Phones4U to sponsor Match Day Media half-time shows

Phones4U has signed an exclusive sponsorship deal with in-stadium TV company Match Day Media (MDM). The mobile phone retailer will sponsor MDM’s half-time show 45 To Go for the 2006-7 football season.

MDM, which was launched four years ago (MW August 22, 2002), has plasma screens in 13 football stadiums around the UK. It broadcasts live action, news, high- lights and advertising, and claims to reach 1.2 million football fans every month.

Phones4U marketing director Jim Slater says: “Football is a passion for many of our core target market, and MDM’s network will enable us to engage with real football fans in their natural habitat.”

Last year, MDM launched a music channel that allows the music industry to target football fans (MW November 10, 2005). In a joint venture with TuneTribe.com, the broadcaster airs “micro” music shows on its network.

The shows run in three intervals during a match day: 50 minutes before kick-off, 20 minutes before and during half-time. They feature band videos, with a voiceover by Radio 1 DJ Sara Cox.

Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers and West Ham United signed up for MDM’s screens when the company launched, and in 2004 Manchester United agreed a five-year deal to install 190 screens at Old Trafford.