Community Corner

Moorestown Considers Advertising at Athletic Fields

Councilwoman Stacey Jordan says the ads, while once maligned, could be a new source of revenue in tough times.

In its continuing search for new sources of revenue, the township is contemplating adding advertisements to its athletic fields.

Councilwoman Stacey Jordan brought up the idea at a council meeting last month, and again Monday night, and is having township manager Tom Merchel look into the possibilities.

“We’re all trying to figure out how to get revenue,” Jordan said. “I know years ago people were (opposed to the idea). But it’s kind of come to a point where everybody’s realizing we need revenue.”

Jordan’s vision would allow businesses—restaurants, retail stores, etc.—to advertise at township parks with banners and signs on ball field fences and trash cans. But the crucial element to that, so it doesn’t look unseemly, is all the ads would be uniform, she said, every sign the same size, the same color, similar design.

Long Beach Township in Ocean County does this, Jordan said. “It looks tasteful. It’s not like you’re driving into the city and you’re bombarded with advertisements.”

She added the design of the advertisements “is also about unifying the parks. So when you drive into a park, you know it’s a Moorestown park.”

Merchel said the township would set the standards for how the ads would appear. The model the township is currently considering would entail the township and recreation clubs each sharing the ad revenue, he added. But a formal proposal, much less a decision, is still a ways away.

“It’s going to be a complicated discussion,” Merchel said. “We’re still trying to pull together all the information.”

He said a few nearby communities allow advertising on their athletic fields, including Cherry Hill and Maple Shade, but each one has a different arrangement.

Calls to other local municipalities, inquiring about whether they advertise, were not returned.

Though there’s been resistance to it in the past, no one in the audience at Monday’s council meeting expressed any objections to Jordan’s idea.

“People understand money’s tight,” she said, “and in order to keep the great town we have, we have to be proactive … I’m just looking at ways to get things done and not sitting back.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here