The NCAA Tournament swag looks different this year. For starters, in response to heavy criticism, the NCAA finally allowed the women’s tournament to use the “March Madness” branding for the tournament and merchandise.
Additionally, pictures surfaced last year of the branded gifts the men’s team received compared to those of the women’s team. The men seemed to get a ton more stuff, all of it branded with the “March Madness” logo. And the men’s weight room was much better equipped than the women’s, resulting in an uproar that ultimately led the NCAA to fix the disparities.
Here’s the side by side from last year:
From what I have been shown it appears the swag bags that the Men receive from the @NCAA are much more substantial than the Women as well. @ncaawbb @marchmadness. C'mon NCAA do better. Be better! pic.twitter.com/tDRjI9e5UJ
— Dan Henry (@danhenry3) March 18, 2021
This year, both the men and women received the same amount of promotional products, both featuring the “March Madness” branding as promised.
Equity check: Per NCAA men’s and women’s March Madness accounts, here are early round swag bags for WBB (left) + MBB (right).
“The pictures on Twitter when they’re spreading out their towels and hats on the bed will be the same,” Duke AD Nina King told me. pic.twitter.com/E8LglpeR3F
— Amanda Christovich (@achristovichh) March 15, 2022
At first glance, though, doesn’t it look like there’s, you know, less stuff? Especially when you compare it to the lavish gift suites college football players receive for bowl games, it seems a little lacking. Could it be that, due to the new name, image and likeness rules allowing players to cash in, the NCAA no longer feels the need to spoil players with gifts?
No, it turns out that’s not the case at all.
Last year, due to COVID precautions, the tournaments were played in a “bubble” rather than multiple locations across the country. That meant that every team got a full tournament’s worth of promotional gifts on day one, whereas this year the gift bags will be dished out in stages as teams progress through the tournament.
One more note: Bc last year's tournaments were in a bubble, athletes got one swag bag for the entire tourney. Now that regional rounds are back, swag bags are given out incrementally. So whether or not there's less swag overall remains to be seen!
— Amanda Christovich (@achristovichh) March 15, 2022
If that’s not an incentive to make it to the Final Four, we’re not sure what is.
It’s not a bad haul so far, either. Everyone gets some branded socks, a shirt, a hat, a notebook and what looks like a flexible water bottle. Basically, it’s everything they need for the few days they’re in one location, rather than the “set up camp here” vibes of last year. It’s also pretty far off from what Team USA Olympic Athletes received when they got to the Olympic village.
We’ll keep an eye out to see what players receive as the tournament progresses. We have to image they’d get something pretty cool for making it to the Final Four. They’d just better make sure they keep it away from Reggie Miller.
