The MLB All-Star Game. March Madness. The Triple Crown. Televised tentpole events—and sporting events in particular—offer incredible opportunities for marketers to reach highly engaged and attentive audiences. But which TV tentpole events are worth sponsoring? Let’s look at the data, using the 2018 Triple Crown as an example.
Many Americans bet on this year’s Triple Crown horse races, but few of them won as big as NBC. By capturing the 13th ever Triple Crown, the winning horse Justify lifted attention scores, particularly The Belmont Stakes.
Here are the results from 2018:
Compare this year’s Triple Crown Attention Index (AI)* to that of the 2017 races, and you’ll see a significant difference:
When it comes to sports and TV viewer attention, the situation is everything. In 2017, the Belmont Stakes was a distant third among the three races in attention, owing to the fact that none of the competing horses were eligible to win the Triple Crown. This year, however, Justify’s victory in the first two events lifted attention for the historic final race. With higher stakes comes higher attention.
Additionally, tentpole events can create attention halo effects. For example, during the MLB All-Star Break, our data showed that Lincoln (a pregame sponsor of the All-Star Game) saw a 43% increase in attention to their ads during the All-Star Game, compared to the same ads that ran during regular season games.
So if you’re determining which TV special events to sponsor, choose situations with potential for high attention, like a Triple Crown winner and/or an event with mass sports appeal like the All-Star Game.
See how attention data can better inform your buying, planning, and creative measurement. Download our Q2 2018 Eyes-on-Screen TV Attention™ Report!
*We use our Attention Index, or AI, to measure how effectively a specific program keeps a viewer’s eyes on the TV screen while the viewer is in the room with the TV on.