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Virtual ads hit home run
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June 29, 1998: 12:52 p.m. ET
Fans don't mind electronic billboards on television sports broadcasts
From correspondent Allan Dodds Frank
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - For baseball fans, the newest wrinkle in sports broadcasting is an advertising pitch - with every pitch.
A company called Princeton Video joined forces with ESPN and the New York Mets to give viewers of Sunday's Yankees-Mets game the first nationally broadcast advertising images projected electronically on the backstop behind home plate.
Lawrence Epstein, chief financial officer of Princeton Video Image, explained how the virtual billboards are different from existing forms of advertising.
"What this technology allows an advertiser to do is, number one, they can put a message where billboards do not exist in a stadium; they can put in messages that are animated, that convey more information than a fixed billboard; and they can also target it by market," said Epstein.
The electronic signs supplant the behind-the-plate signage that now rotates every half-inning during local broadcasts. Three major league teams are using the technology for all local games and six National Football League franchises will test it during their preseason local broadcasts.
Scott Grieper, director of research at Barington Capital, said virtual billboards make a greater impact on viewers at home because many tend to channel surf between innings. (120KB WAV or 120 KB AIFF)
So far, the fans don't seem to mind.
"As long as it doesn't interfere during the inning, it's OK with me," said Cliff Stapels, a Yankees fan.
Mike Sedransk, a Mets fan, agreed. "If it doesn't take away from the game, then it's perfectly all right," he said.
With fan acceptance apparently not an issue, virtual billboards may soon appear on all sorts of sports broadcasts.
"Teams that have installed it already seem to be pleased with the results. Just like anything else, it may take a while to catch on," said Sean Brenner, editor of Team Marketing Report.
And with advertisers spending more than $6 billion a year on sports, couch potatoes could soon see signage behind the plate, between the goal posts, and on the pavement as runners, bicyclists or race cars roll by.
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