If you’ve ever been to the Yum! Center, you know the bombardment of advertising messages is ever-present. Somebody at the Louisville Arena sure has a way of convincing sponsors to ante up, even those you wouldn’t expect to spend money on arena signage. Jim Host, head of the arena authority, is one heck of a salesman.
Among the six new sponsors announced this morning is WHAS-TV, which would seem to already have plenty of visibility as the official station for U of L broadcasts. T’he station is sure taking advantage of that, if you’ve noticed the barrage of news promos in those recent basketball broadcasts. The release didn’t indicate what WHAS is paying for signs in the arena, but it does say that the cumulative total for the six new sponsors is $800K.
Clear Channel, owner of eight local radio stations, jumped on board as well.
Both media operations are getting “inventory in the inner bowl as well as the IPTV and the exterior marquee. NOTE: IPTV is the in-house digital display monitor system, which seem to exist so that commercials and images can be sold to sponsors.
“Partnering with the (KFC) Yum! Center makes perfect sense as WHAS is the official UofL station,” is the canned quote from WHAS-TV GM Mark Pimentel.
OK. I’m skeptical. Why would the media groups willingly spend money for signage in the arena when they’re already involved in a big way with everything going on down there?
Mercantile Lofts, Equipment Depot, Ken Towery Tires and a business called G&K Services are the other new sponsors.
