Foxwoods Resort Casino has inked a deal to be the exclusive advertiser during the last five minutes of professional basketball and hockey games at Madison Square Garden and on Knicks, Rangers, Liberty, Devils and Islanders home games broadcast on MSG’s cable sports networks, The New York Times reports.
MSG and Foxwoods say that the “Final Five” sponsorship is the first time an advertiser has bought commercial control of a specific time during professional sports games in the arena as well as on television.
“The last five minutes of any sporting event are the most exciting and widely viewed part of the game, so the ‘Foxwoods Final Five’ presents a signature opportunity for Foxwoods to engage a captive audience in the world’s largest media market while they are intently watching the teams they love,” said Robert Victoria, chief marketing officer for Mashantucket Pequot Gaming Enterprises.
It is also the latest deal between a casino and sport teams, which attract similar demographic groups, namely men in their 30s and 40s who are willing to spend a lot of money on entertainment.
The Mets and the Yankees also have casinos as sponsors (Caesars and Mohegan Sun, respectively). Foxwoods is a major sponsor of the Liberty and has an alliance with the Nets.
