Ad Effectiveness Grew 16% in WNBA and 15% in NBA Year-Over-Year, per EDO’s Basketball TV Outcomes Report

Consumer engagement and estimated TV ad spend increased 6% and 7% respectively across all basketball programming during 2023-24 seasons

Top-performing brands by engagement include Carmax, Chili’s, Degree, Eli Lilly, and Hennessy

EDO, the TV outcomes company, released a report detailing ad effectiveness across the NBA, WNBA, and men’s and women’s NCAA basketball leagues. The Basketball TV Outcomes Report highlights lifts in consumer engagement in WNBA and NBA regular season games, identifies which brands are driving the strongest results in basketball, and charts the explosive impact of ads featuring rising stars like Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards, and Caitlin Clark.

“The past year has been a watershed across basketball, delivering indelible moments for fans and powerful results for the brands that advertise alongside them”

“The past year has been a watershed across basketball, delivering indelible moments for fans and powerful results for the brands that advertise alongside them,” said Kevin Krim, President & CEO at EDO. “The Caitlin Clark Effect is real, confirming what the data has always shown: that stars, fans, and brands drive this business. After shattering viewership records at the University of Iowa before ascending to the WNBA, the phenom turned the Indiana Fever into must-see TV.”

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EDO measures ad effectiveness through immediate, granular TV outcomes data such as site visits and search activity — a proven predictor of future sales.

Krim continued, “Advertisers airing in live sports need granular insight into their campaign effectiveness across diverse linear and streaming environments – whether within basketball, football, tennis, the Olympics, or other programming. The marketers who leverage real-time consumer behavior signals are the ones set up for long-term success and a strong ROI on their TV investment.”

Key takeaways from EDO’s Basketball TV Outcomes Report include:

• The WNBA’s upward trajectory goes into overdrive in 2024. 2023 was a year of massive growth for the WNBA — and 2024 has been even bigger. The league posted record regular-season viewership, and ad engagement is up 16% year-over-year. The biggest winners? Brands that advertised during games featuring rookie sensation Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever. Through the regular season, ads during Fever games delivered 3x the impact of those during the rest of the WNBA slate.
• The next generation of NBA stars has arrived. Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics took home this year’s NBA title, and there’s plenty of evidence that his cohort of rising stars is ready to assume the mantle from LeBron James and Steph Curry. The NBA saw year-over-year engagement growth during the regular season and playoffs, and SoFi ads featuring Tatum were 15% more effective than those without him. Elsewhere, Bose ads featuring the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards were 1,236% more effective than the brand’s average.

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• Women’s NCAA basketball continues its hot streak. The NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament set viewership records for the second straight year, and ad effectiveness is growing along with the game’s audience. Ads during this year’s tournament were 44% more likely to generate engagement than during the 2023 edition. With Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese now in the pros, look for stars like USC’s JuJu Watkins and UConn’s Paige Bueckers to carry the torch during the 2025 tournament.
• Men’s NCAA tourney engagement grows with each round. EDO’s analysis found that ad engagement grew with each round of the 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, peaking with a final where ads were 76% more effective than the primetime average. However, the single highest-performing game for advertisers was a second-round tilt between UNC and Michigan State, where ads were 41% more likely to generate engagement than the average 2024 tournament game.