Unsubliminal Advertising

Swanson said the team used to have ad banners at its news conferences, but they became wrinkled and dirty with constant use and were constantly being replaced. So, Swanson says, Snyder had a brainstorm: Why not display the same logos on oversize video monitors and get rid of the banners altogether?

The VideoDrop system isn't complicated -- just a couple of very large TV sets linked to a laptop computer loaded with a set of images. The system enables the Redskins to add new sponsors within minutes, instead of waiting days or weeks for new banners. And sponsors can be quickly dropped, if there are news conference topics they'd rather not be associated with.

"It's paid for itself many times over," Swanson says. "We don't have to keep calling 'Signs R Us' all the time anymore."

Becky Wallace, the executive editor of Team Marketing Report, a sports-business publication, calls the system "a great thing for the team, and a great thing for the sponsor." But she's not sure how great it is for the news media, and possibly fans at home. "From a camera guy's perspective," she says, "having [advertising] in the frame might not be the shot you want. It might be distracting."

Despite plans to market the system to other teams, the Redskins remain the only franchise in the NFL that uses it, said Brian McCarthy, an NFL spokesman.

But that could change, Wallace predicts. The reason?

"Teams are running out of things to sell for sponsorship," she says. "The Redskins have found a way to add an additional element. [Teams] have sold the billboards in the stadiums, the TV spots, the scoreboard [displays]. There are a lot of companies that teams would like to work with, but can't because there aren't many good opportunities left.

"The only thing left is to start branding the urinal cakes in the bathrooms."