Cheer on your college team this year with a March Madness watch party! FunFlicks® is the #1 screen rental company with state-of-the-art equipment that can be delivered to you from almost anywhere in the United States. Since 2001, we have been giving fans the ultimate tournament experience. While you are sitting back and waiting for a great day of college basketball, experienced technicians are at your location setting up our premium quality equipment, staying for the remainder of the day, and packing up at the end of the event. Given our experience putting on many March Madness watch parties throughout the years, we have ideas to help you have an unforgettable event. Whether you plan on watching with a few friends in a college dorm room or with thousands of fans at a tailgate, we have ideas that will make your March Madness watch party an unforgettable experience!
How to: Start Planning a March Madness Watch Party
To begin planning your March Madness watch party, pick a game that you and your guests will want to come watch. Games near the end of the tournament are always the most exciting. If you'd like to cheer on your favorite team, scheduling a party after Selection Sunday (March 12th) is best for planning a first round watch party. It is wise to always plan your party after schedules have been finalized if you are watching to support a particular team.
Location
Once you’ve picked the best day to have a watch party, choose a location. Your party should be held in a large enough area to accommodate the expected number of guests. Consider renting foldable chairs or telling guests to bring their own so that everyone is able to sit down and watch the game comfortably. To further maintain the comfort of your guests, provide restrooms with enough hand soap and toilet paper. Therefore, no one has to leave the party for a trip to the toilet. If you intend to hold your watch party outside, make sure all sprinkler systems are turned off. At the end of a successful watch party, the last thing you want to do is spend hours cleaning up. To minimize waste, supply trash cans around the area so that guests have a place to dispose of any garbage.
Prepare for the Elements
It is very important to plan ahead and check what the expected weather conditions will be at your March Madness watch party location. If you are planning on having an outdoor event in the cold, tell your guests to dress warm and bring blankets. Providing portable heating is also a great way to keep your guests from getting too chilly. March can bring a lot of wet weather. Don’t let rain ruin your watch party; have your event indoors if outdoor conditions are expected to be harsh. Having your party indoors is the most secure option for having a good time without worrying about stormy weather ruining your plans.
Theme for a March Madness Party
Decorate your March Madness watch party with team logos! Streamers, flags, and posters are all welcome and will make your party look great. If you plan on having food and drinks, buy utensils that have team colors on them. Encourage guests to arrive in their game-day apparel. Jerseys, shirts, hats, and face paint show your true team spirit!
Pregame Activities for a March Madness Watch Party
Play Basketball
What else is a better way to get excited for a basketball game than by playing basketball? Get a ball, find a hoop, and gather your guests together to shoot some baskets. Make the game rivalry even more interesting by dividing teams by opposing fans. If you’d like to play a game of basketball but do not own a hoop, no problem! Simply use duct tape to make two large circles far apart from each other. Within your circles, place a trash can in the middle. Players score by shooting their basketball into the trash can outside of the circle. If you don't want to play trash can basketball, consider holding your event at a public park with a basketball court. The winner can get bragging rights or a nice prize.
Play Giant Jenga
Jenga is a classic table game that everyone of all ages can enjoy. Giant Jenga takes the fun you had as a kid to the next level with bigger blocks and higher stakes. Simply find a flat surface and set up your giant Jenga set as instructed. Players take turns removing a block on each turn. The player who manages to knock over the tower in their attempt to remove a block loses.
Bring on the Beer Pong
Celebrate college style with a little beer pong before tip-off. All you need is a flat table, 20 red Solo cups, at least 2 ping-pong balls, and a beverage of your choice. To begin setting up, fill all cups halfway with your beverage. Once the cups have been filled, split them and arrange them in pyramid fashion, facing each other on opposite sides of the table. After deciding which player goes first, both players challenge each other at opposite ends of the table by taking turns throwing the ping-pong balls into their opponents' cups. If the opponent makes their ping-pong ball land in the other player’s cup, the player must drink until the cup is empty and remove it from the pyramid. Once four cups remain, reshape the cups into a diamond shape. The winner has landed the ping-pong ball in all of the cups, leaving none left.
Fill Out a Braket
Before the madness begins, place your bets and fill out a bracket. This can be done as soon as the first round schedule has been finalized. Draw the slots, see what teams are playing against each other before the game, and decide who wins each game. If creating your own bracket seems too difficult, simply visit the NCAA's online digital bracket page. There, you can easily choose who wins, and outcomes will automatically update after games are over. Make things interesting by encouraging friends to create their own brackets; whoever predicts the most outcomes wins a prize after the tournament has concluded. Have fun!
Delicious March Madness Watch Party Snacks & Drinks
Danger Dogs with Spicy Fruit Relish
Hotdogs are not only easy to make but also a very popular game-time snack. Watching your team ball out while you munch on a great hotdog is an excellent experience. Cook your wieners on the barbecue or in boiling water on the stove. Ketchup, mustard, relish, and diced onions are classic condiments that complement your dog in a bun. If you are wanting to make an unforgettable hotdog, follow Guy Fieri’s "Danger Dogs with Spicy Fruit Relish" recipe.
To make this great dish, all you need is:
Spicy Fruit Relish
-½ pineapple, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch planks
-1 mango, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
-1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
-1 red chile (Fresno or jalapeno), seeded and finely diced
-½ medium red onion, finely diced
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-½ lemon, juiced
-½ cup pickle relish
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Hot Dogs
-8 slices applewood-smoked bacon
-8 good quality all-beef franks
-16 pickled jalapeno slices, drained
-8 hot dog buns
-Ketchup, for serving
-Country mustard, for serving
Water
Don’t forget the water! Good ol’ H20 is vital to have at your party and will keep everyone happy and hydrated. Be sure to have it available in bottles or in a large pitcher.
Irish Lemonade (Alcohol)
Quench your thirst with an Irish Lemonade at your March Madness watch party. This alcoholic beverage tastes great and can be made to cater to a large crowd. Simply mix 1 part Jameson whiskey, 2 parts lemonade of your choice, 2 parts ginger beer, and a pinch of mint. If you plan on having a family-friendly event, be sure to supervise the area and label your container to let guests know that it is an alcoholic beverage.
Cinnamon Churros with Mexican Chocolate Dipping Sauce
Churros are the perfect treat for those with a sweet tooth and are great to eat after a meal. They are easy to make in large quantities and will be very popular at your March Madness watch party. Hot cocoa or coffee complement churros well and will keep you warm if your party is outdoors. Guy Fieri’s "Cinnamon Churros with Mexican Chocolate Dipping Sauce" takes about 25 minutes to make at 6–8 servings. You will need:
Chocolate Sauce
-1 ½ cups Mexican chocolate
-¾ cup heavy cream
Churros
-3 tablespoons unsalted butter
-2 tablespoons granulated sugar
-¼ teaspoon kosher salt
-1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
-3 medium eggs
-1 cup granulated sugar
-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Homemade Peach Tea
Peach tea is the perfect sweet drink for a spring party. It takes less than an hour to make and can be enjoyed by everyone. To begin, heat water in a larger pan until it begins to boil. Once boiling, turn off the heat and allow for about eight black tea bags to seep. While your tea bags are seeping, blend your peaches to a puree. Once all the pulp is removed from your peach mixture and the tea has seeped into the water, mix the two in a pitcher, adding ice, a bit of lemon juice, and sugar. If the mix is too sweet, add more lemon juice. If it’s too sour, add more sugar. If you don’t want to make the tea yourself, large containers of premade peach tea can be found at most grocery stores.
Prime-Time Pizza Dough
Bring out the pizza! Order pizza at your March Madness watch party for everyone to enjoy. It’s cheap and can be easily delivered to your location. If you are wanting to make it homemade, follow Guy Fieri’s "Prime-Time Pizza Dough" recipe. Homemade dough tastes amazing and takes little time to make. Get creative with your toppings and put on some cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, jalapenos, olives, onions, pineapple, or bacon! Consider making a pizza that everyone will enjoy. To make Guy Fieri’s dough, you’ll need:
Dough
-3 tablespoons unsalted butter
-2 tablespoons granulated sugar
-¼ teaspoon kosher salt
-1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
-3 medium eggs
-1 cup granulated sugar
-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Screen for an Outdoor Evening or Indoor Party
Our fleet of inflatables is the best quality of screen that you can rent at an affordable price. Whether the party is going on in your backyard or at a college stadium parking lot, there is an inflatable screen for all fans to enjoy. Our assortment of inflatable screens have a seamless viewing surface and can be blown up in minutes. We’ll be sure to get everything up and running before tip off. At every event, we bring high-definition speakers that will knock your socks off and a theatrical projector with a crystal-clear display. For optimal viewing, an inflatable event should take place in a setting with minimal lighting and winds of under 15 mph.
Backyard 16'
12x7 display
100 guests
20 cars
Premiere 21'
16x9 display
250 guests
50 cars
Blockbuster 26'
20x12 display
500 guests
75 cars
Elite 32'
26x15 display
750 guests
100 cars
Epic 40'
30x17 display
1500 guests
150 cars
Xtreme 50'
40x22 display
3000 guests
250 cars
LED Display Screens
If you want a screen that can display day or night in almost any environment, renting an LED screen is the best option for you. Using electroluminescent technology, our LED screens generate light safely and effectively at any time of day. Hence, it isn’t a problem if you want to watch a morning game or a prime-time night game on our LED screens. Our panels and trailers are rated IP65, which means they are both rain and dust proof! All of our mobile LED trailers have onboard generators used to power the display. Therefore, no power supply is needed. Similar to our inflatable screens, our fleet of LED screens come in a variety of dimensions for a variety of crowd sizes. Event technicians across the country are available to bring our LED trailers anywhere for you to enjoy watching your team on.
MAX Light
8x5 display
MAX 127
12x7 display
MAX 158
15x8 display
MAX 1710
17x10 display
MAX 2313
23x13 display
