Philadelphia Flyers executives knew they had a promotional hit on their hands the first time they heard the chants and saw the dance, said Joe O'Sullivan, vice president of sales and marketing with the Flyers.
Shortly after the club launched a campaign with Chick-fil-A called "Score four or more," 20,000 fans became totally focused on the free sandwich they'd get if the home team scored four goals, and on the animated, dancing chickens that appeared on video boards throughout the First Union Center the second the milestone was reached.
"It only took a few games for people to understand what the promotion was," O'Sullivan said. "By a few games into it, when we had three goals, people would be screaming, 'We want chicken! We want chicken!' The sponsor was really pleased."
The promotion is an example of how the emergence of light-emitting diode (LED) video signage systems has allowed teams and arenas to sell what they call "moments of exclusivity" rather than space, thereby promising advertisers more value for their sponsorships.
"It's not about signage anymore in these arenas," said Jerry Cifarelli, president of ANC Sports Enterprise, the Purchase, N.Y., company that installed the 360-degree LED ribbon board in the First Union Center. Now that more clubs can sell time slots during which fans' senses are bombarded with a singular message, Cifarelli said, sports venues have become a much better advertising medium. "It's more like you're running a production," Cifarelli said.
Arenas like First Union, the Air Canada Centre in Toronto and Philips Arena in Atlanta have demonstrated their belief in the value of LED ribbons by investing $1.5 million to $2 million in recent years to upgrade their sign systems.
Both Air Canada and Philips in the late 1990s had installed what most viewed as the next great trend in signs, a 360-degree, light-bulb-clad ribbon board with signs that rotated. That allowed Air Canada operators, for example, to offer 20 sponsors three minutes of ice time apiece, exclusively, according to Bob Hunter, senior vice president and general manager of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, owner and operator of the arena.
But within six months, Hunter said, LED systems became the trend. "We were like the leading-edge building," he said, "and all of a sudden, we're almost second tier."
The arena has since invested in an all-LED board, which should be functional in time for the opening of exhibition season for the Maple Leafs, Hunter said.
The new systems are a boon for advertisers, allowing them to use animation and even to reformat television ads for the space, according to Jim Morgan, president of Daktronics, a competitor of ANC Sports.
"Electronic displays have a way of creating more interest, and really making the advertising more interesting," Morgan said.
Interestingly, while few dispute the value of LED for sponsors and fans, less clear is what the technology will mean economically for those making the major investment. Having installed the rotational sign systems only recently, Air Canada and others are locked into long-term agreements with a full slate of advertisers.
Such is the case at Philips Arena, which only two years after installing 360 degrees of light-bulb-clad boards and rotational signage spent $2 million converting the 936-foot ribbon to LED, just in time for the 2001-02 Thrashers and Hawks seasons, according to Bob Williams, president of Philips Arena.
"Since those contracts were already in place, we didn't have any means of gaining incremental revenue," Williams said. "But we felt like we owed it to our sponsors and to our fans to enhance their experience with this vehicle."
Hunter said teams and venues have to look at the long-term benefits when deciding whether to commit the finances. He views the investment as a tool to retain sponsors.
Cifarelli estimates that 30 percent to 40 percent of NBA and NHL arenas currently have LED ribbons installed. Cost varies depending on the ribbon's height — generally three to four feet — but 1,000 feet of signage, Cifarelli said, typically costs $1.5 million to $2 million. Equipping the larger outdoor venues with 360 degrees of LED ribbon, therefore, is economically prohibitive and often logistically impossible, since many outdoor stadiums are not fully closed.
Many outdoor venues opt for a combination of electronic and rotational displays.
