As the Final Four plays out this weekend in Detroit, the nation's oldest college hoops tournament, the NIT, will have already wrapped up with a semi-final and final in New York. While it seems there is little need or interest in the third or fourth college tournaments now being played…one of which may have a “winner”, Oregon State, that may not even have a .500 season…the NIT still retains value for those schools that do not make it to the field of 65. Case in point is the profile in the San Diego Union Tribune on the value San Diego State got by making it to the NIT Final four this year. The school got much needed national exposure in prime time on ESPN, got to feature itself in an arena and a geographic area (New York's Madison Square Garden) that it doesn’t normally get to do, and was able to provide much needed experience for its younger players. All those aspects are also true for Penn State and Baylor, two other schools not used to the hoops limelight, and eventhough the NIT does not draw the huge Garden crowds it used to when it was the number one event, it still provides solid and entertaining play for those schools that miss the Dance. The history of young squads gaining experience and then improving in the NCAA the next year is very detailed, and if the NCAA does not increase in size, an extended NIT run, with ESPN and MSG tied in, is not a bad second prize, and can even provide some added, affordable TV time and partnerships for select brands. It's not the Big Dance, but for some, it remains a quality and worthwhile show.
Some other good reads…Media Post's Sarah Mahoney had a very good look at baseball's efforts to reverse recent downturns in sports spending... Forbes.com had a piece on the rising value and spend in the condom industry, obviously a topic prime for the male sports demo…and Reuters had a good piece on the AVP's new deals with Bud Light and NBC, despite the down economy.
