Second screens, Internet TV, social media, engaging ad campaigns, mobile apps: this year’s NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament is more connected than ever. The NCAA is taking a leading role in helping make sure you’re engaged and watching every game possible no matter where you are. With tip-off for the First Four games of this year’s 68-team tournament tonight, here are 5 ways the NCAA is helping keep you connected and making March Madness more high tech than ever:
Live, Streamed Games Online
You can watch any NCAA tournament game live online. We expect more people to watch games online this year than ever before thanks to new devices like tablets (second game screen, anyone?) and smartphones with browsers. Added to this (thanks to big moves by Hulu, Amazon, Netflix and others in 2010 to offer more live streaming and programming online) is 2011’s Internet TV momentum, with more people (at least discussing) cutting the cable cord and relying solely on Internet TV.
MMOD API
This year the NCAA enhanced its March Madness on Demand (MMOD) offering for developers, featuring an “improved and expanded online experience that allows fans to watch all games live.” There are 3 ways developers can link to on-demand games: widget embed code (no customization necessary), from a graphic (customizable), and from a link (also customizable). What does this mean for you? Expect to see more NCAA games more places across the web.
Mobile
Not only can you watch any game live and streamed right to your computer, you can watch games from your iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad too. This year NCAA Digital released its first ever NCAA March Madness On Demand iOS apps that allow you to watch any and every game of the 2011 tournament. You can also use the app to search by your zipcode to see what channels are showing games, manage your NCAA bracket challenge, and even view exclusive NCAA video and game highlights.
The NCAA has a Facebook page dedicated exclusively to March Madness. The page lets you order tickets, shows locations and dates of games, provides history on the tournament, photos, and a quick guide for anyone planning on going to the Final Four. 138,720 people currently Like this page.
The NCAA has a verified Twitter account for March Madness, @marchmadness. With a conversational manager, the handle has over 8,300 followers and is a great place to go to learn different hashtags used for different teams. Overall #NCAA and #MarchMadness are both top hashtags to use.
How are you watching the tournament this year?
