Van Wagner Sports & Entertainment has won the exclusive rights to sell field-level, camera-visible LED advertising across the trio of regular-season NFL games that will be played at London’s Wembley Stadium during the coming season.
It’s the first time the NFL has used an outside vendor to sell this signage. In the past, the NFL’s London office has sold its own signage to corporate partners, with league corporate sponsors getting first dibs. For next season, NFL sponsors have exclusivity in the auto, beer, soft drink, hotel, sports drink, apparel, wireless and payment card categories. Other categories are open to sell.
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The NFL’s London office previously sold the signage.
Photo by: VAN WAGNER
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The signage is capable of animation, but the NFL does not permit that during play.
Van Wagner’s Dorna sells a variety of camera-visible signage for teams in the NBA, MLB, NCAA and international soccer. LED perimeter signage is common in European soccer, but officially, the NFL does not permit camera-visible signage domestically. When NFL games are played overseas, however, local rules apply.
“We’ve worked with the NFL to add signage positions in the end zones,” said Bill Barbera, Van Wagner executive vice president of sales, “and that additional coverage, along with this being a unique offering as far as NFL programming is concerned, has us pretty excited.”
Three games make up the ninth year of NFL action in London, as the Miami Dolphins “host” the New York Jets on Oct. 4; the Jacksonville Jaguars play the Buffalo Bills on Oct. 25; and the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Detroit Lions on Nov. 1.
All games are scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. ET, well before the rest of the NFL schedule on those Sundays.
