Since the Mets entered Major League Baseball in 1962, the Mets and Yankees have earned a spot in the post-season, in the same year, only four times. Both teams are off to great starts and enjoying significant leads in their respective divisions this season, and prospects are looking good for a fifth time this year. As of this writing, the Yanks have the best record in baseball: 56-20 -- 13 games ahead in first place. And the Mets have the second-best record, sitting at 47-29 -- three-and-a-half games ahead in the standings.
The winning teams' games are starting to garner increased audiences on ESPN and the two regional sports networks (RSNs) that carry them. With almost half of the season in the books, the Mets audience in the 25-54 demo, on combined SNY/ESPN, is up 47% from last year's results, season to date. And the Yankees, which are always strong, are up 8% in the same demo, according to Nielsen.
More impressively, ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball in the New York market is up an average 42% (132,000 in 2022 vs 93,000 in 2021 season to date) males 25-54 for games that include either the Mets or Yankees.
This marks a prime opportunity for advertisers attracted to the power of appointment television. Live sports programming is one of the only types of content that still falls into that appointment category, given the on-demand nature of most TV shows these days. Little wonder Nielsen reports that 95 of top of 100 television audiences in 2021 were for live sports events.
Despite the extremely attractive nature of live sports, and the swelling audiences, there's a challenge for marketers. Historically, by the time brands and their agencies get their shorts on and grab their surf boards, the live-sports wave is cresting.
What is a savvy marketer to do? Don't chase waves when demand is high and supply is low. Plan and rely on a seller that can offer actionable data, a variety of outlets and attractive contingency plans in case the teams' fortunes disappoint their loyal following.
"With about one third of the season complete, and confidence for the Yankees and Mets post-season prospects high, the time is ripe to lock in third-quarter buys now," said Michael Minardi, Vice President of Regional Sales for New York Interconnect (NYI). "Planning for baseball's stretch run is a smart move for agencies," he added.
There are some key advantages for doing so:
- As the season continues inventory will dwindle, and there will be no advance/volume deals available later on.
- Through a seller like New York Interconnect, set-top-box data provides viewing behavior information that allows advertisers to find their audience whenever they are watching, which is ideal for reaching a brand's target audience. (This data also gives NYI the ability to find sports viewers when they watch content other than sports such as news or entertainment programming.)
- Well-planned buys allow reach regardless of the device. New York Interconnect's Audience One platform also reaches viewers wherever they are watching and can coordinate messages through mobile streams, digital distributors and traditional cable pay packages.
"New York Interconnect has the product and tools to plan out against single-source networks like YES, SNY and the nationals like ESPN and TNT," Minardi explained. "If the teams continue to stay this hot, the inventory will be at high demand."
He noted that New York Interconnect is one of the few media sellers in the New York market that offers advertisers access to both Yankees and Mets live games and sports talk on three RSNs. It also tracks the live-game audience as it migrates to news outlets such as NY1 and News12. The Subway Series games are an added attraction, televised on both YES and SNY, July 26-27 (at Citi Field) and August 22-23 (at Yankees Stadium).
Audience fragmentation and multiple devices are not a new challenge to NYI. It doesn't matter if viewers are subscribers to cable packages, or if they're accessing the games with streaming options. NYI's Audience One platform will measure both teams through the regular season, the Subway Series, the playoffs and this year, maybe the World Series.
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The opinions expressed here are the author's views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage.com/MyersBizNet.