Texas football fans wait in line overnight to pay three-figure sums for tickets to top-ranked Southlake Carroll’s home games. That's Carroll High School, you should know, and more evidence of how seriously Texans take their high school football.

Though so many sports are seeing declines in attendance, high school and college football, in Texas and elsewhere, seem to become more popular with each new season.

This season fans in the stands of high school and college games will be exposed to a new kind of stadium advertising: signage on the portable cooling units that are set up on the sidelines to provide relief to team members between plays. Southlake is one of the first locations to buy into the program.

To find out how to get your client’s message in front of hardcore football fans, read on.

This is one in a Media Life series on buying the new out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.

Fast Facts

What
Ads placed on signage on cooling units at outdoor sporting events and elsewhere.

Who
CoolXposure, headquartered in Dallas.

How it works
Ads are placed on cooling units used in outdoor venues like sports stadiums, restaurant patios, outdoor concerts and trade shows.

High school, college and professional sports teams use the units to cool team members on the sidelines.

“It’s in the middle of the action, where everybody is looking,” says co-owner Sherri Glazier.

CoolXposure calls the program CoolScreen. The signage is patent pending.

“High schools might have four units while colleges have six or eight. I’ve seen as many as 12,” says co-owner Jack Richards.

But the signage is not just for sports fans, Richards says. It can work wherever people gather outdoors and need to be kept cool. “Say a large national corporation has several events in outdoor tents over a weekend or there are a series of concerts in an outdoor venue.”

Creative usually includes a company logo, and Richards advises keeping the message simple.

Signs measure 60 inches by 60 inches and 40-1/2 inches wide by 50-1/2 inches.

Advertisers can buy signage for a game or event, a season or several seasons, and the signage is used for both branding and promotions.

Regional and local advertisers use the high school venues while national brands typically buy signage at college stadiums.

Advertising messages can be changed weekly.

Other elements, like sampling or exhibiting a product at a game or event, can be added to the campaign. “Say a dealership sponsored a university. They might want to display a car at the game,” Richards says.

Existing sponsorship and product exclusivity agreements with sports teams and stadiums take precedence over new advertisers.

Markets
Currently the signage is available in Texas high schools, including Southlake, and in colleges including Texas Tech, University of South Carolina and University of Miami.

How it is measured
Gate counts are used to determine the size of live audiences, while the size of television audiences is provided by the networks.

What product categories do well
Banks, real estate, insurance, automotive, retail, sports drinks, sports apparel, restaurants and health and beauty aids are top categories.

Demographics
Demographics vary widely depending on whether it's a high school or college game and where it's being played.

Making the buy
Lead time is four to six weeks. Cost is based on number of units and length of contract.

Who’s already on cooling units
Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers and Under Armour Sports Apparel are two current advertisers.

What they’re saying
“The majority of exposure is on the television side of it. The demo isn’t necessarily going to be the student, though the ancillary exposure in the stadium has intrinsic value. It’s going to be the television audience, and there’s not anything like it in terms of the medium.” –Scott Carmichael, president of Prodigy Sports Marketing of New York.

Web site info
CoolXposure at www.CoolXposure.com