
WENDY’S + FINAL FOUR
EXPERIENTIAL ACTIVATIONS ON NCAA SPONSORSHIPS
This year’s NCAA March Madness broke records, with the women’s championship game attracting more viewers than the men’s for the first time, and overall attendance at both the men’s and women’s championships reaching unprecedented levels. Wendy’s, the Official Hamburger and Official Breakfast of March Madness since 2017, has been expanding its experiential programming around this sponsorship each year.
Wendy’s brought its sponsorship to life with large-scale fan experiences at both NCAA Final Four events: the men’s Tip-Off Tailgate in Glendale, Arizona and the women’s Party on the Plaza in Cleveland.
In Glendale, Wendy’s featured one of the largest on-site activations among a dozen brands with The Square, a 20-square-foot LED cube displaying dynamic graphics, reminiscent of the Sphere Las Vegas, but square like Wendy’s burger patties. The brand offered free burgers, fries and Frostys along with bucket hats customizable with Wendy’s and NCAA-branded patches.
Adjacent to this, Wendy’s sponsored the main live music stage. Brand ambassadors energized the crowd with t-shirt cannons and exclusive giveaways.

Reporting on the women’s championship in Cleveland, Event Marketer wrote:
“The brand posted up outside the stadium in the mornings to serve free breakfast sandwiches, offer up more customizable bucket hats and serve as a photo op for fans with its supersized signage, including ‘Wake Up With’ messaging, the Wendy persona and the signature red color everywhere fans turned. The activation mapped back to the brand’s objective to change mindsets and remind consumers that Wendy’s has a breakfast menu.”

