With so many sports on TV and streaming schedules, is there a better way for advertisers to play the game?
WPP Media believes so. The media buying outlet, part of British advertising giant WPP and formerly known as Group M, is launching a new sports business that will use better data sets to help clients invest in advertising with confidence.
Martin Brich, executive director and head of U.S. sports investments and partnerships at WPP Media, said in a recent interview that while many advertisers have long-standing ties to specific sporting events, the amount of money being spent on professional and college sports has skyrocketed. “The truth is, we need to be able to say to our clients, ‘Let’s take a step back and look at the data, understand who our fans are, understand who our leagues are serving and what platforms we have access to that can actually drive business.’” Blich will lead the new offering.
A new practice, WPP Media Sports provides strategy and investment services as well as analytics. Sponsorship and partnership activation. Content production in collaboration with influencers. WPP Media Sports uses GumGum, a specialist company for delivering digital advertising in relevant environments, and its subsidiary Relo Metrics. Relo Metrics measures and tracks the value of sponsor logos and brand mentions on live TV broadcasts, streaming, social media, and other venues.
WPP Media is launching a sports specialty at the start of a whirlwind year that includes the regular NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL seasons, as well as the Winter Olympics and World Cup tournament. WPP Media has been keeping an eye on how the sport will evolve into a new era. In 2024, the company created a marketplace dedicated to women’s sports, starting with the industry’s “upfront” marketplace. At the time, clients said they were interested, including Adidas, Ally, Coinbase, Discover, Google, Mars, Nationwide, Unilever and NBCUniversal’s Universal Pictures.
The company is also looking to redefine its business after a difficult few years marked by customer losses and executive turnover. WPP Media Sports will compete with companies such as Publicis Media and the sports media business of Omnicom Group, which recently acquired rival Interpublic Group. Advertisers have always relied on sports broadcasts to reach large audiences, and in the streaming era even more advertisers rely on sports broadcasts. While traditional dramas and comedies are increasingly being watched at times of consumers’ own choosing, sports remains one of the few programming formats that attracts a wide audience at once. This means sponsors can instantly reach more potential customers.
In recent months, top sporting events, including the Super Bowl, have been selling out faster and faster than ever before. NBCUniversal has sold off most of its commercial inventory related to next month’s Super Bowl LX telecast several months ahead of schedule.
The increased demand for sports has increased the price of any game or game. “That means there’s a growing recognition that it’s more expensive to make mistakes,” Brich said. “You can no longer just throw grass into an arena and expect it to fly in the right direction,” he says. “You have to get the data and make good decisions as part of that.”
