

If you are an official sponsor, you should still be aware of the restrictions on usage. The NCAA does not allow its trademarks to be used in advertising that refers to the NCAA, the NCAA Basketball Tournament, or any other NCAA trademark or logo. This includes local programming that uses any NCAA trademark as part of its name, selling the right to sponsor coverage of a tournament, and sweepstakes or giveaways that include any NCAA trademark in their name or offer tournament tickets as a prize.

Media companies are exempt from these restrictions when providing customary news coverage of the tournament, as long as the trademarks are only used to identify the tournament and its stages, and do not imply any association with the station or an unaffiliated advertiser.

Don't use the term in advertising that refers to the NCAA

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is vigilant about the unauthorised use of its trademarks, tickets, and references to its championships. The NCAA has several trademark registrations for "March Madness", for various types of uses and products. They also have registered "America's Original March Madness".

The NCAA has posted a list of its trademarks, and unless authorised by them, any of the following activities may result in a cease and desist demand:

• Accepting advertising that refers to the NCAA, the NCAA Basketball Tournament, March Madness, The Big Dance, Final Four, Elite Eight or any other NCAA trademark or logo.
• Local programming that uses any NCAA trademark as part of its name.
• Selling the right to sponsor the overall coverage by a broadcaster, website or print publication of the tournament.
• Sweepstakes or giveaways that include any NCAA trademark in its name.
• Sweepstakes or giveaways that offer tickets to a tournament game as a prize.
• Events or parties that use any NCAA trademark to attract guests.
• Advertising that wishes or congratulates a team, or its coach or players, on their success in the tournament.

The NCAA's position is that the unauthorised placement of advertising within an NCAA bracket and corporate sponsorship of a tournament bracket is misleading and constitutes an infringement of its intellectual property rights. Any advertising should be outside of the bracket space and should clearly indicate that the advertiser or its goods or services are not sponsored by, approved by, or otherwise associated with the NCAA or its championship tournament.

It is important to note that the news media is exempt from trademark restrictions for coverage of events like March Madness. A sports reporter can refer to March Madness when reporting on the NCAA's annual college basketball tournament. However, using images or videos from those events is subject to many use restrictions.

Avoid using March Madness in your business name

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is extremely vigilant about the unauthorized use of its trademarks, tickets, and references to its championships. The NCAA has several trademark registrations for "March Madness" for various types of uses and products. The NCAA also has registered "America's Original March Madness".

The NCAA's revenue from its annual basketball tournament is the primary source of its annual income. In 2022, its total revenue was $1.14 billion, 85-90% of which came from the men's tournament. The NCAA has to be diligent in stopping others from using their trademarks; otherwise, they may lose the rights to the trademark and, at the very least, the marketing power that the trademark once held.

The NCAA has a history of pursuing legal action against those who violate their trademarks. For example, in 2017, the NCAA filed a trademark infringement action against a company that ran online sports-themed promotions and sweepstakes under the marks "April Madness" and "Final 3". The defendant stipulated to an order providing that it would cease using those marks, and the NCAA was awarded $220,998.05 in attorney's fees. The NCAA also sued a car dealership that had registered and was using the mark "Markdown Madness" in advertising.

Therefore, it is highly advisable to avoid using "March Madness" in your business name. Doing so without permission from the NCAA is illegal and could result in costly legal consequences. Instead, consider using alternative phrases or creative plays on words that capture the excitement and competition of the tournament without directly using the trademarked term.

Don't use the term in any internet domain names

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is extremely protective of its "March Madness" trademark. The organisation has been known to aggressively pursue claims regarding the unauthorised use of its registered marks.

The NCAA Trademark Protection Program explicitly states that NCAA trademarks may not be used as part of internet domain names. The program outlines that federal regulations support the NCAA's efforts to prohibit the unauthorised use of its name and trademarks, including the Final Four and March Madness, in any sweepstakes, promotions, contests, or any other unfair attempt to associate with or exploit the goodwill of any NCAA championship event.

The bottom line is that any promotion, online or offline, that uses the term "March Madness" or "Final Four", or even references the game, could face a cease and desist letter or alleged trademark infringement from the NCAA. The NCAA will defend its trademark rights against potential infringement under likelihood of confusion or other laws related to trademark protection in the United States.

If you are not an approved, official sponsor of the tournament, the NCAA will sue you. And they will win.

Avoid using the term in local programming

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) holds several trademark registrations for the term "March Madness" and aggressively pursues any unauthorised use of its registered trademarks. The NCAA has a strong incentive to prevent unauthorised usage of its trademarks as it derives significant revenue from licensing the term "March Madness" and related trademarks to advertisers.

Local programming that uses any NCAA trademark as part of its name may result in a cease and desist demand from the NCAA. For example, a locally produced programme previewing the tournament called "The Big Dance: Pick a Winning Bracket" would be in violation.

To avoid receiving a cease and desist demand from the NCAA, local programming should not include any reference to the NCAA or its trademarks. This includes the terms "March Madness", "The Big Dance", "Final Four", "Elite Eight", "Sweet Sixteen", "Sweet 16", and "The Road to the Final Four", among others.

Local programming can still provide customary news coverage of the tournament, as long as the trademarks are only used to identify the tournament or its stages. Any commentary or analysis must not imply an association with the station or any advertisers who are not affiliated with the NCAA.

In addition, local programming should be careful not to use similar or confusingly similar terms to the NCAA's trademarks. For example, the NCAA has previously opposed or obtained extensions to oppose the registration of the following marks: "Street Madness", "March Greatness", "Mad March", "Final Friday", and "Marsh Mania".

To summarise, local programming should avoid using any NCAA trademarks or similar terms in their content and should only use the trademarks for the purpose of identifying the tournament when providing customary news coverage.

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