RTE Television will show advertising during World Cup matches for the first time during this summer’s tournament in Brazil.
The ads will be carried during ‘water ‘ breaks being introduced during matches where the temperature is considered ‘dangerous’.
This is likely to cover as few as seven of the 64 games with the most high profile matches being Germany against Portugal, Italy against Uruguay and one second round match. Each game will be determined for the suitability of the breaks on a case by case basis.
The breaks will come after 30 minutes play in each half and will last for between two and four minutes. This would give time for broadcasters to play one or two 30 second advertisements.
The spots are likely to be highly sought after as they will be during the live coverage of matches which traditionally are watched as they happen and not ‘time shifted’ as with much of other TV programming since the advent of the ability to do so via programmes such as Sky+.
It is likely that whichever companies choose to take up these premium spots will tie their campaign into a social media element to take advantage of second screening fans who will be using the opportunity themselves to catch up on twitter and to a lesser extent Facebook during the breaks.
The breaks will also be a boost for Coca Cola as official world cup sponsors and whose different water and energy drink brands will be on display.
And by extending game times through the breaks, there will also be some additional benefit for the other Official sponsors including Ireland’s own Moy Park who will be present on pitch side advertising as part of an official package bought by parent group Marfrig.
RTE Sport is believed to have secured a major sponsors for TV and digital coverage of the tournament which gets under way 50 days from today.
Another innovation is thought to be the inclusion of a sponsor logo under the match clock on screen during each of the 64 games to be broadcast either on RTE2 or via online.
And in case you have yet to get into the mood for the biggest sporting occasion of the year, here’s a promo video which will get your heart moving to a samba beat…
