It felt like the day would never come, but we’re here sooner than expected. After putting in the legwork to ensure the safety of athletes, staff and all involved, sports leagues are making plans to return to regular play. (Without fans being physically present, for now). At the same time, ad spending is trending upwards. This leaves publishers in a good position.
At the beginning of the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis, many advertisers responded to uncertainty in the market by pausing their spending. And with so many unknowns, it was impossible to predict when spending would start to recover.
But it seems like the worst may have already passed. Digiday recently reported that, since bottoming out in April, publishers have seen video and display ad dollars rebound across Facebook, Snapchat and Youtube. According to MediaPost, recent polling suggests that ad spending will continue to ramp up from June through October.
Since advertisers have paused a large portion of ad spending due to no live sports content, publishers will soon see an influx of ad dollars as those leagues return to regular play.
“Advertisers have been taking their time to figure out next steps,” says Philippe Guay, SendtoNews CRO. “Even though there are millions of dollars in paused sports ad spending right now, we are starting to see advertisers rebook their campaign flight dates.”
NASCAR has been going strong for weeks, and the PGA Tour officially restarted in June with the Charles Schwab Challenge, which was the tournament’s most-watched final round in 16 years. The NBA, and the NHL recently announced their plans for a return, with the MLS due back on July 8 and the NBA tentatively scheduled to restart July 30. MLB will likely start back up on July 23rd or 24th.
Importantly, consumers are hungry for feel-good sports content after a long hiatus. This will translate into record viewership numbers, giving advertisers the perfect chance to connect with more engaged consumers than ever.
How Can I Take Advantage of the Return of Sports?
Publishers can make the best of these positive trends by making sure to maximize their sports video content and sports coverage generally. Time and time again, relevant digital video has proven to be the most effective means of keeping users engaged and onsite for as long as possible. With major league sports seasons converging in August, SendtoNews will have up-to-date sports commentary and highlights from NFL, NBA, PGA, MLB, NHL, NASCAR and more.
At no cost, publishers can access SendtoNews’s extensive library of over 1 million monetizable videos from hundreds of premium content providers. We add up to 5000 new videos every day, a number we expect to increase even more with the return of new sports content.
Even in uncertain times, SendtoNews provides a reliable source of monetization. By partnering with SendtoNews to supply their readers with premium, engaging and revenue generating video content, publishers have seen an over 1000% increase in revenue from SendtoNews in certain cases, while at the same time enhancing workflow and cost savings.
Sports are coming back and advertisers will soon unleash millions of dollars in paused ad spending. SendtoNews can help publishers take full advantage of a golden opportunity.
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