Caitlin Joins Charles, Samuel L. (But Not Spike) For Capital One March Madness
Thursday, March 19, 2026 at 07:03PM By Barry Janoff
March 19, 2026: Charles Barkley, Samuel L. Jackson, Magic Johnson and Jennifer Garner return as key players for NCAA corporate partner Capital One’s men’s and women’s Div. I humorous multi-media campaign for the 16th year as sponsor, but there have been major changes.
Spike Lee, who was featured in and directed previous ads, is not included
Added has been WNBA star Caitlin Clark, who gets to display her acting and shooting skills for Barkley and friends.
Actor Will Forte also returns as time-traveler and hoops father Dr. James Naismith.
The alliance with Barkley, Jackson and previously Lee dates back to 2015, except for 2020 when the Tournaments were cancelled due to COVID-19.
Capital One will air the spots across TV — including March Madness broadcast partners CBS, TNT, TBS, truTV for the Men’s Tournament; ESPN, ESPN2, ABC for the Women’s Tournament — in 15-, 30- and 60-second versions, as well as digital and social media; with OOH and on-site presence at the Men’s Final Four and Women’s Final Four.
Lead agency is GSD&M.
Clark shows off her three-point shooting skills in “Raining 3%,” which includes the use of hamburgers, a slice of cheese, ice cream and pretzels. “She lives for the ‘threes,’” says Barkley.
Men’s Final Four FanFest is presented by Capital One
The Men’s March Madness Music Festival is presented by AT&T, Capital One and Coca-Cola.
The Women’s Final Four Tourney Town is presented by Capital One.
March Madness Live is presented by AT&T, Capital One and Coca-Cola.
The NCAA March Madness Men’s Bracket Challenge presented by Capital One returns to NCAA March Madness Live along with the NCAA March Madness Women’s Bracket Challenge presented by Capital One available via the app and ncaa.com for the first time.
Tri-presenting sponsors for NCAA March Madness Live are NCAA Corporate Champions AT&T, Capital One and Coca-Cola.
On mobile, AT&T, Capital One and Coca-Cola will sponsor the NCAA March Madness Live App for iOS; and Android App & Fire Tablet; On connected streaming devices: Capital One, Coca-Cola will sponsor the Roku app; Capital One will sponsor the Amazon Fire TV app; and The Home Depot will sponsor the Xbox and Google TV app.
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