The NCAA and Corporate Sponsorships

The Supreme Court’s decision in the Regents case meant that the NCAA lost control of the broadcast rights for NCAA football. Looking for ways to make up the lost revenue, NCAA executive director Walter Byers agreed to allow Host to sell corporate sponsors for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Gillette was the first company to sign on, followed by Valvoline. Before long, major corporations were spending millions of dollars to use the NCAA and Final Four logos to promote their products. David Novak’s Pizza Hut promotion proved to be the most successful of all. Other sponsorships included Hyatt, Kodak, Oldsmobile, Rawlings, and American Airlines. With millions of dollars of revenue coming from corporate sponsors, the NCAA’s new executive director Dick Schultz was looking for a way to promote women’s athletics. Host pitched the idea of a primary sponsor for women’s athletics, and Sara Lee CEO Paul Fulton agreed to join the cause. Sara Lee’s sponsorship helped expand the appeal of women’s intercollegiate athletics, and corporate sponsorships changed the fortunes of the NCAA and Host Communications Inc.