Ivy Madness by the Numbers: A cross-campus collaboration
by Mark H. Anbinder
Ever wonder what it takes to host a major multi-day athletics tournament? Last month, Cornell University hosted Ivy Madness, the semifinal and final rounds for both men's and women's Ivy League basketball. Eight teams played six games over three days, and we talked to the many partners who helped coordinate the event so we could do justice to the scale of this collaborative accomplishment.
Held in mid March, Ivy Madness took place at Newman Arena in Cornell's Bartels Hall, with two semifinals and a championship final game for the women's teams, and two semifinals and a championship final game for the men's teams.
Who was at Newman Arena?
Of course we don't know how far fans traveled, but each team (other than the Big Red) came from their campuses hundreds of miles away! The farthest-traveled teams came from Harvard and Brown, at 327 and 325 miles respectively. Princeton and Penn, just 221 and 228 miles away, had the shortest trips.
1,486 tickets were sold for the women's tournament (between semifinals and final) and 3,743 for the men's tournament.
Who tuned in?
For fans who couldn't make it to the games, ESPN carried all six games, with all of them streaming on ESPN+ and four of the games on ESPN's "linear" channels, available via cable and satellite. Westwood One Radio carried both men's and women's finals.
ESPN called it the "most-watched Champ Week since 2019," with viewership up 11% year-over-year. The Ivy League delivered 34% year-over-year growth.
"The men’s final on ESPN2 drew an audience of 523,000 viewers, the most watched title game in league history," the Ivy League's JJ Klein tells us.
Fans who weren't watching live enjoyed coverage from local, regional, and national media outlets. The Ivy League says 98 media credentials were approved representing 41 different media outlets (including 7 local media outlets), across print, radio, TV, and online platforms.
Behind the Scenes
More than 300 people contributed to Ivy Madness over the course of four days, representing a total of 3,892 work hours! That includes students from Cornell University and Ithaca College, building care and facilities staff members, police and security and ambulance crews, concessions and catering staff, ushers and ticket takers, broadcasters and courtside crews, and a DJ!
New York themed snacks
Cornell Concessions & Suites welcomed its Ivy League guests to Central New York by adding several New York items to the usual concessions stand treats: Syracuse-style salt potatoes, Buffalo-style hot chicken sandwiches and Beef on Weck sandwiches, Binghamton-style chicken spiedies sandwiches, Rochester-style white hots, Cornell Dairy ice cream, Ithaca ginger beer and root beer, and Ardennes beers.
That's not even counting the 1,203 servings of popcorn, 770 jumbo pretzels, 742 hot dogs, and 444 burgers sold over the course of the weekend. The munchies for the VIP suite, such as local cheese and charcuterie, an antipasto medley, petite cheesecakes, and truffle mac & cheese! Or the hospitality supplies for working members of the media, such as an estimated 75 gallons of coffee, 30 gallons of decaf, 200 cans of Bubly seltzer and 200 cans of assorted sodas, six dozen bagels and six dozen donuts, 250 assorted sandwiches and wraps, chicken souvlaki bar for 50, taco bar for 100, 150 bags of chips, 150 protein bars, 250 assorted candy, and eight assorted sheet pizzas!
Memories of a Big Red experience
No matter how you slice up the numbers, this four-day collaboration across Student & Campus Life and beyond, along with the months of preparation, made for a memorable Ivy Madness weekend for dozens of student athletes, hundreds of helping hands, and thousands of spectators.