Close-up of a basketball on an empty court.

Jump Ball! NCAA Authorizes Use of Iconic “March Madness” Brand for Women’s Basketball Championship

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “March Madness?”  Prior to September of this year, if your answer was NCAA basketball, you’d have been wrong.  That’s right, prior to September of this year, only the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship was authorized by the NCAA to utilize the iconic “March Madness” brand.

Beginning with the 2022 Tournaments, however, both NCAA men and NCAA women will use “March Madness” branding.

There is no clear answer as to why this decision didn’t come sooner, but one can conclude that the social media blitz during the 2021 championships hastened the NCAA’s efforts to bring more equality to the sport.  There were several Tweets and Instagram posts highlighting discrepancies between the tournaments on everything from meals to training facilities and workout spaces to swag bags and other perks.

Notably, “March Madness” has been trademarked since 1993, with no apparent exclusivity or differentiation between the genders.  The NCAA submitted that the mark was for “entertainment in the nature of basketball tournaments between college teams.”

Following the 2021 social media blitz, the NCAA retained a law firm to investigate gender disparities among the NCAA’s championship events.  Unsurprisingly, the firm’s report (the “Kaplan Report”) recommended this shift in branding and related marketing.

Client Tip

The law firm’s initial focus was on the gender equity issues that surfaced during the 2021 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships.  The full report is publicly available, as is a user-friendly summary of the report.  The next phase of review will include an examination across the NCAA’s other sports and championships.

For more information, please contact the alert author or your Bowditch attorney at 508-791-3511.

This update has been prepared for informational purposes only and it is not legal advice.  The content may be considered advertising for legal services under the laws and rules of professional conduct of the jurisdictions in which we practice.

 

 

 

Categorized: NCAA

Tagged In: , , , ,

About the Authors

Lynette Paczkowski
Stay Connected
LinkedIn

Partner

Lynette Paczkowski

Lynette Paczkowski is a pragmatic and trusted advisor with extensive experience advocating for her clients at trial and appellate courts across Massachusetts. Clients rely on her to protect their interests during stressful, challenging times. Lynette’s empathy for her clients’ situations allows her to understand their priorities and concerns and develop a strategy around those goals. She routinely guides and helps individuals navigate prenuptial agreements, divorces, child custody issues, and other domestic relations disputes. With an extensive and varied litigation background, she also counsels and advises clients and appears in Probate & Family Court to represent them in trust disputes, estate administration claims, and related matters. Given her foundation and background in business litigation, construction litigation, and defense of tort-related claims, she is uniquely suited to also represent her clients in Superior Court and Land Court navigating related breach of fiduciary duty claims and property disputes. 

Stay Connected
LinkedIn

More Posts by Author ›

About the Authors

Lynette Paczkowski
Stay Connected
LinkedIn

Partner

Lynette Paczkowski

Lynette Paczkowski is a pragmatic and trusted advisor with extensive experience advocating for her clients at trial and appellate courts across Massachusetts. Clients rely on her to protect their interests during stressful, challenging times. Lynette’s empathy for her clients’ situations allows her to understand their priorities and concerns and develop a strategy around those goals. She routinely guides and helps individuals navigate prenuptial agreements, divorces, child custody issues, and other domestic relations disputes. With an extensive and varied litigation background, she also counsels and advises clients and appears in Probate & Family Court to represent them in trust disputes, estate administration claims, and related matters. Given her foundation and background in business litigation, construction litigation, and defense of tort-related claims, she is uniquely suited to also represent her clients in Superior Court and Land Court navigating related breach of fiduciary duty claims and property disputes. 

Stay Connected
LinkedIn

More Posts by Author ›

Stay Connected

Subscribe to Blog

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.