Mobile sports media company theScore has launched its first March Madness-themed contest, the $100K Team Tourney Challenge. The challenge, which sees entrants accumulate points with each successful prediction throughout the college basketball tournament until a grand prize winner is chosen, is sponsored by Canadian Club.

CC will occupy the contest’s user interface with anchored banner ownership and a custom masthead on all pages. The brand will also have an integrated presence in promotional executions within theScore app, as well as on theScore’s webpage on desktop and in paid social media spots. The main focus of the ads will be the Canadian Club 100% Rye bottle and logo.

Kim Gillespie, associate brand manager for Canadian whisky with Beam Suntory, which produces Canadian Club, told MiC that while sports sponsorships aren’t the primary focus for the brand, it has been involved in select deals, including the Ottawa Senators and the Edmonton Eskimos for some time in order to resonate with their target audience of millennial males. The main purpose of this particular sponsorship is to drive awareness for the CC 100% Rye brand with that demo.

Canadian Club worked with Starcom on the sponsorship deal. TheScore’s contest is also being promoted on its social channels supported by paid digital campaigns, including some Instagram and YouTube influencers. TheScore’s media buy on the campaign was conducted internally.