USA TODAY Sports has covered the expansion of the men’s and women’s NCAA tournament, which will go from 68 teams to 76 teams starting next March.
It’s not difficult to trace the chief motivation of the NCAA’s decision to increase the size of its March Madness brackets. But how much more money does the NCAA stand to make with eight more teams in the field?
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We have a bit of clarity on that question now, and the answer revolves around the media rights agreement the NCAA has with its broadcast partners. Simply put, CBS and TNT are backing up the Brink’s truck in order to snag the rights to the additional games.
The NCAA will receive $50 million more from their television partners from 2027 through 2032 due to the expanded field.
In conjunction with the cash influx, the NCAA also agreed to loosen its restrictions on sponsorship revenue on adult beverage categories such as beer, wine, spirits and hard seltzer.
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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: March Madness expansion will earn $50 million more for NCAA
