Sponsor (Apr-June 1963)

othei type; (4) Since most dealers are men, the trade impact of sports sponsorship can be significant and (6) II skillfully negotiated, the price ol sports sponsorship can be right, and thus the efficiency for men can be in line." Since the early days of television, the beer sponsor has cottoned to sports. In fact, his attachment to i\ sports has grown greater with the years, evidenced by an examination of local, regional and national schedules. The sports fan is a prime beer customer, Leonard B. Faupel, advertising manager for Rallantine, told sponsor. "He is usually an adult male and the kind of fellow who likes beer," Faupel said. "Baseball is particularly favored because it occurs in the beer-selling season. The messages are frequent because baseball is played every day. Taverns generally have the sports event broadcast and the message gets across at the point of sale." Creates atmosphere Bill Gibbs, an executive in the television department of f. Walter Thompson, pointed out that "the fun and excitement that is inherent in sports shows establishes a most favorable atmosphere in which to advertise a product if you want these elements associated with your product." "This is so in the case of Rheingold and Ford and hence these advertisers partially sponsor the Sports Spectacular and National Football League and the New York Mets," Gibbs said. In some instances, color tv is also a decided asset for the sponsor, as in the case of Zenith which, for the second year, is sponsoring (along with Amana) the World Series of Golf over NBC. L. C. Truesdell, president of Zenith Sales Corp., told sponsor: "As a merchandising vehicle for Zenith, the World Series of Golf provides dealers with a highly effective daytime color demonstration period." Zenith expects the telecasts on 7 and 8 September to attract approximately 10 million viewers during the 90 minutes of airtime. Amana dealers throughout the country also were enthusiastic about World Series of Golf. Typical dealer reaction went this way: "We've had more activity in freezers than in the past five years." To even casual observers, it is evident that sports programing today appeals more and more to both men and women and that the networks, in particular, are doing their utmost to provide more programs of this type. Morgan J. Cramer, president of P. Lorillard Co., told the company's annual meeting in New York recently of "the surging popularity of sports telecasts" for both sexes. Greater emphasis than ever "Lorillard, of course, is no stranger to sports programs," Cramer declared. "In the past we sponsored the Olympic Games, major league baseball, many regional events, but we are presently placing greater emphasis than ever on such programing; right now for Old Gold Spin Filters and soon for Kent and Newport." All told, Lorillard, as Cramer expressed it, is "riding the crest of three major moves in tv," namely big name performers, sports and color tv. On the local level, sports tv never had it any better, according to the experts. WPIX, N.Y., for example, currently programs about eight percent of its airtime to sports, reportedly more than any other station in the country, according to L. J. Pope, vice president of operations. "Technology has played an important role through refinements in equipment, especially video tape, the greater accessibility of Telco lines and the speed of jet planes to move people and tapes around the globe," Pope told sponsor. "Many sports events, previously available only to individual areas or confined to small audiences, can now be made available to large city tv audiences. We've also stimulated viewers to participate, themselves, in sports they've never before tried. Look at bowling and golf. Alleys and links are crowded. We also feel we've helped create record attendance in such sports as hockey, pro basketball, track, baseball, football and professional soccer. Sports sponsors not only reach the particular segment of the public who are major consumers of their products, but also build special good will for themselves through the genuine ap preciation viewers have for those who make their favorite sports telecasts possible." Although serious students of sports do not regard wrestling with too much significance, it must, perforce, be mentioned in the sports category and many a station continues to derive considerable revenue from the transmission of such exhibitions." Typical is WNEWTV, N.Y., which presently carries two nights of wrestling and in the past carried as many as three evenings, of this form of "hijinks." Not so long ago, the station dropped one night of wrestling to make way for the Festival of Performing Arts. The result was a flood of phone calls and letters, primarily from the feminine contingent, bitterly protesting the elimination of wrestling. Some stations also transmit what they describe as In Studio Wrestling. One such station is WIICTV, Pittsburgh. Every Saturday the main studio of the station rings with hoots and howls of more than 400 members of the ringside audience cheering on their favorite Rasslin' heroes. The sponsor is the American Heating Company whose business has shown positive increases since the show first went on the air. Many types of sports The search for new sports attractions to gratify the hearty appetites of American tv viewers has indeed led producers into a strange assortment of arenas, from the World's Barrel Jumping Contest at Grossinger's in the heavy sourcreamed Catskills to Thai boxing (look, ma, elbows and knees) in Bangkok, from Suma wrestling to hydroplane racing. Nor have broadcasters overlooked any of the less strenuous indoor sports as, for example, pocket pool. A successful instance is " '8' Ball'' with women participants on KMTV, Omaha, a Saturday evening attraction performed in color and full of happy participating sponsors. In short, sports programing, according to all evidence at hand, appears to be a resounding buy for sponsors, be they national, regional or local. And, best of all, sports programing is no longer only a magnet lor men. Women, too, are heeding the commercials. ^ 68 SPONSOR/6 may 1963