On the early morning of April 8th Beijing time, the NCAA women's basketball final ended. The University of South Carolina ultimately defeated the University of Iowa 87-75 and won the NCAA women's basketball championship with an unbeaten record of 38-0 throughout the season. Camilla Cardoso from the University of South Carolina won the MVP (Most Valuable Player) title with 15 points, 17 rebounds, and 3 blocks.
Although it was just a college league match, the heat of this final could be comparable to that of the NBA.
According to data provided by broadcaster ESPN, the average viewership for this NCAA women's basketball final was 18.7 million, with a maximum of 24 million viewers at any given moment. As a reference, the average number of viewers per game for the 2022-2023 NBA Finals is only 11.6 million. ESPN stated that this final is the most watched match since 2019, apart from the Olympics and NFL appearances.
And the American sports brand Under Armour became the biggest winner of this victory.
Andma sponsored this unbeaten championship team this season, and many players, including Camilla Cardoso, also wore Andma or Curry Brand shoes on their feet. The victory of the University of South Carolina undoubtedly brought huge exposure to American brands.
Andma also did not let go of this wave of traffic. Posting celebratory copy on social media platforms such as Instagram is a normal operation, and Andma has also launched a fan product for the University of South Carolina on her official website, hoping to take advantage of this opportunity to increase the brand's sales.
Basketball has been a line that Andrema has attached great importance to in the past decade.
In 2013, Andma signed Curry from American sports brand giant Nike for an annual sponsorship fee of $4 million. Curry's dominance on the field has transformed into a super strong ability to carry goods off the field. The Curry series basketball shoes quickly sold out every time they were launched, and the excellent monetization of basketball shoe sales also led to a fivefold increase in revenue for the Andemar footwear department in a decade, from $299 million to $1.5 billion.
In the context of the overall weak growth of the Andema brand, the growth of the basketball category is even more precious.
According to the third quarter financial report of Andma in the 2023 fiscal year, the brand's revenue for that quarter only increased by 3% year-on-year, reaching 1.6 billion US dollars (approximately 10.72 billion yuan); The net profit is only $120 million, at a low level. By category, except for the footwear products where basketball shoes are located, which saw a 25% increase in sales this quarter to $354 million, sales in the clothing and accessories categories both decreased by 2 percentage points to $1 billion and $105 million, respectively.
However, it is still difficult for Andma to earn more money through the basketball category. Although holding Curry in hand, compared to the giant Nike, which has a group of star players such as James and Durant, the "bench depth" of the Andma spokesperson is still insufficient. But at the same time, compared to Nike and Adidas, Andma's limited "money ability" is not enough to support his strategy of signing stars in the sea of people.
So, Andma turned his gaze to the college league and college players, and embarked on the path of "surrounding the city from the countryside.". The defender of the University of South Carolina championship lineup, MiLaysia Fulwiley, was the first college student player signed by Curry Brand, and the University of South Carolina championship also brought great success to Andema, who played the college student card.
However, it should be noted that although this route has a high cost-effectiveness, it often brings short-term benefits. Players like James and Curry have a large and relatively stable fan base, with strong purchasing power and the ability to provide long-term sales for the brand. On the other hand, in the college student league, the audience is mostly those who watch the excitement once a year, and the profits are relatively limited.
Interestingly, the two major domestic sports brands are currently competing in professional basketball leagues and college basketball leagues in China: Li Ning holds sponsorship from CBA, while another domestic giant, Anta, won a contract with CUBAL at the beginning of the year.
In terms of basketball stars, Li Ning has long been a leading domestic brand in the basketball field, thanks to collaborations with players such as Wade, Butler, McCollem, and Russell. And Anta is also landing in the United States through the release of the Irving generation, fiercely pursuing it.