Monday, November 28, 2011

NCAA Not Happy with The Boston Globe's Munch Madness

If the folks behind the NCAA basketball tourney get their way, an annual restaurant tournament from The Boston Globe may have to get a name change.

According to the newspaper, the NCAA central office is petitioning to force the Globe to change the name of its Munch Madness competition, citing possible confusion between it and the March Madness college basketball tournament. The article mentions that the NCAA is concerned that the basketball tourney's brand could be "damaged" by the use of the Munch Madness name, and cites a lawsuit by the New York Times (parent company of The Boston Globe) against the Huffington Post to change the name of its parenting blog "Parentlode," which sounds similar to the "Motherlode" blog of the Times. The New York Times/Boston Globe responded to the NCAA petition by stating that the term "Munch Madness" has been used by others in the past, and that their "little restaurant contest" wouldn't be able to "destroy" the March Madness brand.

The Globe's Munch Madness competition, which started out last year, is a tournament of 64 Boston-area restaurants where readers pick their favorite places.

For more information on this story, please go to the Boston Globe link below.

NCAA lawyers target Munch Madness