March Madness 2024: Fast-Food Restaurant Specials and Deals

Pizza, Wings and Burgers Reign Supreme at Food Franchises Celebrating the Famed NCAA Tournament

College hoops fans, rejoice! March Madness is in full swing with the country’s top teams competing to win the championship trophy. Whether you are a sports enthusiast or just a spectator, watch parties are nothing without staples like sliders, pizza and wings. To attract customers during the multi-week NCAA tournament, fast-food franchises offer special menu options and hold bracket competitions that come with big prizes.

With an average of 10 million viewers tuning in to the tournament last year, food franchisors have endless opportunities to make swish shots during every minute of the NCAA tournament. Check out the following fast-food deals and special menu items to become the MVP of the watch party.

March Madness 2024 Fast-Food Restaurant Specials and Deals

Auntie Anne’s

Auntie Anne’s is thinking outside the pizza box by bringing back the fan-favorite Basketball Buckets. Available through April 8, the new buckets – which come with a new branded wrap and backboard design – are filled with the brand’s original pretzels, cinnamon sugar pretzels, pepperoni nuggets or mini dogs.   

Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar

Sports competitions and wings just go together. In honor of college basketball’s biggest tournament, Bad Daddy’s is serving wings for $10 for both dine-in and online orders. For the Final Four (April 6) and championship (April 8) games, pints of beer are $4 when you order from the Bad Daddy’s website or app.

Big Chicken

It wouldn’t be March Madness 2024 without a bracket contest! The Big Chicken franchise celebrates the NCAA Tournament with a nationwide Big Bracket Challenge. For the challenger who completes a perfect men’s or women’s bracket (correctly predicting the results of all 63 games), Big Chicken will build a franchise in the winner’s city, where owner and NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal will work on its opening day. The closest-to-perfect bracket entry will be rewarded with a video message from O’Neal, a box with Big Chicken-branded swag and a $250 gift card. The next-highest-ranked bracket entry will receive a similar swag box and $100 gift card; and the finisher one notch below is in line for a swag box and $50 gift card.  

Buffalo Wild Wings

In a memorable nod to March Madness 2024, Buffalo Wild Wings will have a real buffalo (the brand’s mascot) named Jack pick a bracket for both the men’s and women’s tournaments in a promotion called “Beat the Buffalo.” Fans submitted their own brackets for the chance to win prizes like free wings for a year and tickets to next year’s Final Four. 

Cookie Dough Bliss

To put a tasty twist on March Madness 2024, the Cookie Dough Bliss franchise is hosting its own Cookie Dough Mania tournament to determine which flavor that fans rate as the most delicious. Chocolate chip faces off with mint chocolate chip, and monster dukes it out with double chocolate chip, until the favorite cookie dough wins. To participate and enter for the chance to win $100 worth of cookie dough, visit cookiedoughbliss.com/favorite-flavor/. 

Crave Hot Dogs & BBQ

The Crave Hot Dogs & BBQ franchise plans to score big with its new March Madness Menu. For a limited time, guests can order the Alley-Oop-Wich, The Playmaker, Tip-Off Tots, the Spicy Pick-and-Roll, and the Slam Dunk Dog.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit

Guests can become the star of the party with Dickey’s Barbecue Pit’s Party Packs. These include the Family Pack, which starts at $61 and consists of two choices of meats, three large sides and six slices of Texas toast – a meal feeding four to six people. At $84, the XL Pack offers three meat choices, four large sides and eight slices of Texas toast for six to eight people. Larger March Madness parties can enjoy the Big Yellow Box (BYB) Wings & Ribs Party Pack (18 ribs, 24 wings, mac and cheese, coleslaw, rolls, barbecue sauce and ranch dressing) and the BYB Original Party Pack (2 pounds of pulled pork; 2 pounds of chopped brisket; large helpings of coleslaw, barbecue beans and potato salad; plus rolls, relish and sauce).

Dog Haus

Dog Haus has winning deals on popular watch-party foods. Customers can enjoy the hot dog franchise’s Reuben Tots for $7.99, BLT Tots for $7.99, Southwestern Tots for $7.99 and Chopped Cheese Sliders (above) for $13.99. 

Domino’s

Through March 24, Domino’s is celebrating March Madness 2024 by offering customers 50% off all menu-priced pizzas ordered online. (Fun fact: the pizza franchise sold over 3 million pizzas during the men’s 2023 national semifinals and championship game nights combined!)

Friendly’s

What’s March Madness without wings? Through April 9, Friendly’s has options for 30- and 60-count bone-in and boneless chicken wings. Available online and in-store, customers have a choice of a variety of sauces and dips, including Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ, buffalo, garlic Parmesan, honey mustard and Friendly’s Signature Sauce. Prices for catering orders range from $34.99 to $74.99. In-store diners who order six wings for $9.99 will receive a free order of Friendly’s french fries. 

Krystal 

To land slam dunks during the 2024 tournament, Krystal has multiple deals. Through March 24 and from March 28-31, guests can score $3 off $18 orders with the code THREEPOINTER. They also net $4 off $20 orders with the Final Swoosh promotion. 

TGI Fridays

To soften the blow of not picking the perfect March Madness 2024 bracket, TGI Fridays is giving away a free order of six wings to every fan with a busted bracket. This deal lasts through April 8. 

The Greene Turtle

Through April 8, The Greene Turtle franchise has “The Starting 5” promotion for the 2024 NCAA Tournament. For $15, hoops fans can enjoy Beer Buckets that hold five beers, or they can opt for $2 house margaritas, $3 tall Bud Lights, $4 Truly and White Claws, or $5 Tall Turtle Crawl IPA. 

Toppers Pizza

During both the men’s and women’s March Madness tournaments from March 19-25, March 28-April 1 and April 5-8, the Toppers Pizza franchise has a great bonus. When guests order a large house pizza at regular price, they can purchase a triple Original Topperstix for $1.

Twin Peaks

If a participant in the Twin Peaks bracket challenge correctly predicts the winners of all 63 games, that contestant can win $2 million. The participant with the best overall bracket receives “Twin Peaks for a Year” with a $5,000 e-gift card, and top local brackets will earn $50 gift cards. 

Wendy’s 

Wendy’s is the Official Hamburger of the NCAA and March Madness. When guests use the legacy fast-food franchise’s app, they can buy a Dave’s Single for $1 and a Dave’s Double for $2. These deals are valid through April 10.