NCAA Men’s Final Four
In April 2026, we helped over 300,000 college basketball fans celebrate the NCAA Men’s Final Four. Collaborating with TNT Sports and the NCAA, we led the end-to-end execution of interactive fan experiences and concerts spanning four days for a convergence of sports, music, and culture.
For their 2026 Final Four semi-final games, the NCAA, TNT, and CBS Sports wanted to go bigger and bolder with brand activations, interactive programming, live events, and standout broadcast coverage.
The challenge: bring together the city culture, the legacy of college basketball, and the scale and reach of the NCAA, all in one cohesive, interactive entertainment journey. But challenges only excite us...
How We delivered
We devised the creative strategy, led execution, oversaw design, operations, security, and city coordination to turn the heart of downtown Indianapolis into a multi-day sports playground, filled with music, food, youth clinics, giveaways, interactive games, special appearances, autograph signings, and so much more.
We approached and closely collaborated with artists like Twenty-One Pilots, Zac Brown Band, and Post Malone, aligning their creative vision with execution. We collaborated with TNT Sports, CAA, and The Chainsmokers to design and deliver the first-ever Bridge Show between the two semi-final games, which attracted over 14 million viewers each.
At the Men’s Final Four Fan Fest presented by Capital One, we provided fans with opportunities to snap photos with the championship trophy, grab official merchandise, meet past and present basketball stars, play interactive games, pick up free samples from NCAA Corporate Champions and Partners AT&T, Capital One, Coca-Cola, Pizza Hut, Modelo, Unilever, GIP, and even get a free haircut from Great Clips!
For Tip-Off Tailgate, we created a community outdoor viewing experience for both women’s and men’s semi-final and championship games that offered interactive game consoles, a DJ, sponsor activations, free samples, and, of course, great atmosphere.
Beyond curating the immersive live experience, we ensured that each of the fan events functioned as an effective national media moment and delivered a fully produced, broadcast-ready music festival content to TNT.
We gave the NCAA and its sponsors a chance to redefine the Final Four Weekend by going past simply “sponsoring events” to curating a culture. NCAA and its Corporate Champions and Partners positioned themselves as brands that seek to create a connection and provide a real-life experience fans can truly share in, heralding a new wave of marketing that goes beyond the surface-level, digital-first approach and instead focuses on creating a lasting impact and desire to return again and again.
