Nasdaq sponsors Sky Sports’ NFL coverage
US stockmarket Nasdaq is to sponsor the Sky Sports television coverage of the National Football League.
The deal, put together by Mediapolis’ sponsorship department, is part of Nasdaq’s 8m marketing offensive in the UK. Earlier this year, the exchange advertised for six weeks on TV in this country, buying around sports and news programmes.
Nasdaq vice-president international marketing Ellen Taverner says: “We wanted to get at the audience of managers, executives and professionals – people with the type of disposable income which allows them to purchase international shares.”
The deal covers the NFL’s four-month season – which includes the Superbowl – on TV only. Mediapolis head of sponsorship Guy Martin says: “The beauty of sponsoring this sport is that the game lasts three hours with 16 ad breaks.”
Nasdaq, with a market capitalisation of $1.5trn (1trn), is one of the major equity markets in the US. About 40 per cent of the companies listed on Nasdaq are technology companies, and included Microsoft and Intel. Nasdaq claims to be the first stock exchange to advertise in Europe.
A second burst of TV advertising is planned for the autumn. The ads are taken from Nasdaq’s US agency Messner Vetere Berger McNamee Schmetterer/EURO RSCG.
