Game sponsor idea
Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 1:37 pm
I’m putting together a game I want to host in a little bit, and as I was setting up the procedure I had an idea that I would like feedback on to see if there’s any interest.
I thought it would be pretty neat to run it as if it were on tv, so between each round there would be ‘commercial’ breaks. But then I thought why not have actual commercials. People could sponsor the prize money contestants would be playing for, and in return write up a commercial they want played at the break. It would be a cool cross promotion opportunity.
The commercials could be for whatever the sponsor wants, it’s their money they decide. It can be for their own shop or service, so a legitimate advertisement to boost personal business, it could be a PSA for something about the site in general, so there isn’t a direct personal gain but there’s just something they want to bring attention to, or it could even be complete nonsense, just a funny quip or random announcement.
If this idea interests you, continue reading to get a more detailed understanding of how it would work.
The format presented here isn’t absolutely finalized, as far as number of rounds, and other exact figures, but the concept is the same regardless of the specific numbers.
The game will have four regular rounds and a bonus round, so four commercial breaks (R1, break, R2, break, R3, break, R4, break, Bonus R). There is a prize scale (high and low possible winnings) with the possibility of two people winning each game. The figures I’m currently considering are $25 (each) for winning the game but not the bonus round, and $50 (each) for winning the game and the bonus round. So for one game, the minimum possible cost would be $50, and the maximum possible cost would be $100.
Now, since we’re imagining it’s on tv, I plan to run the game in seasons. I’m thinking five games per season. This will determine how sponsors sign up for payments. In addition to the commercials, there will be an option to have a final sponsored announcement at the conclusion of each game. This will be the same for the entire season run, whereas the commercials could change each game. So there are two separate sponsorships for the show, a season sponsor who is advertised each game all season for their payment, and then the commercial sponsors who are advertised once per payment.
So for breaking down the money, we’re looking at season long costs. For one season of five episodes, the minimum cost (if everyone wins the lowest prize possible) is $250 and the maximum cost (if everyone wins the highest prize possible) is $500.
In trying to divide the cost according to advertisement provided, the season sponsor gets more exposure per payment than the individual commercial sponsors, so if someone wanted to do that it would be a slightly higher cost. But that gets confusing when you consider what if someone decides to purchase all four commercials in a show, which is roughly the same exposure, albeit all concentrated on one show instead of having one ad per show all season. But that shouldn’t really be cheaper. So I’m thinking the easiest way to do it, since it’s going to even out in the long run either way, is to split the cost right in half between sponsorship options and then people can just choose what format they want to do based on their available money and the frequency they think is appropriate for whatever they’re advertising.
This means that a full season sponsorship will cost at least $125 and at most $250.
Commercial breakdown is a bit trickier. I’m assuming in doing the math that one person buys only one commercial per season. This of course doesn’t have to be the case, the same person can purchase as many commercials as they wish, but I’m doing it this way so we have the individual numbers to work with.
The commercials will have to collectively put up the other $125-$250, but over the course of the season, not all at once like the season sponsorship does. So with five games a season and four commercials a game, there are 20 commercials per season, so I figure the cost range for one comes to $6.25-$12.50 (it’s further complicated by the winnings fluctuating instead of being one consistent amount).
This now gets into the process of determining the best way to take payment, since it isn’t known ahead of time whether the cost will be the low or high end of the range. It would probably have to be that people pay the high range upfront, in the event it is reached, and at the end of the season are refunded winnings that weren’t paid out, but that seems like a hassle tracking all that so there’s probably a better way. Before I put the thought needed to find that way into this though I wanted to check if this idea was something anyone else even thought would be cool, because if no one would be doing it than all the thought would be for nothing.
So what do you think? Would you be a sponsor if this happens?
I thought it would be pretty neat to run it as if it were on tv, so between each round there would be ‘commercial’ breaks. But then I thought why not have actual commercials. People could sponsor the prize money contestants would be playing for, and in return write up a commercial they want played at the break. It would be a cool cross promotion opportunity.
The commercials could be for whatever the sponsor wants, it’s their money they decide. It can be for their own shop or service, so a legitimate advertisement to boost personal business, it could be a PSA for something about the site in general, so there isn’t a direct personal gain but there’s just something they want to bring attention to, or it could even be complete nonsense, just a funny quip or random announcement.
If this idea interests you, continue reading to get a more detailed understanding of how it would work.
The format presented here isn’t absolutely finalized, as far as number of rounds, and other exact figures, but the concept is the same regardless of the specific numbers.
The game will have four regular rounds and a bonus round, so four commercial breaks (R1, break, R2, break, R3, break, R4, break, Bonus R). There is a prize scale (high and low possible winnings) with the possibility of two people winning each game. The figures I’m currently considering are $25 (each) for winning the game but not the bonus round, and $50 (each) for winning the game and the bonus round. So for one game, the minimum possible cost would be $50, and the maximum possible cost would be $100.
Now, since we’re imagining it’s on tv, I plan to run the game in seasons. I’m thinking five games per season. This will determine how sponsors sign up for payments. In addition to the commercials, there will be an option to have a final sponsored announcement at the conclusion of each game. This will be the same for the entire season run, whereas the commercials could change each game. So there are two separate sponsorships for the show, a season sponsor who is advertised each game all season for their payment, and then the commercial sponsors who are advertised once per payment.
So for breaking down the money, we’re looking at season long costs. For one season of five episodes, the minimum cost (if everyone wins the lowest prize possible) is $250 and the maximum cost (if everyone wins the highest prize possible) is $500.
In trying to divide the cost according to advertisement provided, the season sponsor gets more exposure per payment than the individual commercial sponsors, so if someone wanted to do that it would be a slightly higher cost. But that gets confusing when you consider what if someone decides to purchase all four commercials in a show, which is roughly the same exposure, albeit all concentrated on one show instead of having one ad per show all season. But that shouldn’t really be cheaper. So I’m thinking the easiest way to do it, since it’s going to even out in the long run either way, is to split the cost right in half between sponsorship options and then people can just choose what format they want to do based on their available money and the frequency they think is appropriate for whatever they’re advertising.
This means that a full season sponsorship will cost at least $125 and at most $250.
Commercial breakdown is a bit trickier. I’m assuming in doing the math that one person buys only one commercial per season. This of course doesn’t have to be the case, the same person can purchase as many commercials as they wish, but I’m doing it this way so we have the individual numbers to work with.
The commercials will have to collectively put up the other $125-$250, but over the course of the season, not all at once like the season sponsorship does. So with five games a season and four commercials a game, there are 20 commercials per season, so I figure the cost range for one comes to $6.25-$12.50 (it’s further complicated by the winnings fluctuating instead of being one consistent amount).
This now gets into the process of determining the best way to take payment, since it isn’t known ahead of time whether the cost will be the low or high end of the range. It would probably have to be that people pay the high range upfront, in the event it is reached, and at the end of the season are refunded winnings that weren’t paid out, but that seems like a hassle tracking all that so there’s probably a better way. Before I put the thought needed to find that way into this though I wanted to check if this idea was something anyone else even thought would be cool, because if no one would be doing it than all the thought would be for nothing.
So what do you think? Would you be a sponsor if this happens?