Googling for Sports: How NCAA Programs Advertise Online Through Paid Search

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: Organizational Dynamics in Functional Areas

Abstract

This study examined an under-researched element of NCAA marketing and advertising: advertising through paid online search techniques, especially as COVID-19 has moved many marketing efforts online. The study reports on Google Adwords strategies of a stratified random sample of 250 NCAA Division I, II, and III programs. Results suggest few NCAA programs engage with Google Adwords strategies (9.2%; 23 of 250 programs), while those that do are often Division I programs from Power 5 Conferences. Additionally, one institution spent over $18,000 per month on Google Adwords advertising, while another institution in the same athletics conference spent just under $500. Implications for NCAA program advertisement and online marketing—including in a COVID-19 environment—will be addressed.

Authors

• Guillermo Ortega, Idaho State University

• Zach Taylor, University of Southern Mississippi

• Jase Kugiya, The University of Texas-Austin

• Joshua Childs, The University of Texas at Austin