18 www.stadiaworld.com DIGITAL DISPLAYS ADVERTISING BOARDS: NEW DIMENSIONS IN GERMAN FOOTBALL As sport marketing has become professionalised, what started with wooden planks from the carpentry workshop has developed into a world of digital screens: an overview of virtual stadium advertising in German football. Nowadays there is hardly any area in stadiums and arenas that stage league games in professional sport which has not been marketed. In fact static and scrolling advertising boards have long since developed into digital and virtual stadium advertising. The stadiums in the top two German football leagues are also at saturation point with regard to marketing. And in the commercial development of as yet unused areas, the approach is particularly creative. This trend has once more really picked up speed during the current decade. LED boards, which were still seen as something special at the beginning of this decade, have now become a permanent fixture, at least in the TV-relevant front row. In the Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga (1st and 2nd divisions), the basic configuration is practically the same in almost all stadiums: the U-shaped area defined as “back straight and behind the goal” directly adjoining the pitch in the front row differs little from stadium to stadium – also due to playing fields increasingly having to conform to standards. Around 240 linear metres per pitch can be placed directly along the sideline. The second and third rows, on the other hand, can differ more, according to local conditions. High walls next to the pitch such as those in Hamburg or Leipzig provide obvious potential. However, this effect can also be achieved using “power packs” (like in Leverkusen and Mainz), in that the first and second rows can be staggered in such a way that they appear as one large complete display in the picture relayed by the TV cameras. The “cam carpets” laid out on the 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 8,112.12 2,836 4,268.76 3,843.36 730.76 3,566.76 7,104.76 4,574.12 11,678.88 14,000 Total 1.Bundesliga 2.Bundesliga LED DISPLAYS: 1. AND 2.BUNDESLIGA (GERMANY) TV on 1st row other Source: STADIAWORLD
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