Staying in the game this holiday
At this year’s TV upfront, Disney saw single-digit increases in sports volume and pricing, and the company is continuing that momentum with strong seasons of college football and Monday Night Football, according to Deidra Maddock, vp of Sports brand solutions.
“We’re still wrapping up Monday Night Football, but we’re just seeing high watermark after high watermark. Even just this past weekend, we saw another one with the Pac-12 Football Championship Game,” Maddock said. “So we’re excited about that the next couple of weeks. It’s going to be busy, but it’s going to be worth it.”
This year’s sports slate has already brought in 250 advertisers spanning nearly 30 categories now through the New Year, collaborating with Disney on unique activations and integrations.
“We’re seeing interest from categories from auto, financial, CPG, insurance—not just the retail categories,” Maddock said. “That speaks to the power of the positioning and the sponsorship that they’re getting and knowing that the viewing that’s happening around the holidays is memorable.”
This year, Disney is bringing fans 40 college football bowl games, including the College Football Playoff National Championship, along with 40 different sponsors.
Among the activations, Ally Bank is collaborating with Disney CreativeWorks to craft custom DirectConnect executions, integrating the brand into multiple bowl games; Capital One is extending its partnership with Capital One Bowl Mania with integrations in 33 bowl game broadcasts and a CFP Official Sponsorship; and Progressive Insurance returns with the Progressive Bowl Challenge Cup, featuring on-site trophy integrations and standing updates.
Meanwhile, Monday Night Football’s Christmas Day matchup is bringing in 14 sponsors for in-game integrations and features, including Allstate; Burger King; ESPN Bet; Draft Kings Sportsbook; Goodyear; Jersey Mike’s; Kroger; Mercedes-Benz USA; Panera; Progressive; Taco Bell; Target; United Airlines and Verizon.
Plus, Christmas Day features five live NBA games across Disney platforms, with NBA 2K24 joining as a halftime sponsor on ABC, ESPN Bet sponsoring a “First Half Stats” integration and a “Pick and Roll” NBA Countdown feature in all shows throughout the day and Starry running a “3 Point Performers” feature in all the games.
Returning sponsors include Google Pixel showcasing its “Built Different” custom transition element in both ABC games, Papa Johns coming back to sponsor NBA Countdown on ABC; State Farm acting as the presenting sponsor for the Christmas Day coverage on both ESPN and ABC (while also sponsoring Hoop Streams, one of ESPN’s NBA Digital shows, and debuting new State Farm basketball commercials); Taco Bell sponsoring “Starting Lineups” in each game; and Toyota returning as the ESPN Halftime sponsor.
