The NCAA has gone to great legal — and it turns out financial — lengths to protect the trademarked nickname for its signature event.

Quietly last October, the association paid $17.2 million to sports and entertainment marketer Intersport to stop using the term "March Madness," which has been attached to the NCAA's Division I men's basketball tournament since the 1980s.
The settlement, spelled out in financial statements but unbeknown to most in the member schools and conferences, gives it sole ownership of a trademark that has been the subject of several legal disputes and challenges over the years. While large on its face, the eight-figure amount accounts for less than 2½% of the association's $700 million-plus budget.

"Long term, protecting the vitality of that asset … I think it's a good investment," says Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick, who was unaware of the deal until late last week.

Television rights and marketing fees, almost all derived from the annual three-week Division I tournament, account for 86% of the NCAA's annual revenues, and it scrupulously polices any unauthorized use of "March Madness."