NY/NJ Port Authority Issues RFP For OOH Media Concession

April 3, 2019 by Dave Haynes

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has released its massive RFP for digital OOH advertising rights and tech at its airports and on its commuter rail system.

The thing is a beast – 427 pages – but the good-ish news for media companies and partners who might chase the business is that proposals don’t need to be in until late June.

The RFP says:

Each year, more than 266 million residents and visitors pass through Port Authority facilities, providing a unique opportunity for advertisers to reach the country’s largest and most valuable media market. In 2018, the Port Authority’s gross advertising revenue reached nearly $75 million.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is using this Request for Proposals (“RFP”) to invite Proposals to develop and implement out-of-home (“OOH”) advertising programs across the Authority’s facilities in the nation’s largest and most dynamic metropolitan area. As technology enables increasingly digital and interactive experiences in physical spaces, these advertising programs represent not only a significant revenue source but also an opportunity to dramatically improve customer experience for millions of people.

The Port Authority manages an array of airports, bridges, tunnels, ports, and transit facilities that are among the world’s most extensive and heavily used. The Port Authority’s advertising program offers a distinctive opportunity for a concessionaire(s). No other transit agency has comparable advertising inventory that can generate revenue across all three major public transportation facility types – airports, train stations, and bus terminals – and provide exterior billboard opportunities in one of the country’s largest media markets.

Across these categories, the Port Authority currently has over 10,600 advertising displays available for the concessionaire(s), ranging from large digital displays at top airports to premium billboards in midtown Manhattan.

The Port Authority’s current contract for advertising expires on August 31, 2020; therefore, the Port Authority is hereby seeking Proposals from qualified firms to manage and upgrade the Port Authority’s advertising portfolio, which consists of assets at the Authority’s airports, trains and train stations, bus terminals, and exterior billboards. It is anticipated that all contract(s) resulting from this RFP will start three or more months prior to the expiration of the current contract on August 31, 2020, allowing for an orderly transition, and that such contracts will expire at the end of a ten-year term, unless otherwise renewed. The Port Authority may agree to provide a renewal mechanism that will extend the contract(s) for one (1) additional five-year term.

One of the carrots dangled in this RFP is that the airports – at least LGA and JFK – are getting MUCH needed facelifts, and that they won’t be the cramped, aging hell-pits experienced travelers know and love.

JCDecaux has the current concession, so winning this away from the largest OOH media company operating globally will be, ummm, challenging.

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