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How Did The NCAA Tournament Impact The Growth Of Media Coverage Of College Basketball?

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For years the captivation of the month of March has been known for its College Basketball. March Madness as it has come to be known hasn’t always had the captivation that it has now. The growth of the NCAA Tournament over the years has not only changed because of the game itself. How did the development of the NCAA tournament impact the growth of media coverage of college basketball?
Beginning in 1939 College basketball made history by hosting the first NCAA Tournament, this tourney had 8 teams involved and saw the Oregon Webfoots versus the Ohio State Buckeyes play for the National Championship. “ The Webfoots, and especially their tall front line, had already caught the media's attention earlier in the season.” (Boyd,2014). This first final …show more content…

The book is called March 1939: Before the Madness. “On one hand, it refers to an era before college basketball became a multi-billion dollar industry,” said Frei, whose father was the football coach at Oregon during that time. “ But there’s another meaning in there: In March, 1939, the world was marching toward war.” (Boyd, 2014).
The Oregon Webfoots through all the media headlines coming out of Nazi Germany and the fate of those players on that Oregon team who may have had to go to war, defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes, to win the first NCAA men’s title.
The expansion of the tournament also pushed for more media coverage throughout the country, and it pushed the revenue of this tournament to new heights. In 1975, 32 teams were now in the tournament. “ This year was also the first time that the semi finals were officially referred to as the Final Four, with the title appearing on multiple NCAA publications, including media guides, and on all of the different channels the games were broadcasted on.” …show more content…

It also helped introduce the world to one of the most well known voices in College Basketball, Dick Vitale. “ That game, pitting Magic vs. Bird, created the unbelievable feeling for the world of college basketball on television, “ Said Vitale. “ It kicked off the unbelievable interest in March Madness. It set the tempo for the biggest growth in college basketball.” (Vitale).
I think the clear importance of these changes in not only the tournament itself but also how much media coverage changed to go along with the change in the tournaments size. The field size increased over time, so has the amount of media that covers the event. ESPN doesn’t broadcast the games like they used to but they still host shows and have reporters at every game. Scores from the game are easily accessible online.
The development of the Bracket Challenge also shifted how the tournament was broadcasted. Everyone fills out brackets from the average joe to even the President. Even major news publications have brackets that they fill out. I think the bracket has pushed the coverage of the NCAA Tournament to the future. CBS which is the major network that broadcasts the NCAA tourney has the NCAA March Madness app where you can fill out your bracket, view the teams in the tournament,not to mention you can even watch the games right on your computer or phone through the app. It is a perfect

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