Madison Avenue Takes Deeper Swing at Fox’s Major League Events

variety.com:

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorSome of the nation’s big-spending advertisers are taking a new swing at one of its oldest sports.When Fox telecasts Major League Baseball’s 2022 All-Star Game from Los Angeles Tuesday night, viewers are likely to notice big-league pitches from 25 marketers that have never purchased spots in the event, including Samsung, Adobe, Banc of America, Intel, Qatar Airways and Airbnb.

They will join a slew of commercials from companies like Mastercard, Geico, General Motors, T-Mobile, Apple and Google that are already regular league sponsors.“We are up 30% higher on a revenue basis in the All-Star Game than we have been in any previous game,” says Mark Evans, executive vice president of sales for Fox Sports, in an interview.

Madison Avenue has long been enamored of sports, so it’s little wonder that advertisers might want to get on the field for one of the season’s bigger events.

As more traditional TV viewers move to streaming venues, however, the TV networks and their advertisers are relying more heavily on marquee live events like the All-Star Game, other special match-ups, and post-season play to reach the viewers they might once have connected with during regular TV primetime.“You can only deliver so much audience in tiny dribs and drabs” who come through targeting viewer niches via digital, says Evans. “You need to be able to get to the masses,” he adds.