To measure brand exposure during the NCAA Basketball Championship tournament, The SportsOneSource Group developed a tournament Brand Brackets Sheet that tracks the brands with footwear and apparel contracts with the participating schools.
Nike, Inc. continued its dominance of the 2009 SportsOneSource “Brand Brackets,” by placing all four teams in the Final Four of the NCAA Mens Basketball tournament, capped by Monday nights showdown between North Carolina and Michigan State.
Saturday nights semifinal action brought added exposure to NKEs Jordan brand, as North Carolina sported custom Air Jordan footwear during its dominating performance over Villanova. The Tar Heels are the Jordan brands signature team. The Nike brand was featured on both UConn and Michigan State in the early game.
Nike brand sneakers were worn by 12 of the 'Sweet 16' schools that entered the previous weekend. The school portfolio was the same on the apparel side for the Sweet 16.
Of the 50 teams of the original 64 that started out Nike brand sneakers, four schools had other deals for uniforms. Maryland was wearing Under Armour uniforms, while Western Kentucky and Morgan State were wearing Russell Athletic and Robert Morris was sporting the Crons brand in apparel.
adidas had three of its original 11 teams in the 'Sweet 16' and two made it to the 'Elite 8,' but Pittsburgh was bested by Villanova and Louisville went down to Michigan State.
Reebok (Boston College) didn't make it out of the first round and Converse (Marquette) was out after the second round.
Tourney success for brand adidas was tempered early, with four of its 11 representatives in the East Regional. Two of the four top seeds, Louisville and Pitt, were wearing adidas head-to-toe, while the Nike brand & brand Jordan had one each with UConn and North Carolina, respectively.
To download your tournament Brand Bracket Sheets go to:
To share your thoughts on the tournament brand brackets, comment on this article below, or contact the SportsOneSource statistician at: statman@SportsOneSource.com.
