Two new sponsors have signed up as sponsors of College GameDay, the football pregame show that has been presented by Home Depot for 20 years.
This season, DoorDash and Old Dominion Freight Line will join Home Depot and six other returning sponsors on the program. Those returning sponsors are Aflac, AT&T, Coors Light, GEICO, Goodyear and Pizza Hut.
“While Home Depot has been the presenting sponsor and synonymous with GameDay, we’re still able to provide great value for other sponsors as well,” Sean Hanrahan, senior VP, Disney Advertising Sports Brand Solutions, told Broadcasting+Cable.
Ratings were up during the first week of the season by 15%, with more than a million viewers tuning in. This weekend another big audience is expected as Alabama travels to Texas. Naturally, GameDay will be there in Austin for the big game as well.
Hanrahan said that advertiser interest in sports and college football is strong, and the three-hour GameDay telecasts are all sold out. “College football continues to be a place where a lot of brands want to be because of the passionate audience it delivers. We’re doing very well in GameDay,” he said.
According to iSpot.tv, College GameDay generated about $16.4 million in ad revenue in 2021. The top advertisers including The Home Depot, Nissan, Allstate, AT&T Wireless, Goodyear, Pizza Hut, Dr. Pepper, Coors Light, Wendy’s and Taco Bell.
The total was down from $30.2 million in 2019, which had one additional Saturday broadcast.
The first week of the 2022 season, College Game days generated $1.24 million in ad revenue, up from $1.16 million a year ago, according to iSpot.tv
This season, Old Dominion will sponsor a row of bleacher seats during the telecast. Those seats are front and center, in sight of the talent on the set and the show’s demo field. “Outside of the game itself, those are probably the premier seats in college football,” Hanrahan said.
As part of a two-year deal, Old Dominion will also sponsor the show’s “Best in the Game" feature.
DoorDash, which also has a two-year sponsorship agreement, will be highlighting local traditions at each college town at which Gameday stops during the season. The brand will also work with Disney’s in-house creative agency, Disney CreativeWorks to develop a branded-content social program that shows College GameDay talent using DoorDash for their game day needs.
Disney and Home Depot started this season commemorating the 20-year anniversary of the sponsorship that created College GameDay Built by The Home Depot. Home Depot CEO Edward Decker talked about the relationship during the season opener, and ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro also delivered a thank you message to the sponsor.
“There are not a lot of 20 year old sponsorships out there. It’s been a true, win-win collaborative effort,” Hanrahan said.
During the season ESPN will also be showing highlights from the 20-year sponsorship.
Aflac will continue to sponsor the Aflac Trivia Question during games and AT&T will bring fans the GameDay Checkdown, as well as the Countdown to the College Football Playoff National Championship campaign highlighting the best teams around the country.
Coors Light is back as the sponsor of Saturday Selections. ESPN and Coors Light will curate an interactive viewing experience for fans with a QR code that enables them to pick winners.
GEICO’s humorous You Had One Job segments, featuring the wackiest plays of the day also returns.
Goodyear will celebrate the teams, fans, and communities on the road with a Rod Test feature looking at teams facing big road games.
Pizza Hut will have a presence as the sponsor of College GameDay’s Saturday Super Dogs segment in which the hosts predict the week’s upsets. ■
