This season, the Los Angeles Rams are running commercials at Sofi Stadium, where they play their home games, utilising Snapchat’s augmented reality technology.
The Infinity Screen at SoFi Stadium will turn the pitch into the Pacific Ocean for one minute during home Rams games in 2023 for a Princess Cruise advertisement with a raffle for a free cruise. It’s unclear how many people participated in the giveaway or what the terms of the money arrangement were.
According to Sarah Schuler, vice president of game presentation for the LA Rams, the team sought to employ Snapchat’s augmented reality technology to attract interest from sponsors in a variety of markets. The team’s executives want to finalise partnerships with the SoFi Stadium that might incorporate more Snapchat features, such as lenses, during home games. Snap Inc. recently shut down its AR division, but the business intends to keep funding AR for consumers and advertising.
Schuler said that the objective is to provide a new kind of mixed-reality perspective on the events occurring at the venue. He added that this is about engaging with the audience members who are sitting in the stands.
In addition to the AR initiative, the LA Rams are making significant investments in generative AI by working with Demand Sports, an AI-based platform, to help them negotiate new advertising contracts, much like the platform does for other clubs in the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL.
The Los Angeles Rams and Snapchat have been working together since 2020, when the Rams became the first NFL club to employ a Snapchat AR experience to let fans virtually wear the team’s freshly released jersey. And an AR snowball battle took place at Sofi Stadium during the Denver Broncos game on December 25 of the previous year.
According to Anmol Malhotra, head of sports partnerships at Snap Inc., Snap intended to utilise the time during NFL games, such as timeouts, intermissions between quarters, and periods when spectators are sitting waiting for the next play.
With the current generation of stadiums, novel methods of engaging fans came into play. He emphasised that a lot of fans are glued to their seats in general. Because these activations are only available during Rams home games, marketing was limited to a minimum. Instead, the Rams blog and several of our cross-promotional social platforms were used to promote them.
Given that both the LA Rams and Snapchat refused to provide financial details, it is unknown how much of their advertising money is being used for this initiative. According to Vivvix, which includes sponsored social data from Pathmatics, Snapchat spent $7 million, and the LA Rams have so far spent little over $950,000 on advertising this year.
Samantha Zink, CEO and creator of the influencer talent firm Zink Talent, said that although TikTok and other social media applications were quick to catch up and outperform them, Snapchat lagged behind and lost ground.
The expert remarked that Snapchat is most likely to focus on arena capitalisation to begin with. Eventually, brands are going to want to be an essential component of the overall experience for recognition and significance. This AR relationship will expand to huge events, musical promotions, and any location that draws significant audiences and media.
