By Paul Nicholson
August 8 – Clubs and leagues could be missing out on up to 30% of the value of their international media sales inventory, according to a leading digital replacement advertising board specialist. New technology is now unlocking added sponsorship real estate as well as opening rightsholders to advertising clients that would previously never have considered the opportunity.
An average broadcast football match has about 60 minutes when the cameras are on the pitchside boards. That ad inventory is generally taken up national and club sponsors sold to companies targeting the local market. But the ability to replace a portion of that inventory for international advertisers can generate substantial new income.
Technology specialists Supponor via its DBRLive technology replaces traditional perimeter boards in live broadcast with digital content. For its clients it is replacing an average of 20 minutes per game of ad inventory, selling the new board space to local brands that, generally, would not have previously had the budget or inclination to buy a global campaign.
“A lot of value has just been thrown away in the past,” said Supponor’s chief strategy and business development officer Charlie Marshall. “Now we can create a piece of media real estate that is seriously valuable.”
If rightsholders paid any attention to the international board value in the past, it was generally as a throw-away to boost a predominantly domestic sponsorship sale. “We have the ability to target at a region giving access to budgets that were never before available,” said Marshall.
“There is no wastage with audiences and brands are prepared to pay significant amounts because it is measurable.”
Marshall uses the example of Chinese electronics manufacturer Suning which operates within China and used inventory in La Liga and Barcelona matches, taking up to seven minutes out of a 20-minute available match inventory. Originally a one-season ad buy, the brand grew to become the first major regional sponsor for Barcelona.
With English Premier League clubs in particular targeting regional sponsorships as growth income areas, the prospect of adding meaningful advertising real estate to packages or offering it separately has to be compelling.
To date La Liga has been the rightsholding trailblazer in this space and last season delivered nearly 1,000 minutes of pitchside messaging providing access for 138 brands to up to six different regions.
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