This started a few weeks ago. An example, a nice Google Cloud ad (complete with fake chalk on the mound).



The batter steps away, they change camera angles, and there's actually a Gorilla Glue/Tape ad in that spot.

My first thought is that Gorilla Glue didn't buy that spot because there would be 6k or 8k people sitting in the outfield who could see it. They can't be happy that their ad has been covered up by another on television?



Curious how this works. Guessing Bally sold the space that the Reds had already sold. AT&T Sportsnet is doing this too.

One other weird thing is that the ads are always the same for both home and away broadcasts. As a result, last week I was watching a game (MIL at PIT) on Bally Sports Wisconsin with an Allegheny Health Network virtual ad on it.

NHL did the same thing last year - at least for the playoffs. I had the same thought around their current advertisers probably not crazy about only being visible in person.

dvldog said:

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NHL did the same thing last year - at least for the playoffs. I had the same thought around their current advertisers probably not crazy about only being visible in person.

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Playoffs are a little different, every team does it for playoffs. I mean the sign behind home is just a greenscreen for a lot of teams when it comes playoffs...

Bally Sports did it all last year for Stars games and I had the same thoughts. Those advertisers cannot be happy and I expect that the sports franchises will see a stark decline in on field advertising. It's only a matter of time until the technology is good enough to do the same thing to the outfield ads.

I don't blame the RSN's for doing it though as they have to get some money back from their massive losses

I'm sure the advertisers know exactly what they are getting.

Legal Custodian said:

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Bally Sports did it all last year for Stars games and I had the same thoughts. Those advertisers cannot be happy and I expect that the sports franchises will see a stark decline in on field advertising. It's only a matter of time until the technology is good enough to do the same thing to the outfield ads.

I don't blame the RSN's for doing it though as they have to get some money back from their massive losses

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They already do it in the outfield, to an extend during the playoffs. I know for sure they put up a big advertisement on the batter's eye (on TV).

I'm all for it. Capitalize the on the field advertisements for TV audiences, too. Maybe if ESPN did this we wouldn't have a commercial break every 4th play during college football. Formula 1, soccer, etc. all figured this out....

Regarding the advertisers, I'm sure it's specifically outlined in their contract how many games, which games, etc., their advertisement will be visible on TV (at least for the behind home plate advertisements). If you watch Angels games, it's usually a Japanese advertiser the inning Shohei is batting....

Legal Custodian said:

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htxag09 said:

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Legal Custodian said:

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Bally Sports did it all last year for Stars games and I had the same thoughts. Those advertisers cannot be happy and I expect that the sports franchises will see a stark decline in on field advertising. It's only a matter of time until the technology is good enough to do the same thing to the outfield ads.

I don't blame the RSN's for doing it though as they have to get some money back from their massive losses

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I'm all for it. Capitalize the on the field advertisements for TV audiences, too. Maybe if ESPN did this we wouldn't have a commercial break every 4th play during college football. Formula 1, soccer, etc. all figured this out....

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On this note, there's no way ESPN will turn down extra revenue if they can get away with it. They're not gonna do this in lieu of an extra TV timeout. It will be in addition to.

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Right, but at some point games are going to drag on to the point of viewership being down. I feel like we're already there, we are for me, at least. They aren't going to shorten the commercials because they want to, they're going to do it if it means more viewers, meaning they can charge more for ads.

htxag09 said:

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Legal Custodian said:

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htxag09 said:

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Legal Custodian said:

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Bally Sports did it all last year for Stars games and I had the same thoughts. Those advertisers cannot be happy and I expect that the sports franchises will see a stark decline in on field advertising. It's only a matter of time until the technology is good enough to do the same thing to the outfield ads.

I don't blame the RSN's for doing it though as they have to get some money back from their massive losses

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I'm all for it. Capitalize the on the field advertisements for TV audiences, too. Maybe if ESPN did this we wouldn't have a commercial break every 4th play during college football. Formula 1, soccer, etc. all figured this out....

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On this note, there's no way ESPN will turn down extra revenue if they can get away with it. They're not gonna do this in lieu of an extra TV timeout. It will be in addition to.

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Right, but at some point games are going to drag on to the point of viewership being down. I feel like we're already there, we are for me, at least. They aren't going to shorten the commercials because they want to, they're going to do it if it means more viewers, meaning they can charge more for ads.

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Oh I agree, they're pushing the envelope right now because all the media outlets have learned that they have overpaid tremendously for the rights. I'll be curious if numbers overall are down this year but we probably won't know anything substantial until the end of the season.

IMO, for a good balance to keep games to a 3.5 hour window. 2 media time outs per quarter, plus the quarter breaks, halftime. And then 3 in the 4th. I would prefer that with 4 minute ad windows as opposed to now where it's 2.5-3.5min breaks.

When I was in school it was 3 per quarter and 4 in the 4th. But they were consistently 2min 20 seconds. Now it feels like its 4 per quarter and most are 3-3.5 minutes long.

Those ad walls behind home plate are intended for that purpose, a place for TV to insert rotating ads. I don't even think there's anything on them in person.

National broadcasts (i.e. ESPN/Fox) have used green screens and virtual ads for many, many years.

Virtual ads on local team broadcasts are brand new. And there aren't green screens there. They are imposing virtual ads over physical ads. In my example above, an ad for Gorilla Glue/Gorilla Tape had been covered by a virtual Google Earth ad.

Was thinking that the Gorilla Glue folks probably weren't happy as the CF camera had been picking up their ads all season up until around Sept 1. Most of the clubs started using virtual ads at the same time.

Just wait until it's seamless with your betting app of choice and riddled with odds and prop bets.