ANN ARBOR, Michigan – College football fans in battleground states have become accustomed to having the television broadcasts of their favorite games inundated with political advertising.
On Saturday, the Democratic National Committee planned to expand the fight from the airwaves to the air around select stadiums, using banners with messages behind aircraft to promote its cause, Abhi Rahman, deputy communications director for the DNC, told Yahoo Sports.
DNC-sponsored banners will fly over four college football stadiums on Saturday – Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia, Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania and Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.
Most of the messages linked former President Donald Trump to Project 2025, a conservative think tank approach to governance, and urged voters to “vote out” the candidate and the approach.
Here in Ann Arbor, the banner was put up before the Michigan-Texas game as a nod to Trump’s vice presidential candidate JD Vance, a senator from Ohio and a graduate of Ohio State, the Wolverines’ arch-rival.
“JD Vance (Hearts) Ohio State + Project 2025,” it said.
Others were simpler.
“Penn State: Beat Trump, Fire Project 2025”
“Wisconsin: Jump Around! Beat Trump + Project 2015”
A banner above Sanford Stadium was supposed to read “Georgia: Defeat Trump, Destroy Project 2025,” but the weather made a flight impossible.
While college towns overwhelmingly vote Democrat, college football fans tend to lean Republican, according to numerous polls. How many voters of either party are interested in having a candidate’s political ads plastered across their tailgates or games is an unanswered question.
With the election season approaching, it is expected to be of paramount importance for the campaign to attract voters from swing states. College football is particularly popular in these states. Depending on stadium capacity, each game is expected to draw between 80,000 and 110,000 fans. Many more will attend tailgate parties before and after the game.
The DNC said its efforts on Saturday included voter registration drives, information and door-to-door canvassing.
