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Marketing and Sponsorship

Sources: ESPN Charging 20-30% More For CFP Title Game Than BCS Version

ESPN "may already be the winner" of Monday's Oregon-Ohio State CFP National Championship game, as advertisers "are forking over" $800,000-1M for 30 seconds of airtime during the game, according to ad buyers cited by Vranica & Perlberg of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. That "is a roughly 20% to 30% jump from what ESPN charged advertisers for last year’s title game." Media buyer Starcom Worldwide Senior VP & Dir Sam Sussman said the new system has "revitalized college football for advertisers and fans." Advertisers in the title game "include" Allstate, General Motors, Northwestern Mutual and AT&T. A source said that ESPN "has managed to lure about a dozen new advertisers to the college-football-playoff semifinal and final games, including mobile-gaming company Supercell." Allstate Senior VP/Marketing Lisa Cochrane, whose company featured its "Mayhem" campaign during the Sugar Bowl, said of the CFP, "I had no idea that it would generate this much buzz and excitement." Ad buyers said that the rates ESPN are charging "are just shy of the prices for NFL divisional playoff games, which are among the most coveted TV inventory." A source said that the viewership for the semifinals "surpassed the audience guarantees that ESPN had given to some advertisers." That means ESPN "likely could have charged more." A source: "When do you ever see a TV network leave money on the table?" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/9). Fox Business' Cheryl Casone noted Super Bowl ads this year are costing a reported $4.5M for a 30-second spot, so it is a "lot cheaper to advertise on a college game, and it looks like advertisers are figuring that out the viewership is actually with the college teams.” Goviva President Robert Tuchman anticipates the $1M cost of a CFP title game "in a couple of years ... could double and soon it could start rivaling” the Super Bowl. Tuchman: “Without a doubt, I do see college football on the rise” (“Countdown to the Closing Bell,” Fox Business, 1/8).

AT&T BALL
: In Dallas, Jeff Mosier notes AT&T "is doubling up" with Monday's title game, as broadcasters "will inform viewers that the game is played at AT&T Stadium and presented by AT&T." AT&T Assistant VP/Corporate Sponsorships Ryan Luckey said that the presenting sponsorship deal "was partially a response to the company’s local ties." He added, "I don’t think there’s any shortage of brand awareness that we’re going to be lacking this week." The company is also the "title sponsor of the Playoff Playlist Live concert series at American Airlines Center." Luckey "declined to say how much AT&T’s overall sponsorship" of the CFP is costing (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 1/9).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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