The Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., is celebrating its tenth anniversary with a new, state of the art, first-of-its-kind, high-definition LED scoreboard and a slew of community events. Advertisers can plug into the signage as well as get involved sponsoring elements of the celebration.

To find out how to get your client’s message out in front of sports audiences, in person and on TV, 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 displayed on an indoor high-definition LED scoreboard.

Who
Verizon Center, in Washington, D.C., is managed by Washington Sports & Entertainment.

How it works
Advertisers can display their messages on the industry’s first indoor high-definition LED scoreboard.

“What’s superior about our installation is clarity,” says project manager John Stranix. “You can have a more intricate ad production because fine details will show up. On this you can’t even discern the dots, so the quality of graphics is higher.”

The signage is used for both branding and promotions. The primary space is a screen measuring 14 feet in height by 25 feet in width. Also available are 10 signs that are 5 feet high and 25 feet wide.

Video, animation and stills can be run. TV ads can’t be used unless they’re high-definition, Stranix says.

The length of messages appearing on the main LED sign can vary from two to four minutes, and they will be seen four to eight times during an event. 

The LED sign is always the centerpiece of a package, never a stand-alone, says senior vice president Rick Moreland. Other elements can include promotions and giveaways, branding dioramas and partnerships with local retailers for an incentive like a free ticket to a game or event when customers buy a product.

With concerts, ad messages start running an hour to an hour and a half prior to the event. For sporting events they run before, during and after the game.

National, regional and local advertisers use the signage.

Other events include the World Figure Skating Championships, concerts by the likes of U2, Barbra Streisand and Madonna, appearances by figures like the Dali Lama, and Mike Tyson’s last professional boxing match.

There are also opportunities for advertisers to partner with the Verizon Center to celebrate its tenth anniversary.

“It can be a community event or a sweepstakes, something online or a radio promotion,” says chief marketing officer Jane Taylor

Numbers
There are some 220 events and concerts in any one year.

The LED boards and indoor fascia display total over 1,000 feet of linear signage in the upper level of the arena. The lower level has 400 feet of full- motion signage. Four additional LED displays light the top corners of the arena bowl with statistics, graphics and ads.

How it is measured
Total impressions are factored from ticket sales and TV ratings when the events are televised.

Annual attendance for the building is 2.4 million.

What product categories do well
Community initiatives or non-profits top the list, along with electronics, telecommunications, beverages, finance, automobile and travel.

Local retailers and restaurants also do well.

Demographics
Concert audiences vary by genre, from country and classical to pop, rock, rap and Latino.

Sports audiences skew 61 percent male.

Making the buy
Lead time is one week after a contract is signed.

Advertisers typically buy a year, with contracts running Sept. 1 through the following August. There is still inventory available for the current season.

Who’s already on at the Verizon Center
Coco Cola, Chevy Chase Bank, Southwest Airlines, Amtrak, AOL and Toyota are current advertisers.

What they’re saying
“There’s the opportunity for sponsors to not only take the tenth anniversary message to Verizon Center but to take it into the community. December is the actual anniversary month, and we’re going to celebrate with fans at the Dec. 1 Washington Wizards game against Toronto. We’re also open to ideas to extend that reach as far as we can.” –Jane Taylor, chief marketing officer for Washington Sports & Entertainment

Web site info
Verizon Center at www.verizoncenter.com