Bayer 04 Leverkusen has become the first Bundesliga club to receive stadium-specific approval from the German Football League (DFL) to use the so-called “Parallel Ads” technology in the 2023/24 season.
Innovation in Leverkusen: Bayer 04 will in future offer partners targeted advertising in foreign markets during home games. IMAGO/RHR photo
The “Parallel Ads” technology from the provider TGI Sport enables the Bundesliga league leaders to show different advertising partners in national and international TV signals on the BayArena’s LED boards. “On the one hand, these can be partners who want to advertise in these target markets. On the other hand, the system can also be used to advertise any international club activities,” says Markus Breglec, Chief Marketing & Innovation Officer at Bayer 04.
Already the first international partners
TGI Sport works with the frame frequencies of TV production. In this alternative product to software-based virtual advertising, the TV cameras record different images of the LED strips at defined intervals.
While stadium visitors and spectators on the TV screen in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) do not notice any change, the image of the LED boards can be adjusted for international viewers using the technology in the international broadcast signal. In addition to the existing gang feed for the DACH region, an international feed with parallel advertising will also be produced in the future. Bayer 04 has reportedly already been able to win its first partners to display advertising messages in international target markets.
Bayer 04 had already equipped the BayArena’s LED boards when they purchased them in 2019 so that the “Parallel Ads” technology can be used in the future. According to the Bundesliga club, the advantage of the system is that it “enables a very high quality of advertising” because the adapted image is not placed virtually over the original, but is played directly over the LED boards.
From Serie A to the Spanish Association
TGI Sport is not unknown on the international playing field. For example, the company, which belongs to the New York investment firm Bruin Capital, recently concluded a contract with the Spanish football association RFEF. In 2022, TGI Sport took over the Interregional Sports Group (ISG). The British provider of virtual advertising works with Serie A, among others, in football. The contract between ISG and the Italian league runs for five years and applies to all 380 games per season.