Rogers Sports & Media (RSM) and its major media brands, including Sportsnet+, support Canada’s deep love for hockey by broadcasting the NHL regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs. With the growth of live sports streaming, the Stanley Cup Playoffs present a significant opportunity as audiences shift from linear TV to streaming platforms.
RSM needed a platform that could support live sports and provide flexibility for its premium ad inventory across its streaming platform, Sportsnet+. For video on-demand, viewership is staggered throughout the day with pre-set ad breaks, making sales planning and campaign pacing more predictable. But for live sports, ad breaks are unpredictable and tied to the pace of the game. During events like the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the schedule changes daily, forcing broadcasters to adapt to changing audiences and available inventory.
Simple to use, designed to deliver
Heading into the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, RSM set out to make faster decisions, drive overall revenue growth, and deliver a seamless viewer experience, while addressing any over-pacing/under-delivery challenges. Their go-to-market strategy aimed to maximize the number of advertisers during live streams by offering a flexible combination of direct campaigns, share-of-voice sponsorships, and programmatic guaranteed deals. Google Ad Manager provided RSM with the flexible solutions that best integrated with their tech stack - allowing RSM to customize forecasting, increase yield, and report in real-time.
To execute their strategy, RSM used forecast adjustments to adjust inventory and delivery forecasting based on projected increases in viewership. They also used Custom delivery curves to align delivery with expected traffic spikes. This allowed RSM to boost delivery for high-stakes elimination games and other timeframes, such as overtime periods, where they expected a larger audience. To determine the inputs for the Custom delivery curves, RSM used their internal forecasting model, which predicted traffic spikes based on factors such as the number of games airing and the number of Canadian teams playing. RSM also increased yield by using server-side unwrapping (SSU), which increased competition, eliminated redirect errors, and maximized revenue for each ad break.
As RSM prepared for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they consulted with the Google team on best practices for activating in a live setting. RSM also tapped into Google Ad Manager’s real-time reporting API to create a custom reporting dashboard. This dashboard was critical for monitoring the ad experience, partner campaign delivery in real-time, and inventory fluctuations across time zones and as games went into overtime.
Built to scale during live events
Throughout the NHL regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs, Google Ad Manager provided the scale and yield optimizations RSM needed to keep fill rates high during live traffic spikes. RSM activated over 550 different advertising clients on Sportsnet+, maintained 70% sell-through rates and drove 83% revenue growth, with programmatic guaranteed demand on CTV as the main driver. Custom pacing improved campaign reach across the Sportsnet+ platform by over 25% when compared to campaigns set for even delivery. During the playoffs, SSU enabled on Sportsnet+ inventory boosted revenue by 6%.1
Maximizing monetization potential
Backed by Google Ad Manager’s technology, scale, and personalization capabilities, Rogers Sports & Media has established itself as a digital-first broadcaster with premium solutions for live streaming content and inventory. As a leader in the streaming TV space, RSM provides advertisers with unrivaled scale in live sports, excellence in programmatic execution, and advanced total TV measurement.
RSM plans to expand their go-to-market strategy to key partners for the 2025–26 season for all sports leagues available on Sportsnet+, including NHL and MLB. It will also be applied across live news and entertainment through their newly re-launched Citytv+ platform.
Google Ad Manager gives RSM the flexibility to balance ad delivery with the fast-paced changes of live sports - unlocking opportunities that break the mold for streaming content in a live environment.
