You may feel the urge to gamble if you happen to catch the last five minutes of any game on MSG Network during the next five years. Why? Foxwoods will sponsor the final stages of television broadcasts and will take over signage within the arena.
According to statistics, ratings for New York Knicks and New York Rangers games jump 25 percent during the last five minutes. Those numbers, of course, depend a bit on whether the teams are competitive (win streak!) but a sports-marketing consultant tells The New York Times “the upside far, far outweighs the downside.”
In addition to the increased viewership, the final five minutes appeal to advertisers because consumers are engaged. We would think this might be a negative thing since being engaged with the game at hand would mean the viewer wasn’t going to be distracted by advertising, but whatever, we’re not the marketers. Also, the final five can take forever, meaning Foxwoods will be ever-present for a long stretch of time.
What does the casino get for its reported $1 million per year?
During the last five minutes of Knicks, Liberty and Rangers home games, Foxwoods’s name and logo will be shown on the scoreboard, on signs courtside and elsewhere in the arena. During broadcasts of those games, as well as home games for the Devils and the Islanders carried on a MSG network, the Foxwoods logo will be shown on the top or bottom of the screen, accompanied by an introduction from the announcer, and will be superimposed on the glass behind the hockey goals.