Nothing says March Madness like a bracket—the image is quite literally part of the official NCAA logo for the tournament.

But with bracket busts all but inevitable, participation usually free, and picks just as likely made based on favorite mascots as team records, the event exists somewhat on the periphery of the sports-betting world.

Still, some traditional sportsbooks see March Madness as an ideal moment to try to sign up and retain new audiences on their platforms, especially given the cultural cache of the tournament. In other words, even if someone isn’t a bettor before March Madness, there’s a chance they might leave the tournament as one.

“March Madness, for that three weeks, brings in a very casual fan, a fan that we might otherwise not see during a basketball season,” Casey Hurbis, CMO of BetMGM, told Marketing Brew. “It’s an opportunity for us to engage new players.”

Influential: Athletes-turned-influencers are front and center in the March Madness campaigns of two major sportsbooks this year. BetMGM tapped former college hoopers Haley and Hanna Cavinder, and former LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne leads Fanatics Sportsbook’s March Madness ad.

Keep reading here.—AM

In New York, there are only about 10 miles separating Yankee Stadium in the Bronx from the Mets’ Citi Field in Queens. In the Southeast, the Atlanta Braves are the only MLB team for hundreds of miles. That leaves the Braves’ marketers with the Southern-sized task of fostering a hometown fanbase that spans six states.

The territory, dubbed by the team as “Braves Country,” got its first big promotional push in 2024, when the team rolled out a campaign platform called “We Are Braves Country.” This year, the team is updating the now-annual marketing effort.

The platform includes traditional ads as well as a wide range of events and initiatives designed to broaden the Braves’ audience while still serving longtime fans. It’s a task that many MLB teams—and the league itself—have undertaken in recent years, but for the Braves’ marketing team, it’s had to stretch across more states than the average remit.

To grow the fanbase without losing touch with the team’s Southern roots, SVP of Marketing Adam Zimmerman told us he is merging classic media tactics like player-centric ads and radio buys with more modern strategies like entertainment and influencer partnerships.

“The Braves are a real source of pride for the region,” Zimmerman told Marketing Brew. “We’re the first professional sports team in the South, and us being a part of the culture is really important. As the South has changed, and as it’s gotten more diverse…the idea of Braves Country continues to change.”

Keep reading here.—AM

On Tuesday, as actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish emceed an audience of advertisers through Tubitopia, Tubi’s NewFronts presentation, she did a double take at one man in the audience.

“You look bored as hell, man. Do you hate your job?” she cracked, followed by a directive: “Find your passion.”

Haddish’s advice was both a light rib and a theme of Tubi’s NewFronts pitch: “Everything you will hear today is united by one word: passion,” Anjali Sud, Tubi CEO, said on stage. “Because in the war for attention, passion wins.”

The event’s message focused on the ad-supported streamer’s ability to serve young, passionate fandoms and deliver ad performance for its buyers with new offerings. The Fox-owned streamer, which boasted 100 million monthly active users that watched over 10 billion hours last year, hosted a hands-on Tubi-fied utopia while reinforcing the idea that monoculture has been replaced with hyperpersonalization—all while unveiling new ad formats, a strategic partnership with Amazon, and upcoming Tubi Originals and sports programming.

Ad it up: Last year, Tubi became the “first publisher directly integrated with the Amazon DSP and the first to open up programmatic access to Amazon Publisher Cloud,” according to Vijay Rao, SVP of partner sales at Tubi.

This year, the streamer is expanding its partnership with Amazon, opening up Tubi Priority Access, an exclusive package that offers first-look access to Tubi’s audience through Amazon DSP, which Kelly MacLean, VP, Amazon Ads, said makes Tubi “one of the largest reach publishers in our third-party CTV supply.” Amazon will also be able to match 85% of Tubi’s audience with its own data, allowing for more incremental reach for buyers.

Keep reading here.—JN

Executive moves across the industry.

• OpenAI brought on board Meta alum Dave Dugan as VP of global ad solutions, per WSJ.
• Allied Global Marketing upped Adam Cunningham to global CEO.
• Popeyes tapped Burger King vet Chris Padoan as its US and Canada COO.