Sporting events, whether local games or global spectacles like the Olympics and World Cup, attract diverse and engaged audiences. Fans flock to stadiums, sports bars, and public viewing areas, creating a wealth of opportunities for advertisers to reach a broad yet nuanced demographic.

In this dynamic world of sports, Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising has emerged as a powerful tool for brands to connect with consumers. The unique ability of OOH to capture attention in public spaces, combined with the heightened emotions of sporting events, gives brands the chance to amplify brand messaging.

The digital transformation of OOH advertising has unlocked new levels of creativity and real-time engagement. DOOH screens offer dynamic content that can be updated to reflect live scores, social media reactions, or even interactive campaigns that invite fans to participate. This real-time adaptability aligns perfectly with the fast-paced nature of sports, allowing brands to be part of the conversation as it happens.

The emotional connection fans have with their favourite teams and athletes can be augmented by OOH and DOOH advertising, as fans form positive associations with brands that are prominently featured during emotional moments.

So what does the industry think? We asked a panel of experts for their opinions on the power of OOH and DOOH when combined with major sporting events.

What the experts say

The potential for data-driven, context-specific DOOH campaigns in sports is vast

Sports enthusiasts want to be on the ball with the very latest scores, news and updates, and programmatic digital out of home (DOOH) is ideally suited to meet this demand. Leveraging an abundance of data, DOOH can create dynamic, tailored content tied to specific sporting events, sharing instant results or goal scorers. Innovation and technology in OOH has allowed for targeted advertising based on predefined or custom audience segmentation, geolocation targeting, contextual targeting and much more.

Imagine having celebrated Team GB’s latest gold medal with personalised messaging including the sport, athlete, and result, or being able to reach a Premier League football team’s home fans at key moments between matches and then retargeting them afterwards, based on audience movement patterns. Moreover, DOOH data can be integrated and measured alongside other media channels, fitting perfectly within a marketer’s omnichannel mix. The potential for data-driven, context-specific DOOH campaigns in sports is vast provided brands embrace these data-driven strategies.

Lee Cutter, VP, Sales, UK, Nordics & MENA, Hivestack by Perion

Advertisers can harness prDOOH to deliver timely, engaging and contextually relevant messaging

Out-of-home (OOH) advertising is great for reaching sports audiences with strategically placed ads near stadiums and sports bars, where fans naturally congregate. Programmatic digital out-of-home (prDOOH) technology enhances this engagement by delivering real-time, dynamic content such as live scores or weather updates, making ads more relevant and impactful, allowing brands to tailor messages based on location and events.

For example, during the 2023 season, the English Cricket Board (ECB) used prDOOH to promote The Hundred by displaying live scores and localised content, engaging cricket fans. Similarly, the Football Association (FA) celebrated the Lionesses with targeted campaigns in players' hometowns. Brands like Gymshark and On Running have also utilised prDOOH for campaigns promoting inclusivity and driving foot traffic using location and Strava data. These examples highlight prDOOH's capability to adapt and deliver timely, engaging and contextually relevant messaging making it a powerful tool for connecting with sports fans in meaningful ways.

Helen Miall, Chief Marketing Officer, VIOOH

The options are infinite for brands willing to dive in and experiment

Although the Summer Olympics have wrapped, the ad industry is abuzz about record-breaking ad spend during the event, a testament to the power of advertising around major sports competitions. Timing broadcast and CTV ads to events like the Olympics and Euro Cup is a smart strategy for brands looking to achieve mass-audience reach and pairing them with OOH can yield even more powerful results, especially given the diverse OOH inventory available to target audiences on the path to and at the venues where they gather to watch these events.

Using audience targeting/indexing, a major liquor brand, for instance, could execute an OOH campaign leading up to an anticipated sporting event across OOH screens located within a specific radius of bars that serve that brand. In another scenario, dayparts, like “game day schedules”, could be used by a sports betting brand to trigger OOH ads leading up to highly anticipated sports matches. Brands could also weave real-time odds into OOH ads to better engage with target audiences in the areas they frequent. The options are infinite for brands willing to dive in and experiment.

 Drew Thachuk, Head of Channel Partnerships, Broadsign

Sport makes individuals more receptive to advertising

Sport is a key passion point that evokes strong emotions, making individuals more receptive to advertising. Out-of-home advertising and sport are a perfect match, with some of the best examples of data-driven OOH creativity being sports-related. Sports fans, who are often out of the home when supporting their side, present a prime audience in a range of environments. Alongside hard-working Classic and super impactful DOOH, a big opportunity lies in the growing blend of Programmatic Buying and Dynamic Creative, enabling ads to update dynamically based on sporting outcomes or to be upweighted quickly if a brand-sponsored team wins - creating an impact greater than the sum of its parts. 

Tommy Gleadell, Client and OOH Lead, the7stars  

PR stunts remain a constant in driving conversation

Traditionally OOH in Sport across APAC has only been used as an amplification tactic for campaigns, however innovations to DOOH are now giving brands and rights holders a Direct to Consumer (DTC) ability that connect fans to in-game footage, social content and custom creative in near real time, therefore creating contextual relevance for fans beyond traditional creative extensions.

EssenceMediacom has started using AI and tech-enabled platforms to introduce an addressable creative capability that allows our clients to target fans through OOH as individuals or within their fandoms instead of a blanket stereotype.

While these tactical improvements have added another player to the field, PR stunts, such as Adidas' wrapping of a Sydney CBD building with Mary Fowler and Cailtin Foord during the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2023, remain a constant in driving conversation.

Dan Collier-Hill, APAC Strategy Lead, Sport & Culture, EssenceMediacom