What Is The Partner Facility Program About?

A key to the success of Action Sports Advertising’s program is that it is in fact an informal partnership. Accordingly, partner facilities are paid a full fifty percent (50%) of the gross profits realized from advertisements placed by Action Sports Advertising.

The structure of this partnership allows both Action Sports Advertising and the partner facilities to work together to their mutual benefit. Facility administrators can be as involved or removed from the partnership as they desire. Installations may be performed by Action Sports Advertising’s trained installers or by the facilities themselves. Most importantly, facility administrators are empowered with a say regarding what happens within their facilities.

Action Sports Advertising is committed to working with User Groups to accommodate tournaments and special events. Special arrangements have been made to provide signage and sponsorship opportunities for User Groups of Action Sports Advertising’s partner facilities.

Most importantly, as a partnership, it is as much in Action Sports Advertising’s best interests to see that the program is successful as it is in the partner facility’s best interests. If the partner facility is not earning revenue, neither is Action Sports Advertising. This partnership and the revenue sharing it entails provides the opportunity for both parties to work together to make the program successful.

What's In It For Partner Facilities?

Facilities that qualify to be listed among Action Sports Advertising’s network benefit from a source of risk free and expense free advertising revenue. No marketing, research or promotional costs are incurred on the part of the facilities, and no management, consulting or membership fees are charged by Action Sports Advertising.

Facility administrators can concentrate on managing the core business of their facilities, instead of expending time and energy pursing advertising dollars that generate minimal revenues in relation to the overall operations of their facilities.

Revenues raised subsidize the operations of the facilities, increasing profitability and reducing the portion of expenses that must be passed onto users or recovered through outside subsidization. The communities in which facilities are located also benefit in that the reduction in expenses passed onto end users results in greater accessibility to and utilization of the facilities, which ultimately enhances the quality of life and standard of living for residents of the communities.

What's In It For Advertisers And Advertising Agencies?

Action Sports Advertising offers advertisers and advertising agencies a variety of mediums and opportunities, including Rinkboard Panels, Interior Wall Billboards, Ice Surface Advertising, Ice Resurfacer (Zamboni) Sponsorships, Lobby Display Panels, Sports Field Billboards and product sampling campaigns.

While many advertisers and agencies recognize the cost effectiveness and significant exposure levels available to them through these facilities and mediums, and may even have the budget to do a campaign, few have the human resources needed to contact the numerous municipalities and organizations needed to coordinate a large campaign. Multiple production runs, non standardized creative and artwork dimensions, and differing contractual arrangements (terms of agreements and fees charged) all complicate matters when organizing campaigns on a facility by facility basis.

By representing several facilities at once, Action Sports Advertising offers advertisers & advertising agencies one-stop shopping, in which advertisers can coordinate campaigns in multiple facilities through one central agent.

Why Wouldn't A Facility Manage The Advertising Themselves?

Research has told us that most athletic facilities have been attempting to obtain advertising sponsorship on their own (or with the help of user groups or volunteers), and have had mixed results. While sometimes successful, most facilities find that the time and energy expended and the expenses incurred to sell, produce, install, contract, invoice and administer the advertising does not warrant the revenues generated in return. Similarly, user groups and volunteers, who are often well connected within their community, may make an initial sale easily, but often fail to properly co ordinate production and installation, and rarely follow up on contracting and invoicing in subsequent years.

Research has also told us that while advertisers are interested in advertising and sampling opportunities in community and municipal athletic facilities throughout the country, they do not have the time, resources or energy to contact facilities or track down user groups individually. Determining production requirements for each facility, signing a multitude of different contracts, coordinating numerous production runs, and signing off on several different invoices, all lead to advertisers selecting other mediums where advertising campaigns are easier to execute.

In response to this, Action Sports Advertising is establishing a national network of athletic facilities, through the addition of more partner and associate facilities to our own network in Western Canada, and through the formation of strategic alliances with other organizations specializing in athletic facility advertising in Eastern Canada. Doing so will open up more opportunities for all participating facilities, as media buys in community and municipal athletic facilities become more accessible for all advertisers (local and national), as well as advertising agencies.

Why Is Action Sports Advertising's Program Successful?

Action Sports Advertising’s program’s success can be attributed to a number of factors.

First, Action Sports Advertising has the expertise and professionalism to properly market the product. While the marketing of advertising opportunities in athletic facilities may not be “rocket science”, a certain degree of knowledge of and expertise in advertising is critical to successfully marketing the product. Advertising is a highly competitive industry, and there are a myriad of media and sponsorship opportunities competing for a finite number of advertising dollars. Accordingly, businesses (both big and small) often scrutinize where they spend their money. Technical questions about reach, demographics, top of mind awareness, recall and retention studies, and costs per impression may be asked and, if not responded to intelligently, can quickly take an advertising opportunity out of the running for the advertising dollars. Volunteers, user groups and facility staff generally don’t have the answers that prospective clients are looking for.

Second, Action Sports Advertising is persistent and consistent in marketing the product. Oftentimes, contracted salespeople, user groups volunteers or sign shops and will undertake a project to market the advertising opportunities in a facility. While sometimes successful, more often than not the project gets treated as a one-time project or initiative. Contracted salespeople find full time work (or move on to other projects), user group volunteers resign or retire, and sign shops, having exhausted the short term demand for signs created from selling the advertising, abandon the ongoing management and renewal of the advertising in pursuit of a project that will generate new sign sales. Action Sports Advertising does not have another job or business to attend to, while selling the advertising on the side -- advertising is our core business.

Finally, Action Sports Advertising has standardized the offering for advertisers and agencies. By obtaining the necessary information from each facility, a standardized package can be taken to advertising agencies and prospective advertisers (local and national), thus simplifying the buying decision immensely -- one price, one invoice, one production run…dozens or hundreds of facilities.

Why Partner With Action Sports Advertising?

As alluded to above, Action Sports Advertising’s core business is the management of advertising in athletic facilities – nothing else. We are committed to presenting these advertising opportunities in a serious and professional manner. By representing several facilities at once, Action Sports Advertising offers advertisers & advertising agencies one stop shopping (in which advertisers can co-ordinate campaigns through one central agent), while allowing facility administrators to concentrate on managing their core business of renting their facilities to user groups, instead of struggling to sell advertising.

Action Sports Advertising is Western Canada’s largest athletic facility advertising company. Our experience and reach of our current network of facilities enables us to work towards the establishment of a national network of athletic facilities, which will open up greater opportunities for all participating facilities.

Through an aggressive marketing program and industry networking, Action Sports Advertising has established relationships with numerous advertisers and advertising agencies, and is quickly becoming known as the company to turn to when looking for athletic facility advertising.

Having Action Sports Advertising assist facilities in their efforts to sell advertising and obtain sponsorship makes sense. There are no management or consulting fees to be paid to Action Sports Advertising, and no capital outlay required, so there is virtually no risk on the part of partner facilities. And by having Action Sports Advertising focus all its resources on doing what it does best, which is selling advertising, facility administrators can focus on what they do best, which is managing their facilities.