This fall, sports fans may be in for a treat. If all goes as planned, the regular NFL season will coincide with the NBA playoffs, NHL playoffs, Major League Baseball and NCAA Football.
After Utah Jazz forward Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus in March, the NBA suspended its season. The NHL and MLB followed suit. Now, COVID-19 permitting, all of America’s major sports will share the lineup this fall.
As Inside Radio reports, sports euphoria could fuel a “broadcasting bonanza,” with America’s radio stations slated to air more than 5,000 hours of live sports coverage in September.
Pent-up demand for marketing tied to sports could result in audio advertisers vying for media.
“On the network side it is expected that there will be limited inventory on top Sports network programming if there is this perfect storm or convergence of all major sport seasons,” said Jared Kulaga, Network Buyer for Strategic Media, Inc.
Savvy advertisers can plan ahead and lock in deals before inventory is exhausted. But while acting now offers tremendous marketing potential, it comes with risk.
“Upfront network buys should be considered in order to secure national sports opportunities, but cancellation policies will have to be carefully crafted or weighed, as it is certainly possible that there could be a domino effect with these various leagues taking their cue from one another based on how they are able to manage player safety,” said Kulaga.
Josh Knock, one of SMI’s Senior Media Buyers, agreed that advertisers should take uncertainty into account. “The biggest question is, will all of these sports really be played at the same time? Will COVID prove to be too much of an obstacle?” Knock noted, however, that “sports talk as a format will be in high demand regardless of which sports are playing.” Even September’s sports schedules do change, advertisers can still count on radio to reach their target audience effectively.
For help navigating this and other unique opportunities in audio advertising, contact Strategic Media, Inc. today.