Falling into Football Season
Published on November 9, 2017, at 5:06 p.m.
by Hyland Stockton.
With Thanksgiving around the corner, people have a lot to look forward to, and I’m not just talking about the food.
Fall is now in full swing, which means cozy sweaters and preparing for the holidays (shopping!). But, this also means … football. In fact, it means the biggest rivals are about to play each other. Teams like Auburn and Alabama, Georgia and Georgia Tech, and Ole Miss and Mississippi State save their most heated games for Thanksgiving weekend.
In the United States, fall and football have begun to be synonymous. Although football — college football at least — typically begins on Labor Day weekend, usually the first weekend in September, it is very closely related in people’s minds to fall, which starts on Sept. 22.
With this connection, businesses have an instant opportunity for promotions.
High school football
While high school football may look a little different from college and professional football, its fans have never been known to lack loyalty. So, on a smaller scale, businesses have an opportunity to connect with these fans — students or parents.
What this looks like:
For local business and organizations, there is an opportunity to support and sponsor teams and their events, whether through donating uniforms or placing a banner at an event. This strategy instantly connects the business or organization to the community and its people.
College football
Bigger than its high school counterpart, college football reaches a larger and more diverse crowd. After all, it is televised. This means larger companies have the opportunity to directly communicate to people all over the country.
What this looks like:
With the broader reach of college football, businesses have the opportunity to link their organizations to football as a whole, not just to specific teams. Since the sport has such a strong connection to the fall season, businesses can create ads that further connect fall and football, which can boost sales in return.
What this means
The connection between fall and football is a promotional opportunity for businesses simply because it is already in people’s minds. Now, businesses and organizations have to use the connection for their benefit. From the business side, this could mean advertising products by connecting them to football; for a nonprofit organization, this could be as simple as using football to connect with the people in its community.
Although everyone may not be a football fan, there is no question that football dominates TV channels from September to January with games ranging from the occasional high school game to professional football. With the never-ending football coverage, people cannot help but connect football to fall.
Whether you are an avid football fan or someone who watches it simply because it is on, the connection between fall and football offers a huge advantage for business. Football brings people together, whether it is a group of people who support the same college team or a community that comes together to watch a high school game.
This connection between fall and football brings together communities and gives businesses an opportunity to reach a wide range of people while using one main promotional strategy: connecting these people to football, fall and their organizations.
