March Madness Expands to 76 Teams

Morning Edition

May 8, 2026

The NCAA finalized a decision Thursday to expand both the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments to 76 teams, starting this upcoming season. As part of the agreement, CBS and TNT—who have the rights to sell NCAA tournament sponsorships—have committed to paying the NCAA $50 million annually between now and 2032.

—Amanda Christovich

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Expanded Basketball Tournaments Will Yield NCAA $50M a Year

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The NCAA finalized a decision Thursday to expand both the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments to 76 teams. The new bracket will start this upcoming season.

As part of the agreement, the NCAA will receive additional revenue through its corporate sponsorship deal with CBS and TNT, which sells all sponsorships for NCAA championships in addition to the men’s tournament (for which it also has the media rights). Through this program, CBS and TNT have committed to paying the NCAA $50 million annually between now and 2032. The NCAA has agreed to open up previously restricted categories of sponsorship revenue: beer, wine, spirits, and hard seltzer.

The deal guarantees the NCAA will be able to cover additional operating expenses. It will also help the NCAA continue its “units,” or prize payouts system, which will distribute about $130 million worth of additional revenue over the next six years thanks to the additional revenue from CBS and TNT.

“After accounting for expenses, the projected surplus will primarily be used to continue investing in the basketball tournaments and enhancing the NCAA championship experience for all student-athletes,” the NCAA said in a press release.

The governing body has been exploring expansion for multiple years, but conversations moved slowly in part because of the potential financial implications of the deal. Both the media-rights contracts for the men’s and women’s tournament (which is part of a large media package between the NCAA and ESPN) stipulate that networks were not required to pay extra for the additional games if the tournament expanded during the lifetime of these deals (until 2032).

But the corporate sponsorship agreement appears to have been a way for all parties to reach an agreement.

Bracket Changes

For years, the NCAA has dubbed the play-in round of the NCAA men’s tournament—and now the women’s tournament—the “First Four.” That will no longer be the case.

Instead, the expanded bracket will feature the “March Madness Opening Round.”

The tournament will begin on the same day for both the men’s and women’s tournaments as the current field of 68—the Tuesday after Selection Sunday for the men, and the Wednesday after Selection Sunday for the women. But each tournament will feature 12 games during those first two days.

On the men’s side, three of the games each day will be played in Dayton, Ohio, the longtime home of the First Four. The six other games will be played in a different location that has not yet been decided. On the women’s side, the games will be played on the campuses of 12 of the top 16 seeds selected to host.

The rest of the scheduling for the men’s and women’s tournaments will remain the same as before.

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