The Guinness Six Nations got off to a flying start for Ireland on Saturday and another big winner in comparative terms was the Aviva Stadium.
Being able to switch from watching the Ireland game to Scotland against England at Murrayfield revealed a few notable differences in terms of how sponsors might expect to see their brand promoted in the ground.
The Aviva Stadium’s state-of-the-art LED boards shone brightly throughout the game allowing all of the IRFU’s partners, and Guinness as the tournament backers to see their messages crystal clear.
Vodafone, Aviva, Aer Lingus, Energia, Aldi, PwC, Dove and Eden Park all stood out in particular.
Having the boards at two levels, pitchside and at the middle tier creates a really dynamic look when you are in the stadium and when watching on TV.
That will have been important for Guinness who were promoting the 0.0 brand on the LED’s and on the padding around the goalposts but who were not permitted via the new legislation introduced in January to have the brand painted onto the middle of the pitch.
TikTok was the only brand who did that in Dublin, taking advantage of their new partnership with the tournament to have the logo in each of the try areas.
Murrayfield is an older stadium and has a much less impressive advertising offer. There is one row of LED’s pitchside in front of the TV cameras but the higher level is of a more traditional fixed element that does not pop in the same way.
Guinness was in the middle of the pitch, as it will be at other stadia bar in Ireland and France.
In Paris, on Sunday they were able to adorn the centre of the pitch with the Six nations logo and Greatness in a Guinness style typeface but that has specifically been excluded in the Irish legislation.
It’s always about more than the action on the pitch these days, especially if you are looking through a sponsorship lens.
