The telecommunications company will again sponsor concerts during the Women’s Final Four weekend.extension pr
When guests walk through the entryway to AT&T’s headquarters in Dallas this month, they will be greeted with a display of trophies, photos and mementos that celebrate 50 years of women’s college athletics and pays tribute to the golden anniversary of Title IX.
With Dallas serving as the host of the NCAA Women’s Final Four, the telecommunications giant wanted to give a hearty tip of the cap to the women’s basketball championship, both inside its walls and around the city with what it is calling the AT&T Showcase Title IX exhibit. It was created in tandem with the NCAA, the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and Getty Images.
The showcase continues into the AT&T Discovery District with the Title IX Image Cloud, which is a digital display of more than 800 images and video from the NCAA and Getty highlighting women’s athletics in the past 50 years.
“We just wanted a display that would allow people to appreciate these women athletes from the past 50 years and the hurdles they’ve overcome,” said Jamie Kerr, AT&T’s director of corporate sponsorships and the executive who has overseen the NCAA relationship going back 20 years when it was known as Cingular Wireless. “When you look at where women student athletes are now and how far we’ve come, we’re just happy to be a part of that.”
AT&T not only transformed its home office to reflect its support of the women’s game, it also is the presenting sponsor of the Super Saturday Concert each weekend during the Women’s Final Four. The night prior, AT&T will sponsor the March Madness Music Festival in Houston, site of the Men’s Final Four. While AT&T has added to its already-hearty schedule, it has not pulled back on the men’s event.
AT&T’s activity around the Women’s Final Four signifies an increase in the level of sponsor activation that hasn’t always been evident on the women’s side. AT&T, Capital One and Coca-Cola, the three NCAA corporate champions — the highest tier of NCAA sponsorship — have typically maintained a presence at the women’s event, but the participation from those at the partner level has been more hit-and-miss.
That began to shift in 2022, said Ellen Lucey, the NCAA’s director of championships and alliances, corporate relations, marketing and branding. “We saw our partners really come out with activation on the ground last year, and we’re seeing the same thing this year,” she said.
NCAA sponsors have begun to pick up their spending around the Women’s Final Four.
The NCAA partnership program, which is managed by CBS Sports and Warner Bros Discovery, includes rights to 90 championships, but there has been particular emphasis on the women’s basketball tournament since inequities in the men’s and women’s workout spaces were revealed during the 2021 event.
Last year’s women’s championship marked the first time all of the NCAA’s corporate partners activated at the Women’s Final Four, and that will be the case again when Dallas hosts the championship in what is expected to be the most sponsor-rich Women’s Final Four in the event’s history, with all 18 sponsors creating targeted events, concerts or campaigns.
A new NCAA partner, Dick’s Sporting Goods, will be the title sponsor of the open practice in Dallas the day before the Women’s Final Four. Reese’s title sponsors the men’s open practice.
Multiple partners, including AT&T and Invesco, are staging “Beyond the Baseline” talks, which provide fans an opportunity to hear from transcendent athletes who were pioneers in their sport. After their interview, they’ll then meet with students from the Dallas and Houston areas.
All of that is in addition to the traditional elements at the Final Four, such as fan fests, free concerts and other legacy events that repair and paint neighborhood basketball courts in the host cities, an endeavor that is sponsored by Unilever’s Degree brand.
“The thing that’s been great about the partnerships has been their consistency,” Lucey said. “It really comes down to companies that support the mission of the student athletes. This has probably been misunderstood, but our partners have always financially supported the championships, both men’s and women’s. It’s just that we’ve seen a massive increase in additional activation dollars. They see the value and we’re really excited to work with them to create wins for everybody.”
