Scoreboard software proof of play: bill sponsors on seconds, not guesswork

Why proof-of-play matters for sponsor contracts

Sponsor packages are usually sold on screen seconds per half, per quarter, or per set — not on a vague promise of visibility. If the rotation runs on assumptions, invoicing becomes a dispute waiting to happen. A sponsor who paid for 90 seconds in the second half wants to see 90 seconds, not 70 because the match went into a long stoppage nobody tracked.

Proof-of-play solves this by logging every completed clip against the real match clock, not wall-clock time. That distinction matters: wall-clock time keeps running during a VAR check or an injury break; match time doesn't, and neither should the sponsor's bill.

Seconds per match phase, counted automatically

ArenaCue Scoreboard drives the stadium screen — LED, TV or projector — showing score, clock, match events and sponsor rotation in one feed. Underneath that rotation, every sponsor slot is logged against the phase it ran in: first half, second half, overtime, or the equivalent periods in basketball, volleyball, futsal and hockey.

Because the rotation is tied to the same clock the operator runs matchday from, a sponsor's 60 seconds in the first half and 60 seconds in the second half are two separate, auditable entries — not a single total that's easy to question.

• Phase-based logging: first half, second half, overtime, and sport-specific periods such as quarters or sets
• One operator runs the match locally — no separate tracking spreadsheet needed
• Works across football, futsal, basketball, volleyball and hockey profiles

Pause on goals and stoppages

Goals, cards, and timeouts interrupt the match clock — and they should interrupt sponsor rotation too. When the clock stops, the rotation pauses with it. No sponsor clip keeps counting while players celebrate or the referee reviews a decision, and no clip is cut short because the clock happened to be running when the whistle blew.

This is a byproduct of how Scoreboard is built: clock and rotation share the same state. There's no second system to keep in sync, so the pause behaviour is automatic rather than something an operator has to trigger by hand.

Export after full-time

At full-time, the match log is complete and ready to export. Commercial managers get a record of exactly how many seconds each sponsor's content ran, broken down by phase, with pauses already accounted for. That export becomes the basis for the invoice — not a reconstruction from memory or a rough average.

For clubs running multiple sponsors across a season, this turns a recurring argument into a routine administrative step: export, check the totals, send the invoice.

• Export after full-time, once the log is final
• Totals broken down by match phase, not just a single match-long number
• Same log format whether the match ran on LED, TV or projector

Where proof-of-play sits: Scoreboard, LED Boarding and Signage

Proof-of-play in this article refers to ArenaCue Scoreboard, which drives the main stadium screen and the sponsor rotation shown on it. ArenaCue LED Boarding is a separate Windows app with its own licence, built for perimeter, ribbon and stand LED, running its own zones and playlists — it isn't a second screen inside the scoreboard app, and it has its own logging for boarding content.

ArenaCue Signage is a third, separate product: a cloud dashboard for always-on screens such as the cafeteria, entrance or concourse. It isn't the match scoreboard and it isn't perimeter LED, and checkout for Signage happens in its own dashboard rather than through Scoreboard checkout. If a commercial manager sells sponsor time across all three surfaces, each has its own log, because each is a different licensed product.

Getting set up

Club Scoreboard is €99/month excl. VAT, self-serve via Stripe, and includes the full scoreboard package — proof-of-play logging isn't held back for a higher tier. Stadium packages for Jupiler Pro League or Challenger clubs start from €349/month excl. VAT as a quote, covering extra service and SLA rather than extra features.

Matchday itself runs locally on the matchday PC, so an operator doesn't need internet during the game to keep the log running. Activation and periodic licence checks do need an internet connection, which is worth confirming against venue connectivity before the first home match.

Conclusion

Selling screen seconds only works if you can prove how many seconds actually ran. ArenaCue Scoreboard logs sponsor rotation per match phase, pauses on goals and stoppages, and hands commercial managers a clean export the moment the match ends — turning invoicing from a debate into a report.

Frequently asked questions