Sports Leagues, Movie Studios Continue To Build Ad Relationships

"Transformers" Director Michael Bay Poses With Branded Car Before Start Of NASCAR Race

Sports leagues and their broadcast partners have "kept strong ties with Hollywood even as other sponsors and advertisers have cut back," and movies are getting "considerable play in stadiums and on television as movie studios look to advertise to the largest audience possible," according to Tim Lemke of the WASHINGTON TIMES. 20th Century Fox' upcoming film "Avatar" "got big play Sunday," as the trailer for the film was "shown to more than 80,000 people" on the HD videoboards inside Cowboys Stadium. Scenes from the movie also were "spliced with baseball highlights as part of Fox's introduction" to Sunday's World Series Game Four. The studios behind upcoming films, including "A Christmas Carol" (Disney), "Sherlock Holmes" (Warner Bros.) and "2012" (Columbia Pictures) all have "kicked up their late-season ad push during broadcasts of all the major sports." Paramount last month also promoted its DVD release of "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" by sponsoring two cars during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Banking 500 only from Bank of America at Lowe's Motor Speedway. When "factoring in the high viewership among men over 18, it's no wonder studios have sought to partner with sports leagues." IEG Sponsorship Report Senior Editor William Chipps said movie studios are "particularly drawn to the big, national type of sports properties that offer media exposure." Lemke notes connections between sports and movies "aren't new, but some ad campaigns have become more visible as other major industries have cut ad budgets." It "helps that sports broadcasters and studios often have the same parent companies." But sports leagues have been "just as aggressive as broadcasters in tying themselves to Hollywood." The NBA and studios have been "partnering for more than a decade and last spring struck deals to promote a new movie during each round of the playoffs" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 11/5).