For years, we have reminded stations to be careful regarding promotions during the NCAA Basketball tournament. The NCAA has trademarked many phrases and names about the Basketball tournament. Stations running promotions or advertising cannot use these terms without permission from the NCAA. A recent blog from noted communications lawyer David Oxenford stated:
“The NCAA owns the well-known marks March Madness®, The Big Dance®, Final Four®, Final 4®, Women’s Final Four®, Elite Eight®, Women’s Elite Eight®, Road to the Final Four® and The Read to the Final Four® (with and without the word “The”), each of which is a federally registered trademark. The NCAA does not own “Sweet Sixteen” – someone else does. However, the NCAA has a license to use the mark and has federal registrations for NCAA Sweet Sixteen®and NCAA Sweet 16®.”
Oxenford’s “Broadcast Blog” contains an excellent article on the subject. You can access the article here.