Watch out ESPN – Fox Sports is starting to bring the heat with their latest innovation.
The network that brought you the Fox Box and the glow puck unveiled "double box" advertising last night's Cotton Bowl, an innovative concept that could change the way we take in advertisements during the largest sporting events.
We've seen the double box used in auto racing before but now, thanks to Fox, we may soon see the double box used on a regular basis for all sporting events on the Fox network.
The photo above, courtesy of @CFBONFOX, offers a demonstration of the double box feature during the first half of the Cotton Bowl.
Think of the double box concept as a form of picture-in-picture. Your football team calls a timeout. Instead of the channel cutting away to commercial, a second screen pops up with the advertising you'd normally be seeing. Meanwhile, the original content shrinks to a smaller size and shows various views of the players, arena or fans.
For the viewer, there really isn't a downside to the double box concept. The viewer still sees the same advertising they would have in the first place but they also get additional coverage of the event they previously would have missed. That football player peeing on the sideline during a timeout? You might see it live and not have to wait until it later surfaces online, all thanks to the double box. For the advertisers, there's a better chance viewers might stick around during timeouts instead of changing channels.
The main concern about the double box system is that a company could get a bit too zealous in using it. No one wants to live in a world where double box advertising takes place during the actual event. Let's hope you never see an AT&T logo pop up on the field when Johnny Manziel is running for a touchdown.
Comments are closed.