Sports fans indulge in one month of madness for the NCAA basketball tournament. Whether or not their schools are in the tournament or not, fans fill out their brackets and follow the action all the way to the Final Four.
This year, the NCAA has partnered with Tagboard, a social media platform that uses hashtags to help fans search real-time content, to bring March Madness to life with live social media displays at every tournament stadium.
Using the hashtag #MarchMadness on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, fans had the chance to be featured on the giant video boards. Users could also participate in the #MarchMadness Hashtag Battle, which allowed fans to battle on social media while their teams battled it out on the floor.
In honor of the Final Four, which begins Saturday, Tagboard created a #FinalFour Hashtag Battle to be displayed live at the University of Phoenix Stadium. The hashtags for teams in the Final Four are #BattleSC for South Carolina, #BattleTarheels for North Carolina, #BattleDucks for Oregon and #BattleZags for Gonzaga.
Tagboard also launched a new product feature that allows partners like the NCAA to embed a Hashtag Battle on web and mobile properties. The live display includes in real-time aggregated results.
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The first national semifinal game is between the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Tipoff is set for Saturday at 6:09 p.m. E.T.
“Working with the NCAA (a truly visionary partner) we are connecting fans to the teams they love through their mobile devices, in packed arenas, and online, for every matchup,” Farren Benjamin, Head of Sports Partnerships at Tagboard, wrote. “For us at Tagboard, this is a dream come true, a slam dunk if you will.”