The Herald Sun will tonight unveil an Australian-first in-game competition for footy fans using iconic interactive signage at the MCG.
Dubbed “Ball Call”, the dynamic competition will use the ground’s LED signage to alert fans to enter upon the umpire’s first official call of “Holding the Ball”. Typically, a ball call is registered within the first 11 minutes of any match.
The “Ball” call is one of the most contentious umpiring decisions of the game, evoking a loud and proud reaction from footy fans making it the perfect cue for entries and providing ongoing recall of the competition as awareness builds.
The “Ball Call” competition will feature at 44 home & away matches, plus finals, played at the MCG this season. Fans will be prompted to enter only once per game, on the first “holding the ball” call of each match.
By amplifying via MCG signage, owned media, social, radio and TV, the competition could potentially reach an engaged audience of around 38 million footy fans throughout the season – from those at the ground, to casual punters flicking through Facebook, down to multi-taskers listening to the broadcast on the car radio.
News Corp Australia’s Victorian general manager, consumer sales and marketing, Kammeron George, said the Herald Sun has been a dominant player inside the MCG during AFL season for years.
“This fan engagement activity will take it to the next level,” she said.
Every Herald Sun subscriber who enters the competition will be entitled to an additional entry each time they enter, compounding their chances to win.