College basketball tournament season is coming, and it’s the time to plan for the 2025 Battle of the Brackets — a free contest hosted by the Dayton Daily News, Springfield News-Sun and Journal-News. Users pick the winner of every game of the NCAA Tournament to score prizes provided by local businesses!



The 2025 Battle of the Brackets will begin on March 17, and will officially kick off after the tournament lineup of games is announced at 6 p.m. on Selection Sunday.

Users input picks into our online bracket tool before the first round of tournament games begins on March 17.

Contests and sweepstakes are remarkably effective ways to grow your audience, gain valuable customer first party data, and generate excitement for your brand, product, or service.

By aligning with our reputable brand and providing an attractive prize to entrants, you can easily accomplish many of your marketing goals with a single campaign.

Courtside Sponsorship includes:

100,000

banner impressions across our websites March 16 – April 7, 2025



Specs: 970x250, 728x315, 728x90, 320x150, 320x50, 300x600, 300x250 + Click Thru URL



2x+* Sports Quarter page color ads in DDN in March or 4x in JN or SNS to run in March… you pick the dates.

Specs: 4.93” wide x 5” tall



Logo Inclusion on Promotions Advertising

  • Targeted email promotions – 3 email sends to 350K+ sports enthusiasts in 7 counties
  • Contest registration page, reminder emails and link to sponsor specials after registration
  • Promo ads in DDN, SNS & JN (print and e-paper) starting the end of February
  • Strip ads under the brackets on March 18, 21, 28 and April 4

    

One (1) lead question included on user registration/bracket selections to qualify any first party data

2025 tournament Dates

ROUND

First Four

First/Second

First/Second

First/Second

First/Second

First/Second

First/Second

First/Second

First/Second

East Regional

South Regional

Midwest Regional

West Regional

CITY

Dayton, OH

Lexington, KY

Providence, RI

Seattle, WA

Wichita, KS

Cleveland, OH

Denver, CO

Milwaukee, WI

Raleigh, NC

Newark, NJ

Atlanta, GA

Indianapolis, IN

San Francisco, CA

VENUE

UD Arena

Rupp Arena

Amica Mutual Pavilion

Climate Pledge Arena

Intrust Bank Arena

Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse

Ball Arena

Fiserv Forum

PNC Arena

Prudential Center

State Farm Arena

Lucas Oil Stadium

Chase Center

DATES

March 18-19

March 20-22

March 20-22

March 21-23

March 20-22

March 21-23

March 20-22

March 21-23

March 21-23

March 27-29

March 28-30

March 28-30

March 27-29

Looking for more information on how to participate in the Battle of the Brackets? Fill out the form and we will get back with you.