Being seen on the big screen during the Super Bowl is
not the only video strategy marketers are going with this year. Video ad platform LiveRail is seeing a threefold increase in demand for online video ads the day after the game, with the bulk of demand
coming for the 12 hours immediately following the game.

Troels Smit, LiveRail’s VP of demand sales, told RTM Daily that the company did see an increase in demand surrounding
the Super Bowl last year, but that it was “far from the size” of this year.

“Comparing this year’s to last year’s, we would see a much higher
number,” he emphasized. “This three times increase in demand is compared to an average day [in 2014].”

Sports Web sites are the obvious beneficiaries here, but
Smit said the demand is high enough that marketers are having to dig a little deeper.

“Video inventory is scarce,” he said. “In the world of banners, you could
just create more. For pre-roll video inventory, you can’t really do that. Sports sites will see higher budgets, but advertisers will look elsewhere because the demand is so high.”

He said music and entertainment sites are where marketers are turning next. Smit acknowledged that he doesn’t know why marketers are looking to music and entertainment sites once the
sports well has been tapped, but said it’s clearly a trend. There has also been an increase in demand for mobile video and connected TV, like Roku or Apple TV.

He believes
advertisers are “scared” of the possibility of not reaching Super Bowl impression goals, and has seen many turn to “programmatic direct” as a result. Essentially, advertisers
are guaranteed a certain number of impressions in a private marketplace, but the impressions are still bought via real-time bidding (RTB).

This year, another major sporting event
follows the Super Bowl — the Olympics. Smit said LiveRail has started seeing video advertisers increase focus in the online world around that time. He doesn’t know if it will be as big as the
Super Bowl phenomena, but said the similarities are clear.