Op-Ed: The Data Powering a New Era of Out-of-Home Sports Marketing

As a sports marketer and media buyer for the Philadelphia 76ers a decade ago, I remember sitting through media day presentations displayed on different mediums and using old-school data, if any at all. I remember receiving a stack of photo sheets for billboards and maps, and nothing else, from the out-of-home (OOH) rep. Much of our decision-making at the time was based on our own internal fan surveys, market knowledge, Nielsen data and feel.

Chris Mallen, OUTFRONT, senior director of marketing

That picture of OOH advertising is barely recognizable today. The market has undergone a revolution because of advancements in technology, similar to the sweeping changes sabermetrics have brought to baseball. Just as an MLB GM uses analytics to make lineup and in-game decisions, so too can sports marketers leverage the wealth of data and statistics at their disposal to reach target audiences and deliver results.

Now, a sports marketer can use advanced audience data for campaign planning, buy OOH traditionally or programmatically, and measure the impact of their campaign via attribution studies. They can also tap into AI to evaluate the effectiveness of OOH creative. In short, this is not your grandfather’s billboard company anymore. Any preconceived notions of OOH advertising from a decade ago should be tossed aside.

Sports-related out-of-home advertising is embracing new ways to grab the attention of sports fans.

One of the defining sports stories of the past year has been the women’s sports boom in attendance, viewership and media coverage. The growth has carried over to OOH, where women’s sports stars have been front and center for brands and their marketing campaigns, none more prominently than Caitlin Clark. When Clark signed on as a Wilson Sporting Goods athlete in May 2024, OUTFRONT celebrated the achievement with billboards of the NCAA’s all-time scoring leader and the WNBA’s No. 1 draft pick in both her Indiana Fever and Iowa jerseys across the country – from Times Square in New York City, to Chicago, to Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. The OOH campaign drove home Wilson’s message of Clark being “not just a record-setting athlete, but a cultural icon who has had a profound impact on the game” with its distinctive image choices and billboard placements (and it was also perfect fodder for social media).

Now more than ever is the time to get creative with things like billboard advertising.

Teams like the Tampa Bay Rays are also pushing creative boundaries with their campaigns. One recent billboard of a Tampa Bay player sliding into second base was displayed on slides across the entire vinyl canvas, as if the player were sliding directly on the billboard. The ad was so creative, it stopped viewers in their tracks to take it in, and better yet, it was more likely to go viral. After all, social media and OOH go together exceptionally well, with out of home driving seven-times the social media posts per dollar compared to any other medium (SOURCE: Comscore, 2022).

OOH advertising placements also have a strong effect on TV tune-in, especially digital out of home (DOOH), another critical data point for sports marketers. Thirty-eight percent of those exposed to DOOH have watched the programming advertised, the highest activation rate for any action other than a Google search (SOURCE: The Harris Poll, 2024). The flexibility and mass reach of DOOH allow sports marketers to take advantage of countless creative variants that daypart messaging, promote ticket sales, showcase unique game-day promotions, and announce opponents and game times. A team can easily reinforce a message it’s running on TV ads through their DOOH advertising, creating a dynamic media mix that consistently reaches consumers, both on game days and away from the games. This digital flexibility empowers teams to keep pace with their sports and make quick, creative changes as needed.

Pairing OOH and mobile advertising is another effective way to retarget locals who have seen a brand’s ad on their drive to and from work. Research has shown that mobile click-through rates increased by 15% and caused a 38% uplift in short-term action taken via mobile when they were supported by OOH advertisements (SOURCE: pjx media 2023).

Mike Veeck is famous for pushing the boundaries of sports marketing and coining the phrase, “Fun is good.” Marketers can be creative and have fun with their OOH advertising like Tampa did, and they can also do it strategically. The audience data insights of modern OOH empower sports marketers to make informed business decisions and reach their target audiences, all while pairing their ad effectively with other media formats.

Welcome to a new age of advertising in sports.