March
Madness

Welcome to THE REPLAY^TM, our monthly deep-dive into the performance and analytics of major sports tentpoles. With big data methodologies, our insights take time to craft, offering a fresh look in hindsight.

Throughout March Madness 2025, we examined how fans watched and where their loyalties shifted. From out-of-home spikes to changing regional dynamics, behavior evolved each round. Using advanced analytics, we identified co-viewing trends, localized hotspots, and variances in fan engagement–illuminating key audience insights leveraging VideoAmp data.

Ratings Recap

Thursday & Friday led OOH viewership with 22 games aired, while Saturday & Sunday saw more in-home viewing with 16 & 10 games, respectively.

Thursday 55,620 22,683 Total 78,305

Friday 54,216 25,655 Total 79,870

Saturday 81,602 19,794 Total 101,397

Sunday 58,943 14,527 Total 73,473

Live + SD AA (000)

Out of Home Live + SD AA (000)

TNT led in OOH share (47%) but had the lowest total audience, airing just 12 games vs. CBS’s 24 telecasts.

CBS conversely saw the lowest OOH viewership percentage (14%), but saw 8x the in-home views. (803.68%)

Live + SD AA (000)

Out of Home Live + SD AA (000)

Grand Total

3.6M

In-Home Average Total Persons (000)

1.1M

Out-Of-Home Average Total Persons (000)

4.8M

Overall Average Total Persons (000)

2.00

Average of Live SD RTG Households

# of TCs

Our
Regional
View

To compare viewership fairly, we divided the U.S. into seven custom regions based on game locations, allowing ratings analysis that accounts for differences in Household universe estimates.

New York, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania

Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee

Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Washington DC

Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana

North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa

Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming

California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico

Get the full play-by-play.

Select a matchup to explore game-level viewership insights, or click next to explore viewership insights for Second Round.

First Round

68,964 Live + SD AA (000)
41,068 Out of Home Live + SD AA (000)
110,032 TOTAL with OOH Live SD (000) Total Persons
1.23 Average of Live SD RTG Households
32 # of TCs

Teams per region

Great Lakes: 11
Midwest: 7
New England: 10
Northwest: 3
South: 6
Southeast: 19
Southwest: 8
Grand Total: 64

Overall, First Round games saw the largest volume of viewers, with 110M Total Viewers, driven by that round's voluminous 32 telecasts.

First Round games also saw 32% more OOH Viewership than the National Championship game, accounting for 40.1 Million views, with bars and restaurants- great places to watch multiple games simultaneously; making them crucial for Reach.

Get the full play-by-play.

Select a matchup to explore game-level viewership insights, or click next to explore viewership insights for Second Round.

First Round viewership trends by region

Seven Rounds, Seven Regions

Hover over regions to see underlying state definitions.

First Round highlights

The Southern Region saw the most growth in Household ratings by round with the highest Ratings percentage increase between the First Four games and the National Championship game. (1159%).
The South Eastern region was estimated to have 3.3x as many households than the North Western region and represented the most states by game of the 7 US regions throughout the tournament- led by 12 games from Alabama state teams.
The Great Lakes region, with 17% fewer households than the South Eastern region, still drew the highest total viewership at 46.5M households—driven by 24 games featuring teams from the region, just 20 fewer than the South Eastern's 44 games.
The Great Lakes region also consistently earned the highest average household rating through all rounds aside from the National Championship game.
The North Western Region was the least visible in the tournament, lasting only 5 games through the First and Second rounds, even though the region ranked 4th in overall tournament viewership averaging a 2.04 Household Rating.
However, the Southwestern region saw the lowest Household average rating (1.39, despite having 16 teams in the tournament).

Get the full play-by-play.

Select a matchup to explore game-level viewership insights, or click next to explore viewership insights for Sweet 16.

Second Round

78,593 Live + SD AA (000)
25,617 Out of Home Live + SD AA (000)
104,212 TOTAL with OOH Live SD (000) Total Persons
2.37 Average of Live SD RTG Households
18 # of TCs

Teams per region

Great Lakes: 6
Midwest: 4
New England: 3
Northwest: 2
South: 5
Southeast: 7
Southwest: 5
Grand Total: 32

The second round drove 78.6M In-home viewers, only bested by the National Championship, (274.7M viewers), with the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions leading in teams represented.

Michigan vs. Texas A&M, a second-round primetime clash, ranked as the 8th most viewed game, fueled by massive alumni bases.

Get the full play-by-play.

Select a matchup to explore game-level viewership insights, or click next to explore viewership insights for Sweet 16.

Second Round viewership trends by region

Seven Region Shake Up

Hover over regions to see underlying state definitions.

Get the full play-by-play.

Select a matchup to explore game-level viewership insights, or click next to explore viewership insights for Elite 8.

Sweet 16

40,872 Live + SD AA (000)
7,270 Out of Home Live + SD AA (000)
48,143 TOTAL with OOH Live SD (000) Total Persons
1.86 Average of Live SD RTG Households
12 # of TCs

Teams per region

Great Lakes: 4
New England: 1
South: 2
Southeast: 7
Southwest: 2
Grand Total: 16

On a Ratings basis, the Regional Semi-Final round was the only round that saw a decline from a prior round- down -22% from the Second Round. (1.86 vs. 2.37 Rtg).

The Sweet 16 marked the end of Midwestern and Northwestern representation, however the Midwest still ranked 3rd on HH viewership among all regions (2.29 HH Rtg).

Get the full play-by-play.

Select a matchup to explore game-level viewership insights, or click next to explore viewership insights for Elite 8.

Sweet 16 viewership trends by region

6 Regions Represented

Hover over regions to see underlying state definitions.

Get the full play-by-play.

Select a matchup to explore game-level viewership insights, or click next to explore viewership insights for Final Four.

Elite 8

35,028 Live + SD AA (000)
5,721 Out of Home Live + SD AA (000)
40,751 TOTAL with OOH Live SD (000) Total Persons
3.05 Average of Live SD RTG Households
6 # of TCs

Teams per region

Great Lakes: 1
South: 2
Southeast: 5
Grand Total: 8

Texan households showed steady loyalty, setting the stage for their massive +177% surge into the Final Four.

High-income viewers showed up strong towards the end, with the 3/30 Michigan vs. Auburn game, the Final Four and Championship games all pulling in 1M+ HHs with a $200K+ income.

Get the full play-by-play.

Select a matchup to explore game-level viewership insights, or click next to explore viewership insights for Final Four.

Elite 8 viewership trends by region

3 Regions Remain

Hover over regions to see underlying state definitions.

Get the full play-by-play.

Select a matchup to explore game-level viewership insights, or click next to explore viewership insights for Championship.

Final Four

26,924 Live + SD AA (000)
2,983 Out of Home Live + SD AA (000)
29,907 TOTAL with OOH Live SD (000) Total Persons
7.17 Average of Live SD RTG Households
2 # of TCs

Teams per region

South: 1
Southeast: 3
Grand Total: 4

Massive spikes from states still in the tournament: Texas: +208% growth vs. Regional Finals. Florida: +279% growth vs. previous round.

Elite matchups began drawing top investor households (having at least $100K in invested assets) and those with high discretionary income (HHs $200K).

OOH started to drop as more fans settled in for big-screen, at-home viewing- down to 10% OOH during the Final Four.

Get the full play-by-play.

Select a matchup to explore game-level viewership insights, or click next to explore viewership insights for Championship.

Final Four viewership trends by region

3 vs. 1, Southeast vs. South

Hover over regions to see underlying state definitions.

Get the full play-by-play.

Click previous round to explore more game-level viewership insights for prior rounds.

Championship

Florida vs. Houston

🏆

Winner: Florida

17,628 Live + SD AA (000)
961 Out of Home Live + SD AA (000)
18,590 TOTAL with OOH Live SD (000) Total Persons
9.3 Average of Live SD RTG Households
1 # of TCs

Teams per region

South: 1
Southeast: 1
Grand Total: 2

The National Championship game was the highest-rated single game with 18.7M average viewers, including OOH.

It ironically had the lowest OOH percentage (5%) — proving fans prefer to watch the finale at home.

Texan fans tuned in heavily, 40% more likely to watch than average (12.98 vs. 0.93 Rating).

Florida fans also over-indexed, 18% more likely to watch despite winning. (11.0 vs. 0.93 Rating)

The South Region earned the highest regional HH Rating (12.34), capping off a tournament-long rise.

Get the full play-by-play.

Click previous round to explore more game-level viewership insights for prior rounds.

Championship viewership trends by region

Southern Showdown!

Hover over regions to see underlying state definitions.

This was March!

In this section we explore the top NCAA games by total viewership, OOH audience volume, and OOH share—revealing where and how fans tuned in most.

This chart ranks the top five game telecasts on Total Persons average audience delivery inclusive of Out-of-home viewership.

Highlights

The National Championship game led with 18.7M viewers, with OOH at just 5%—the lowest lift of any tournament game.

This chart ranks the top five game telecasts on Total Persons Out-of-home average audience delivery.

Highlights

The Drake vs. Texas Tech game led in OOH viewers, while two CBS games (with 10M+ total viewers) had a similar range, placing all three among the OOH top 5.
Michigan vs. Texas A&M drew big 2nd-round viewership, ranking 8th—likely boosted by strong student/alumni fanbases.

This chart ranks the top five game telecasts by percentage of Total Persons Out-of-home average audience delivery.

Highlights

First round games on TNT, TBS & truTV (all five listed here) had the highest OOH %, with 60–78% of total viewership coming from OOH.

Focusing on
the Champions

Advanced Audiences help size geo-based targets fairly. Below is a by-round HH viewership trend for the two finalist states’ audiences.

Floridian households watching

Texan households watching

🏆 Championship 🏆

Percentages shown represent % of total state residents (UE) who watched the game

Highlights

1
Florida viewership surged early

Florida HH viewership started strong, jumping +195% from First Four to First Round, and +593% from Elite 8 to Final Four—double the national average through the Regional Semi-Finals.
2
Texans tuned in later

Overall both Floridian and Texan households were approximately 13% less likely to have watched the NCAA Men’s tournament even though both states made it to the National Championship game.
3
Championship states watched less

Even though Texas lost the championship, Texan households consistently demonstrated fan loyalty, really gaining interest during the Second Round (+302% vs. prior round) and the Elite 8 (+762% vs. the prior round).

Advanced Audience Takeaways

Cat homes outwatched dog homes—27% above average vs. 11% (2.53 vs. 2.21 NCAA tournament viewership index).

Co-viewing dominated: Households were 8x more likely to watch as a group (94.5M) than alone (11.0M).

Affluent viewers closed the tournament, with 4 games having pulled 1M+ households earning $200K+, including the Championship & Final Four.

Less health-conscious homes were 16% more likely to tune in on a ratings basis compared to more health-focused households. (2.42 vs. 2.08).

The game has changed—VideoAmp helps brands win with real audience insights, not assumptions.

Let’s Talk

Methodology:
VideoAmp unifies Set Top Box and Smart TV data from 40M households and 65M devices, using rigorous cleansing and deduplication to provide the most accurate view of advanced and demographic audiences.

Sourcing:
VideoAmp, (3/16/25 – 4/7/25) Total Persons Live + Same Day data. Advanced Audiences based on Household-level, 1Q25 Experian 3P segments.

DISCLAIMER

The data and information provided herein is for informational purposes only. While VideoAmp strives to provide accurate and complete information, the information contained herein is provided on an “as is” basis and no warranties, express or implied, are made regarding the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, reliability, or suitability of this data and/or information for any particular purpose. VideoAmp assumes no liability for any errors or omissions in the information contained herein. VideoAmp is not responsible for any actions taken (or refrained from being taken) based on the contents of this page. In no event shall VideoAmp be liable for any damages, including, without limitation, direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages, arising in any way out of the use of this information, even if advised of the possibility of such damage.

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March Madness

Ratings Recap

Grand Total

Our Regional View

This was March!

Focusing on the Champions

🏆 Championship 🏆

Highlights

Florida viewership surged early

Texans tuned in later

Championship states watched less

Advanced Audience Takeaways

The game has changed—VideoAmp helps brands win with real audience insights, not assumptions.

March
Madness

Our
Regional
View

Focusing on
the Champions