In the United States, sports aren’t just entertainment — they are a central part of culture, community and shared experiences. From tentpole events like the Super Bowl and March Madness to the ongoing excitement of NFL, MLB and NBA seasons, fans have plenty to celebrate year-round. With the 2026 FIFA World Cup approaching and interest in women’s sports and Formula 1 growing, the spotlight on American sports is only set to intensify.
And when it comes to reaching fans in the right place and at the right time, few media channels are as well-suited as digital out-of-home (DOOH).
Whether it's a fan catching game highlights in a mall, meeting friends at a bar or celebrating a hometown team’s win in the city center, DOOH gives brands the power to be part of those shared cultural moments in real time, at real scale.
Here’s how brands can tap into the momentum of live sports using DOOH:
In the United States, cities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are cultural and sporting powerhouses. From NFL and NBA matchups to MLB team rivalries and city-wide fan celebrations, these urban hubs pulse with the energy of live events and shared experiences.
Programmatic DOOH allows advertisers to tap into that energy in a highly targeted way. Rather than blanketing an entire region with a single message, brands can serve dynamic, location-specific creative to fans whose loyalty and passion make them especially receptive when brands connect with the sports they love.
In fact, 81% of consumers feel more positively towards brands that sponsor sports they love and 66% are more inclined to purchase from such brands. By leveraging real-world movement data and pre-built audience segments, brands can ensure their DOOH messages reach these high-affinity audiences where and when they are most engaged.
For example, you could target:
With sports-specific audience segments from partners like Affinity Answers, Adsquare and PlaceIQ, brands can reach fans when excitement is high and attention is unmatched.
Sports moments move fast and advertising should too. With dynamic creative, brands can update DOOH messaging in real time, responding to live events like match scores, countdowns, weather shifts or team wins. This is especially powerful in the U.S., where sports are major cultural moments, from football season to the 2026 World Cup, offering brands a chance to tap into fan excitement and drive meaningful engagement.
Here’s how dynamic DOOH could come to life around your sports campaigns:
By reacting to the highs and lows of every game or race, brands can become part of the narrative fans care about, creating emotional resonance in the moment it matters most.
When people think of out-of-home advertising, they often imagine giant billboards towering over highways. These large-format placements offer massive visibility, reaching drivers, pedestrians and street-level traffic. But in the U.S., the true strength of DOOH also lies in its presence throughout daily life — in subway stations, airports, shopping centers and office buildings — allowing brands to deliver timely, contextually relevant messages to audiences where they live, work and move.
These DOOH placements are especially powerful during key sporting or cultural moments. A fitness brand could engage fans during an F1 weekend with tailored messaging in gyms. A food delivery app could promote gameday deals on digital screens in residential elevators or bus shelters. A health brand could align with fan wellness during tense finals, reaching people in pharmacies or clinics.
Increasingly, advertisers are turning to Programmatic Guaranteed to lock in premium DOOH inventory during these moments, ensuring their message appears in the most impactful environments when fan attention is at its peak. For example, during the World Cup, a brand could secure placements in key host cities like New York, Los Angeles and Miami — running media near transit hubs, sports bars and shopping centers where fans gather to watch the matches — guaranteeing visibility across multiple high-traffic locations throughout the tournament.
"Sporting events are cultural moments where attention is at its peak, and DOOH is uniquely positioned to harness that shared energy in the physical world,” said Nick Ortega, Director of DOOH & Emerging Channels at StackAdapt. “Programmatic guaranteed through Vistar Media allows advertisers to secure access to the right screens, in the most-demand venues, at the right time. We're excited about what this unlocks for our buyers, ensuring they never miss these opportunities while still benefiting from the programmatic advantages they expect, from transparent reporting to retargeting and measurement."
Because DOOH is both contextual and omnipresent, it allows brands to build connections not just during the game but throughout the day, and across a variety of meaningful touchpoints. In short: it’s not just about visibility. It’s about relevance, showing up where people are already tuned in and emotionally primed to engage.
From college football rivalry games to NFL season openers and the electric energy of the Austin Grand Prix, sports are a shared language that bring communities together. As we look ahead to the upcoming sports season, there’s no better time for brands to embed themselves in these moments with campaigns that feel timely, local and emotionally resonant.
By leveraging DOOH, brands can join the excitement of the cultural calendar, whether through a targeted push during a big match week or a broader campaign tied to a national tournament. It’s a chance to turn seasonal energy into meaningful connections, reaching fans in the moments that matter most and leaving a lasting impression long after the final whistle.