• by Ashley Hutchings , 6 hours ago

Kelly Scott Madison’s VP, Head of Digital & Partnerships, writes, “Live sports is the last appointment television. Mid-market brands no longer need massive national budgets to show up around culture’s biggest events.”

Live sports is the last appointment television. This year’s Spain vs. Argentina World Cup final drew nearly 63 million viewers across broadcast and streaming. By 2027, 44% of U.S. live sports viewers will watch via streaming, up from just 11% in 2018.

As rights and inventory fragment across more platforms, it’s opening new opportunities for advertisers. What was once dominated by expensive linear units bought far in advance is now a flexible, digital-first category. Mid-market brands can now compete in a category that had been closed to anyone without a national TV budget.

Three Shifts Changing the Playing Field

Creative unit growth. L-bars and squeeze-backs are now being purchased programmatically. These units integrate advertising into the viewing experience by shrinking or shifting the main video content to make room for an ad or branded message.

Channel spill. The game no longer lives on one screen. Streaming homepages, social, sports podcasts, digital out-of-home, and search can all extend a brand’s presence before, during, and after the game.

Fragmented inventory. Prime Video, Peacock, Netflix, and YouTube now carry rights that once belonged primarily to networks. Audiences can be bought programmatically, giving advertisers more flexibility to pay for the reach they need and activate in days rather than months.

The New Price of Admission

A Midwest convenience retailer wanted to own college football Saturdays, when its biggest weekly promotion ran. Instead of buying one placement, we built a surround plan: in-game CTV on ESPN, enhanced L-bars, streaming homepage takeovers timed to game-day mornings, and pre- and mid-roll across college football podcasts. The brand showed up before kickoff, during the game, and throughout the surrounding sports conversation for a fraction of a national TV commitment.

A regional bank faced a different challenge. Its deposit-rich 50+ audience still watches linear TV, while its growth audience has moved to streaming. We treated live sports as a hybrid, cross-screen buy and layered in dynamic creative that localized messaging to the nearest branch. Total video reach grew more than 30% without increasing the budget.

There is also a measurement advantage. Because these buys live on digital platforms, marketers can track reach, frequency, site traffic, store visits, and promo redemption—and shift investment between units, dayparts, and platforms while a campaign is still running.

An Expanded Playbook

This approach can extend to major cultural tentpoles – from award shows and season premieres – to the Super Bowl itself. Brands can take over the home screen of an app like DIRECTV or Roku that morning, run adjacent audio through a podcast like The Bill Simmons Podcast, or activate around the local team with creative that can swap in real time.

The Winning Formula

Mid-market brands no longer need massive national budgets to show up around culture’s biggest events. They need a smart map of the moments around the moment and the ability to move quickly.

As new inventory becomes more accessible and the price of admission falls, live sports represent a growing opportunity for these businesses to drive awareness, engagement, and revenue.

If you’re interested in submitting content for future editions, please reach out to our Managing Editor, Barbie Romero at Barbie@MediaPost.com.