March Madness tournaments will expand to 76 teams each starting next season

"The NCAA on Thursday announced a long-expected expansion of its men's and women's basketball tournaments to 76 teams each starting next season, explaining that it made the money part work by opening sponsorship opportunities to a long-restricted alcohol category. "I would say that expansion would not have happened without that agreement," said Dan Gavitt, the NCAA's senior vice president of basketball."

"The new, 76-team brackets will jam eight extra games for a total of 12 involving 24 teams into the front half of the first week of each tournament. It will turn what's now known as the First Four into a bigger affair that will now be called the March Madness Opening Round. The 12 winners will move into the main 64-team bracket that will begin, as usual, on Thursday for the men and Friday for the women."

"Because the added games were unlikely to sell themselves, the first expansion of the men's tournament in 15 years when it was bumped to 68 teams, followed by the women in 2022 will be bankrolled by around $300 million in extra funding courtesy of new sponsorship opportunities for beer, wine, spirits and hard seltzer that includes more advertising space on CBS, TNT and other partners whose $8.8 billion deal runs through 2032."

"The NCAA said it will distribute more than $131 million of the new revenue to schools that make the tournament. The number of at-large selections will increase from 37 to 44, ESPN reported, most of which are expected to go to teams from the power conferences that were already commanding the lion's share of entries in the bracket."

Men’s and women’s basketball tournaments expand to 76 teams each starting next season. The change adds eight games for a total of 12 games involving 24 teams in the first week, replacing the current First Four with the March Madness Opening Round. The 12 winners advance into the main 64-team bracket, with the men beginning on Thursday and the women on Friday. Across both tournaments, 120 games will be played over seven days. The NCAA links the expansion to a sponsorship agreement that opens opportunities for beer, wine, spirits, and hard seltzer, including additional advertising space on major broadcasters. The NCAA will distribute more than $131 million of new revenue to schools and increase at-large selections from 37 to 44.

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