Sports teams, players, fans, and communities are stepping outside of the arena, stadium, field, and court into out-of-home advertising.

Billboards Used in Recruiting, Persuading & Maintaining

Mississippi State has been adding “strategically placed” billboards around Ole Miss territory. These ads happen to be scheduled for removal on National Signing Day (February 2, 2012)– coincidence, I think not.

Although the efforts by NBA teams failed in recruiting LeBron James, the outdoor advertising used to sway his decision was pretty entertaining for the rest of us. [See NBA Free Agency Blog]

Billboards in Sacramento were used in conjunction with a Facebook page dedicated to keeping the Sacramento Kings in Sacramento as opposed to moving south to Anaheim. The billboard directed users to the created Facebook page where they could speak out and take action.

Out of Home Advertising That Inflates Rivalries

Soccer rivalries are nothing new in most other countries but as this sport gains popularity in the states, the Portland Timbers and the Seattle Sounders are paving the way for full fledge billboard wars, placing Soccer City USA billboards in one another’s markets, or should I say in front of their field.

Billboards Used To Mock

Billboards can also be used to, shall we stay, “stick it to one another.”

Clearly, the wounds were big in Cleveland both for businesses and in the minds and hearts of Cavalier fans.

And, on the second thought, maybe this wasn’t the best comment by The OSU President, Gordon Gee.

…[H]aving been both a Southeastern Conference president and a Big Ten president, that it’s like murderer’s row every week for these schools. We do not play the Little Sisters of the Poor. We play very fine schools on any given day. So I think until a university runs through that gantlet that there’s some reason to believe that they not be the best teams to [be] in the big ballgame.

Jennifer Hoffmannbeck, Media Buyer –  a goldfish addict who settles for nothing less than a Starbucks Venti.