Taking a cue from the NBA, IMG College has begun selling the floor apron in front of the benches at college basketball arenas.
Geico, which this season bought the floor apron with the Washington Wizards, has closed its first college deal at Florida State. Geico branding appeared on the floor at FSU’s Tucker Center last week and will be on the court the rest of the season.
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Geico has closed its first college deal, at Florida State’s Tucker Center.
Photo by: IMG COLLEGE
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The deal is part of a larger six-figure buy for Geico with Seminoles basketball that also includes radio advertising and courtside signage. A financial breakdown was not available, but IMG College characterized the floor apron as some of FSU’s most valuable basketball inventory.
Outside of IMG College, Geico also has a deal for the floor apron, courtside signage and digital advertising at George Mason, which is represented by Front Row Marketing.
{podcast}
SBJ Podcast:
College writer Michael Smith and Assistant Managing Editor Tom Stinson discuss Dr Pepper's hold on the college football postseason as well as Geico's move to sponsor the floor-apron space at college basketball courts.
IMG College also has received clearance from a handful of other schools to sell the floor-apron space, including Syracuse, St. John’s, West Virginia and UNC Charlotte. Deals for those schools could be sold by the local properties or by the national sales team at IMG College.
Tom Ward, a regional vice president for IMG College, sold the Florida State deal to Geico and has identified the new inventory for the other schools, which had to grant their approval for IMG College to sell it.
“We hope to be able to roll this out at a number of other colleges,” Ward said.
Ward spent close to 20 years in sales for NBA teams in Charlotte, New Orleans, Washington and Philadelphia before joining IMG College in September 2013. When he saw the NBA unveil the court apron as new inventory last year, he immediately thought of doing the same in the college space.
IMG College first tested the floor-apron space with Geico during last season’s American Athletic Conference basketball tournament in Memphis’ FedEx Forum. Geico’s branding was visible in front of both benches, and it had courtside signage as well. Ward said the measurements by Repucom “were off the charts for visibility.”
About a half-dozen NBA teams have sold the floor apron, with teams charging in the low seven figures per season. Rates in the college space will be less because there are far fewer home games.
