Features

Stads targets sports venue advertising with new platform

Sports-focused online advertising network Stads has launched a new platform that will allow advertisers to engage with audiences in sports venues.

Italian football legend Alessandro Del Piero has supported Stads on the new platform, which the company said will level the playing field for advertisers reaching sports venue audiences. Del Piero is a strategic partner and member of the company’s advisory board.

Stads, which was founded in 2018 by a group of sports business and technology entrepreneurs, is initially working with advertisers in Europe, the US, Latin America and the Far East to create, schedule and deliver adverts to perimeter boards immediately surrounding pitches at European football venues.

Stads will then add basketball venues and the company said its technology has the potential to expand to any sport worldwide, as well as other areas within a venue.

Stads’ new model is based on data and analytics and delivers targeted messages to fans to support the “destination” entertainment experiences that teams are looking to create inside venues. The model also supports real-time marketing requirements, which allow advertisers to go live with a campaign at short notice.

Stads’ newly-introduced media optimisation tool will take into account advertisers’ segmentation requirements to suggest the best games to reach their target audience, generating the most cost-effective package to suit their needs. By using the tool, brands can accurately target audiences by stadium, game, duration and event time.

Stads chief executive Yoav Shalmor (pictured) said: “We’re making stadium perimeter advertising easier and more accessible. Most advertisers don’t have the right level of accessibility to in-stadium media and often have no idea how to navigate the sports media buying process to make the best purchases.”

Shalmor added: “We’re helping advertisers acquire regional exposure while removing costly barriers like yearly partnership commitments. This model is attractive to media agencies, which previously were reluctant to lock down all of their clients’ media budgets on multi-yearly deals.

“They can now diversify their marketing by including sports venue media as one part of a broader campaign. They now have a platform powered by data that lets them localise their message and even advertise with different clubs simultaneously to reach a wider, diverse audience.

“We’re removing the ’shooting in the dark‘ aspect of sports venue advertising. Stads gives advertisers all the data they need to make the most informed decisions and lets teams partner with a wider array of brands to deliver content perfectly aligned to their audiences’ tastes and preferences.”

Image: Stads