Football advertising is often reduced to stadium signage, sponsorship rights or a citywide campaign with a club badge attached. Open Media's new Matchday Moments network takes a different planning approach: it packages outdoor sites around the routes and rituals that surround a Premier League matchday.
The proposition launched in early August with 11 premium OOH locations across London, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Brighton, Hull and Coventry. Open Media says the combined network reaches more than 5.6 million people over two weeks.
The valuable idea is not simply that football fans can be found near football grounds. It is that matchday is a sequence of predictable public moments—transport, food, retail, meeting points and the journey home—that can be planned as one connected audience environment.
The announced network
Open Media lists the following sites in the initial Matchday Moments lineup:
Outsmart's launch announcement describes the pack as an 11-location network near stadiums, transport hubs and supporter thoroughfares. It is designed to simplify what would otherwise require several local negotiations.
The presence of Hull and Coventry in the lineup is a useful reminder that the proposition should be assessed as a football-culture and audience-journey network, not only as a list of screens directly outside current Premier League grounds. Buyers should map each asset against the fixtures, supporter flows and objectives relevant to their campaign.
- London: Wembley BOXPARK
- London: Croydon BOXPARK
- London: Hammersmith King Street
- London: Wandsworth High Street
- Manchester: Hotel Football
- Liverpool: Liverpool ONE
- Liverpool: Liverpool BOXPARK
- Newcastle: Haymarket
- Brighton: Churchill Square
- Hull: Hull Central
- Coventry: Coventry Central
Why the journey matters more than the stadium boundary
The emotional peak of a match may occur inside the stadium, but the commercial audience exists for much longer.
A supporter journey can include:
That creates several contexts with different dwell times and creative roles. A transport-hub screen may provide repeated directional exposure. A BOXPARK placement may reach fans during longer social dwell. A high-street site may combine matchgoing audiences with regular city traffic.
The planning advantage is the ability to reach people while anticipation and conversation are already building, without requiring the brand to be an official club or league sponsor. The legal and creative limitation is that a non-sponsor must avoid implying an association it does not hold.
- Checking team news before leaving home
- Travelling by rail, bus, car or on foot
- Meeting friends in a town centre or venue
- Eating, drinking or shopping before kickoff
- Walking toward the ground
- Discussing the match on the return journey
- Continuing the conversation through social and mobile channels
What the 5.6 million figure does—and does not—tell buyers
Open Media says the network reaches more than 5.6 million people every two weeks. That provides an early scale indicator, but it should not be treated as the number of Premier League supporters reached unless the proposal explicitly establishes that audience segment.
A buyer should ask:
The distinction matters. A central retail location can generate strong total audience delivery while only part of that audience is engaged with a nearby match.
- Is 5.6 million reach, impressions or impacts?
- Which audience currency and reporting period produced the figure?
- Is the figure based on all traffic past the sites or a football-specific audience?
- How is duplication between the 11 locations handled?
- Does delivery change on matchdays compared with non-matchdays?
- Are fixture dayparts guaranteed or simply included within a two-week campaign?
The right campaign uses
Matchday Moments appears particularly suited to brands that can contribute naturally to the supporter journey.
Messages can align with pre-match meeting, ordering and venue decisions. Regulated categories still need age, placement and creative review.
Retail locations create opportunities for product launches, supporter style and local store direction without relying on in-stadium media.
Rail, taxi, rideshare and navigation services can address a real matchday task, particularly when service information is current and location-specific.
Campaigns can connect the live event with highlights, analysis, gaming or other football-related content, subject to rights.
Mobile data, payments and ticketing all sit naturally within the practical matchday journey.
The network is a weaker fit for brands that need a guaranteed audience tied to one club, one stadium entrance or one fixture unless the selected assets and schedule provide that precision.
- Food, drink and hospitality: Messages can align with pre-match meeting, ordering and venue decisions. Regulated categories still need age, placement and creative review.
- Sportswear and retail: Retail locations create opportunities for product launches, supporter style and local store direction without relying on in-stadium media.
- Travel and mobility: Rail, taxi, rideshare and navigation services can address a real matchday task, particularly when service information is current and location-specific.
- Entertainment and streaming: Campaigns can connect the live event with highlights, analysis, gaming or other football-related content, subject to rights.
- Payments and telecommunications: Mobile data, payments and ticketing all sit naturally within the practical matchday journey. The network is a weaker fit for brands that need a guaranteed audience tied to one club, one stadium entrance or one fixture unless the selected assets and schedule provide that precision.
Creative should change across the matchday
A fixed national poster can use the network, but digital flexibility creates a more useful sequence.
Before kickoff, the message might focus on anticipation, preparation or the journey. During the match, eligible screens away from the ground may use a neutral brand message or an approved contextual execution. After the final whistle, creative can shift toward travel, food, conversation or a next action.
Campaigns should not depend on an unverified live score feed. Dynamic creative needs:
The strongest contextual idea is often one that still makes sense if the data connection fails.
- A reliable data source
- Clear approval rules
- A latency expectation
- A static fallback
- A process for postponed or abandoned fixtures
- Rights clearance for club names, crests, player imagery and competition references
How to compare the pack with a custom football plan
The ready-made network offers operational simplicity and cross-market reach. A custom plan may offer better precision.
The decision should follow the brief. A national consumer launch may benefit from the simplicity of one cross-city network. A campaign centred on two clubs, one derby or a specific supporter catchment may require a custom inventory list.
- One packaged buy: Multiple owners or contracts may be required
- Consistent campaign framework: Greater control over specific clubs and routes
- Useful national layer: Better for one-city or one-fixture objectives
- Faster planning: More asset-level selection work
- Fixed initial site set: Can include rail, roadside, bars or stadium approaches from other owners
Questions to ask before booking
- Which exact screens and faces are included?
- Which fixtures and matchday time windows fall within the campaign?
- What delivery is guaranteed on those days?
- How was the reported two-week reach calculated?
- Which locations have digital capability and what are their specifications?
- Can creative change by city, fixture or daypart?
- Are production and adaptation included?
- What happens when a fixture moves for television or operational reasons?
- What proof-of-play and audience reporting will be supplied?
- Which football references require rights clearance?