Football stadium digital signage is a common sight as clubs seek to increase opportunities to generate revenue and enhance the supporter experience. Equipment like digital scoreboards and pitchside LED screens have been used in top tier grounds for several years but they can also be seen in the lower leagues and forward-thinking non-league clubs too, as well as in other major sports, such as rugby and cricket. We’ve pulled together the answers to some of the key questions you’ll be asking if you’re thinking of investing in digital signage in your sports ground or arena. Read on for the Anyplace Media Group guide to digital signage in football stadiums.
Why should I install digital signage at my sports stadium?
Digital signage enhances the advertising opportunities presented by traditional static media and also opens up possibilities for new revenue streams. They enable advertising space to be on constant rotation between different creatives, allowing you to sell to more paying customers and at a higher rate because of the greater impact on viewers of animated content. The flexibility of digital signage in football stadiums also means you can open up elite sports promotional opportunities to businesses with smaller budgets, who can take up basic packages for, say, one match only.
These dynamic media displays can be updated instantly and remotely whenever the need arises. This means advertisers can change their creative as regularly as they like, leading to greater satisfaction among your advertisers and therefore more repeat business from them. Finally, digital signage positions your club as one that’s embracing new technology and has a commercial mindset, which has a positive impact on supporters as well as making potential advertisers more likely to work with you.
What are the benefits of digital pitchside displays?
For those viewing at home on TV or their sports streaming service, pitchside hoardings are the most noticeable form of advertising in a sports ground. Traditionally, these were printed once per season – or less – and carried the same message for the duration.
That’s fine for brand awareness but it’s certainly not as flexible or dynamic as businesses expect from their advertising opportunities today. Digital pitchside displays allow customers to amend content to suit their ongoing campaign without the additional printing costs associated with traditional static media, making their promotional activity more current and more cost effective.
The arrival of digital technology in pitchside hoardings has also massively increased their visibility, as moving, animated content is incredibly eye-catching to those watching at home.
What are the benefits of digital scoreboards?
Digital scoreboards in sports grounds have many of the same benefits as pitchside displays, in terms of flexibility and the ability to update them at the touch of a button. However, rather than being used by advertisers to raise brand awareness and communicate key messages, they tend to be used by sports clubs to display information, show instant replays and to promote sponsors.
Digital scoreboards can carry a lot more information than their static counterparts, showing in turn the current score, details of the scorers, match day attendance and more. They can also be used as part of sponsorship agreements, allowing clubs to sell packages for things like the match day sponsor, match ball sponsor, player of the match sponsor, scoreboard sponsor and so on.
What are the key considerations when looking for a stadium signage provider?
Ultimately, the most important quality is expertise. Every installer is jumping on LED as it’s the next big thing and the fastest growing display offering on the market. This often means that inexperienced companies or those who are not interested in building a long-term reputation in this area are winning tenders, and the result can be unsatisfactory for the end customer.
Mis-specifications and poor installations are common. Customers can end up paying for a product that’s not right for their requirements, either over-paying for a high specification installation they don’t need or, even worse, paying for something that’s just not fit for purpose.
Any sports club wanting to ensure a good outcome should be looking at an established supplier that will consult with you, make recommendations they can explain and help you reduce your ongoing display running costs through good product selection. They should also install it properly and then maintain it throughout its lifecycle.
How much will it cost to install football stadium digital signage?
How much will it cost to install digital signage in my sports stadium?
We can supply and install your new scoreboard for as little as £12,000.*
*Because no two projects are the same, and so many factors will contribute to the final cost of your digital stadium signage. For displays in stadiums, you will need to consider the screen height and length of the screen, the specification of the screen and any safety features required, among other things.
We would also need to discuss options such as service agreements and content creation and management but if you call our team for advice, we can give you more information and answer your questions.
What are the legal considerations, certification needs or requirements of governing bodies?
This depends on where and what the digital signage is for. Different leagues and governing bodies have different requirements, whether it’s non-league football, EFL League One and Two, Premier League, Champions League, internationals and so on. It really does depend on who will be seeing the display and what commercial rules apply to that particular competition or fixture.
Common practice today is that stadium perimeter and mid-tier ribbon displays implement an augmented overlay which allows for different broadcasters to advertise localised content. This works with a broadcast camera VR tracking system and sits outside of the display’s scope. The first ways of achieving this were problematic because of the potential for screen fails and the associated loss of revenue. Augmented overlay negates this issue.
One of the most important considerations, which is often overlooked, is the weight of the digital signage display. Can we even accommodate a screen of this size and weight in the stadium? Is the load-bearing site strong enough? Fortunately, our newer digital scoreboards and LED screens are up to 60% lighter than legacy products, meaning they can be installed in positions which weren’t previously viable.
How long does it take to install digital stadium signage?
Much like cost, this varies from project to project, depending on the scale and complexity of the job. Some installations will take less than a day to prepare the site and fit the display. Others will take weeks to get the location ready because of structural and power considerations, and then days to install a large and complex display.
If you’d like to know more about our football stadium digital signage, take a look at our large format displays and sport and leisure sector pages. Contact our team if you’d like to talk about your ideas and requirements.
