Prisma Delivers for NCAA 2025 Final Four
The NCAA Final Four is one of the most-watched sporting events in the U.S.- and it’s more than just basketball; it’s a city-wide takeover. Host cities welcome over 70,000 fans, generating significant local revenue through tourism, hotels, dining, and entertainment.
From courtside signage and pop-up experiences to team buses and hotel wraps, the Final Four demands a high volume of printed materials, a consistent brand identity throughout every piece and a partner that can deliver on those things AND ensure flexibility. That is where Prisma stepped in with the assist for the 2025 championship in San Antonio, Texas.
The Vision: Unified Hotel Branding
The NCAA had a vision of a complete environmental branding campaign across five hotels — four team-specific properties and one for the NCAA headquarters. The goal: create a unified, immersive experience for teams, staff, and fans.
Prisma collaborated with NCAA stakeholders over a period of six months to measure, spec, and design custom graphics for each hotel, each one tailored to eight possible team outcomes. This required extensive contingency planning, visual design coordination, and high-level logistics preparation.
Game-Time Execution
Once the Elite Eight concluded and the team selection was finalized late Saturday evening, the Prisma team sprang into action.
With just 24 hours to produce and 72 hours to install, Prisma’s four-person, overnight team printed 20 custom pieces per hotel—including window clings, wall murals, pole wraps, and other large-format applications using in-house UV Inkjet presses. Every piece was quality checked against the pre-approved color targets and dispatched to install crews across San Antonio.
Under Pressure
With only a few days until the next round of the tournament was set to start and multiple installation locations needed, the Prisma team worked to install all the elements during each hotel’s off-hours while keeping the NCAA confidentiality protocols in place. Each variable or hurdle that the team ran across was treated as an opportunity to show the adaptability and craftsmanship of the Prisma team and make these installations the best in the league.
“This is my ninth year on the Final Four and we’ve seen what it’s like when things go off the rails a bit, so I just wanted to express how impressed I was with the work that you all did. Everything looked awesome. The colors were spot on, and everything was installed so well. I got into town Tuesday morning and everything was done! Really impressive,” said the client.
Do you have a larger-than-life idea for your brand? Prisma can help you make stunning first and lasting impressions with high-quality and cost-effective signage and displays. Contact us today to learn more about our large format and print solutions.