Football season is again upon us, and for
marketers it's one of the best ways to reach the affluent,
largely male audience that attends college and professional
games.
And their options extend well beyond the signage surrounding
the playing field, to include ads on food trays and cups, at
seats, in concourses and restrooms, and even in parking lots
before the games.
To find out how to get your client’s message in football
stadiums, read on.This is one in a Media Life series on
buying the new out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.
Fast
Facts
What
Advertising at football stadiums to catch pigskin
fans at the game.
Who
Multiple companies offer ad options in and around
stadiums. For this article Media Life spoke with InStadium
in Chicago, StareWays in Millburn, N.J., Street Blimps in
Garden City, N.Y. and Sports Media in Silvis, Ill.
How
it works
The most familiar form of stadium advertising is
signage around the playing field, and one big advantage is
that it's often picked up by television cameras where the
games are televised, bringing exposure to hundreds of
thousands of viewers beyond the fans in the stands.
Ads on scoreboards are also available in many markets, as
well as messages on goal posts and water coolers.
Stadium signage is typically sold by the stadium or the
team, but there are some forms of stadium advertising that
can be bought through ad networks that can place the
advertiser's message in a number of different stadiums.
Here are some of the other stadium ad venues.
Advertisers can target fans as they're coming to the game by
placing ads near stadium entrances, on stairways, and along
interior concourses leading to the stands. StareWays is one
of a number of companies that offers such programs.
Ads can also be placed on drink cups, food and beverage
trays and on cup holders at seats, as well as on cards that
are placed in cup holders before the game begins. The
options are available through Sports Media, among others.
And between quarters or at halftime, advertisers can
reach fans through signage in restrooms. There can be a
dozen or more ads per restroom. Chicago's InStadium is one
of a number of vendors that offer restroom advertising.
At Seattle’s Qwest Field, advertisers can run spots on
TVs that are mounted along concourses and in stadium
lounges. Sports Media provides that service.
Marketers can reach fans in the parking lots as they're
tailgating or waiting in line to enter the stadium, using
street teams to hand out literature and talk up their
product.
Just this weekend, the Texas Lottery ran such a campaign at
two college football stadiums. Teams riding Segway scooters
handed out promotional material. The campaign was handled by
Street Blimps.
Markets
Advertising in professional football stadiums is
available in any market where there’s a team, and those
account for 32 of the nation’s top DMAs. For smaller
markets, advertisers can put their messages in college
football stadiums.
Numbers
In 2007 the NFL set an attendance record for the
sixth straight year, with 22.3 million paying to see games.
During 256 regular season matchups, average attendance per
game was nearly 68,000.
How it
is measured
Companies use attendance data from the stadiums and
TV ratings if the game was televised. Concession sales data
is used for items such as branded cups and food trays.
What
product categories do well
Any category that's targeting upscale males is
appropriate for stadiums, from automotive to beverages, cell
phones, entertainment and banking services.
Demographic
The average NFL fan is likely a male (64 percent) and
with better than even chances of being between the ages of
35 and 44.
Making the buy
InStadium:
Lead time is typically seven to 10 days. Pricing varies
depending on the scope of the campaign.
Sports Media:
For concession trays and cup-holder inserts lead time is
about two weeks after art approval. For branded cups lead
time runs between four and six weeks. Pricing varies by
product but a four-drink tray with a one-sided four-color ad
has a cost-per-thousand of $380 with 1 million trays
purchased. Cup holders are $5 per seat per year for pro
sports and $4 for college, where permissible.
Street Blimps:
Lead time for street teams is two to three weeks. Pricing
depends on the size of the team, which can run anywhere from
four to 150 people.
StareWays:
Lead time is one month. Pricing varies based on the size of
the installation.
Who’s
already at football stadiums
LG, Pepsi, MasterCard, Texas Lottery, Coca-Cola, Sony
PlayStation, MLB.com, Miller Lite.
What
they’re saying
“I’ve talked to Fortune 1,000 CEOs and when you bring
up NFL they’re not interested because of the stigma from the
price of Super Bowl TV spots. But we’ve done deals for
different price levels even in the $30,000 to $50,000
range.” – Dan Kosth, CEO of Sports Media
Web
site info
Sports Media
http://www.sportsmedia.net
