Auction For Super Bowl Ad Space On Indy Buildings Fails To Draw Bidders

An attempt to "auction prime advertising space on Downtown Indianapolis buildings for the Super Bowl failed to attract a single bid," according to Shari Rudavsky of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR. The auction, which closed Friday night, included “about 50 Downtown buildings, all willing to be wrapped in Super Bowl-related advertising for a fee.” Plans called for bids “to reach as high $100,000” for the right to hang banners, but “no one bit -- at least not until the auction closed.” Mattison Corp Partner Chris Price, whose company orchestrated the website, www.biggamewraps.com, which hosted the auction, said that “one media group has placed a hold on 11 buildings.” He declined to identify the company “until the contract is final.” Rudavsky noted that the idea “was that advertisers themselves would bid as well as media companies.” But Price said, "It didn't work out that way. Maybe the auction itself was a mistake, maybe having a set price might have been the way to go." Price said that “at least 60 percent of each banner must promote” the Super Bowl or the NFL (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 12/18).

POSTER CHILD: YAHOO SPORTS’ Chris Chase noted the official poster for Super Bowl XLVI was unveiled last week and it was “designed by famed Indiana artist, Walter Knabe.” Chase wrote after viewing the poster, he was “aware that Super Bowl XLVI is in Indianapolis and will be played with a football.” Chase named some other pluses and minuses of the poster (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 12/16).