"It's long enough for me to go get a beer."
But it's too short for a trip to the toilet, ”laughs Fabrice.
Like millions of French occasional football viewers, this 36-year-old IT executive from Val-de-Marne reconnects during this Euro with what has become a habit in the broadcasting of sporting events: the advertising break between the anthems and the coup sending.
“It's frustrating, we have the impression of being cut off in our tracks, plague Kenza, fan of Isère des Bleus.
My friends always want to zap at this point, but I'm afraid of missing the start of the match.
"
Fear justified. The three channels holding the broadcasting rights for the competition, TF1, M 6 and beIN Sports, are subject to UEFA specifications for this advertising break: 60 seconds, and not one more. "The broadcasters have the possibility of selling advertising around the matches," explains the European body. This is subject to certain parameters of the UEFA commercial program to ensure the integrity of the matches. "
Clearly, no question of overflowing on the first kick in the ball, but carte blanche to fill this brief time out.
This is how millions of viewers missed the irruption of the ULM of the NGO Greenpeace just before the first match of the Blues against Germany in Munich.
On M 6 as on beIN Sports, the niche was occupied by a single advertiser: the car manufacturer Volkswagen for the free-to-air broadcaster, the online betting site Winamax for the specialized channel.
Many requests for the "golden spot"
The latter is marketing this space for the first time with this year, a test balloon for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, of which beIN Sports will broadcast all of the matches. TF1 has been drawing advertising revenue from it since the 2011 Rugby World Cup, where M 6 started the following year with the Euro in Poland and Ukraine. It is difficult not to rush into it to make the investments necessary for the acquisition of broadcasting rights profitable. Especially since the spot is in high demand.
"We call it the
golden spot
, and it is very favorably received by our advertisers if I believe the intensity of the requests we receive", explains Stéphane Devergies, commercial director of the sports and information division at TF1 Pub.
"This is a
showcase
screen
for an advertiser who finds himself as close as possible to the match, with the key to memorizing the message because the advertising screen is very short", continues the director of the advertising network of beIN. Sports, Florence Brame.
And don't drown in an advertising tunnel.
Read also Sports betting: advertising campaigns against a background of clichés on the suburbs are controversial
Most interested?
The sponsors of the competition, the partners of the Blues for the matches of the band in Didier Deschamps or online sports betting sites, inclined to the idea of reminding their users of the imminent kick-off to block their stake .
“We are careful not to put two advertisers from the same sector in this niche, underlines Stéphane Devergies.
It is a privileged moment for them, it is not necessary to mix the messages on such a short niche.
»Maximum three spots of 20 seconds or less.
225,000 euros for 30 seconds for France-Switzerland
But exposure as the football fan builds up pressure comes at a cost. This Monday evening, the 30 seconds of advertising for the round of 16 between the Blues and Switzerland will be sold for 225,000 euros gross by TF1. On Wednesday, the first channel had set a price of 210,000 euros for Portugal-France. For beIN Sports, a package costing 600,000 euros net per 30 seconds was offered to a single advertiser for all 51 Euro matches. M 6 evokes a range of 80,000 euros gross for a group match between two foreign selections to 320,000 euros in the event of the final of the Blues on July 11.
“We are close to the prices that we can offer for a half-time spot,” explains the channel. TF1, it intends to sell its first advertisement between the two periods of France-Switzerland, one of the most coveted moments, at 235,000 euros gross per 30 seconds. "Advertisers find their account there," says Stéphane Devergies. Only major sports competitions, especially with the Blues, are likely to offer them such exposure to the general public. “All the more so when the latter does not dare to zap for fear of missing the start.
