We are starting to see live sporting events coming back to our living rooms via television and online streaming services. After the hiatus of all sporting events, it has been a welcome addition back into our lives.
PGA Tour and NASCAR events are happening almost weekly and it seems as though NBA and MLB may not be far behind.
What does this mean for your business? According to Variety, of the 100 top watched primetime shows in 2019, 37 were sports events both at the professional and college levels.
As you decide where to market your business, live sporting events might seem to be an attractive venue. Before you choose to pay premium pricing to advertise during live events, you might want to take into consideration some of these factors when choosing where to place your advertisements.
1) Is the play of the game stopped for advertising? In basketball and football games there are marked media timeouts that lend themselves to guaranteed advertising. Soccer, however, does not stop play until the end of marked periods. Baseball also has marked times between innings, which happen more frequently than soccer.
2) What other forms of advertising are available? If you cannot have a set commercial, can you sponsor a segment? For instance, “1st Quarter Stats presented by GigBag Media”. Sometimes you can pair a segment sponsorship that would also include logo placement and video advertisements.
3) Is it an event that people will watch live vs on a recording? Sometimes golf tournament broadcasts are on a delay. If people already know the outcome or even the current standings there is a better chance that they might not watch the entire program and/or flip around to see their favorite golfers instead of the whole field.
4) What else is going on that day? Are there several other sporting events or is this the only event people might be watching? According to Ad Exchanger the interest was up for the NFL draft this year, thanks to people staying home and the lack of competition. Over 100 brands were going to be advertising during the event, with 60 of them being first-time draft advertisers.
There is definitely a market to advertise during live sporting events as they start to come back, but know that these time slots will be at premium pricing. As you choose where to spend your marketing dollars, be sure to evaluate the events to make sure that you get the most for your buck!