The origin of March Madness: From high school hoops to NCAA glory – and the Chicagoan who secured its future

The term "March Madness" has become synonymous with the exhilarating unpredictability of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Its origins, however, trace back to the Illinois high school basketball scene of the late 1930s.

In 1939, Henry V. Porter, an assistant executive secretary of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA), penned an essay titled "March Madness" for the IHSA's magazine, "Illinois Interscholastic." Porter used the phrase to capture the fervor surrounding the state's high school basketball tournament, which had expanded to include over 900 schools by that time. The excitement and enthusiasm of these competitions led Porter to coin the term that would later gain national prominence.

Porter's contribution to basketball extended beyond this catchy phrase. He was instrumental in promoting and organizing high school basketball in Illinois and was later inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1960 for his efforts.

The transition of "March Madness" from high school gyms to the national collegiate stage occurred decades later. Brent Musburger, a former Chicago sportswriter and CBS broadcaster, began using the term during his coverage of the NCAA tournament in 1982. Musburger's familiarity with the phrase from his time covering Illinois sports led him to apply it to the NCAA tournament, where it quickly resonated with audiences and became a staple descriptor for the event.

As the term's association with the NCAA tournament grew, so did legal considerations regarding its usage. The IHSA had long held rights to "March Madness" due to its origins in Illinois high school basketball. In the 1990s, a legal dispute arose over the trademark, culminating in 2011 when the NCAA reportedly paid $17.2 million to Intersport (founded by Charlie Besser) for exclusive rights to the term. This settlement granted the NCAA sole ownership, allowing it to brand its tournament without contention.

Besser, a Chicagoan and CEO of Intersport, played a pivotal role in the association of the term "March Madness" with the NCAA tournament. In the 1980s, Besser produced a television show titled "March Madness," focusing on NCAA tournament coverage. Recognizing the term's branding potential, he filed a U.S. trademark application for "March Madness" in March 1989, specifically for "entertainment services, namely, presentation of athletic and entertainment personalities in a panel forum."

This trademark application led to a series of disputes between Intersport and the NCAA over rights to the term. The legal contention persisted until October 2010, when the NCAA reportedly paid $17.2 million to Intersport to acquire exclusive rights to the "March Madness" trademark. This settlement granted the NCAA sole ownership, allowing it to brand its tournament without contention.

Reflecting on the evolution of the term, Besser noted the NCAA's effective branding efforts, especially with the inclusion of the women's tournament under the "March Madness" banner. He observed that merely mentioning "March Madness" evokes excitement among fans, highlighting the term's powerful association with college basketball's most thrilling month.

Sources: Sports Illustrated, FanBuzz, Intellectual Property News