Create ads that engage fans, impress sponsors, and elevate your livestreams with Canva and LIGR. Designing sports ads for livestreams used to be a task for professional designers. But thanks to our LIGR suite and our integration with Canva, anyone, from marketers to interns, can now create ads that look polished, perform well, and keep both fans and sponsors happy.

This 6-step guide walks you through how to design ads that are optimized for sports broadcasts, whether you're promoting a brand, a product, or an event. Let’s dive in.
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Step 1: Start with the Right Assets

Before opening any design tool, stop and collect your materials. Having the right assets upfront will streamline the entire ad design process and help ensure a consistent look and feel. Here’s what to ask from your sponsor or brand:
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• Logo files (preferably in PNG or SVG format)
• Brand fonts and color palette
• Key marketing messages or calls to action
• Images or product photos
• Any recent advertising materials (brochures, social posts, flyers)
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Even rough PDFs or screenshots are useful. The goal is to build a mini brand kit before you begin. This preparation turns the daunting blank page into a clear creative direction.

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Step 2: Use Canva Templates to Design Ads Easily

If you're new to graphic design, Canva is your best friend. It’s free to use, intuitive, and comes with hundreds of ad templates you can adapt for your sports advertisement.
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Start by choosing a leaderboard banner size (728x90 pixels). It’s not an exact match to LIGR’s ad specs, but it’s close enough to begin. Add your logo, text, image, and brand colors to make it your own.
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Design Tip: Good graphic ads are all about balance. Don’t overcrowd your layout. Leave space between elements and make sure your message is clear at a glance. Study ads from big brands like Nike or Apple to understand how they use simplicity and spacing effectively.
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Step 3: Resize to Fit All LIGR Ad Sizes

Once you’ve finalized your base design, it’s time to create ads for every format our LIGR platform supports. A complete sports ad set includes seven different sizes that vary in shape and aspect ratio. These can be grouped as:
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• Wide banners (used most often during play)
• Small banners (for subtle branding)
• Square banners (great for key messages or sponsor logos)
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Instead of designing from scratch each time, copy your original layout and adjust it to fit each format. You may need to tweak font sizes, reposition elements, or adjust the image crop, but keep the core design consistent across all sizes. This not only saves time but also strengthens brand recognition during the broadcast.
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Step 4: Finalize a Professional-Looking Graphic Ad Set

Think of your ad set as a cohesive team. Not every ad looks the same, but they all work together. Use the extra space in larger ad sizes to add more messaging, while keeping smaller formats clean and logo-focused. You can also test different messages across the set, like:
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• A headline in one size
• A product feature in another
• A promo offer in a third
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This variation keeps your sports ads fresh and avoids repetition fatigue during long games or multi-day tournaments.
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Step 5: Upload to LIGR Live

When your ad designs are ready, uploading them to LIGR is quick and easy. You have two options:
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• Upload directly from Canva using the LIGR integration. This is the smoothest way if you're designing inside Canva Pro.
• Export PNG files from Canva and manually upload them to LIGR Live.
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Important: Always export in PNG format at full quality. Avoid GIF or JPEG files, as they can introduce compression artifacts that degrade image quality, especially once compressed again in the livestream video. This attention to detail ensures your ads look crisp and professional when they appear live on screen.
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Step 6: Refresh Ads to Keep Fans and Sponsors Engaged

Just because your ads are live doesn’t mean the job is done. Regularly refreshing your sports advertisements is a simple way to boost performance, increase sponsor satisfaction, and avoid viewer fatigue.

Here’s how to refresh your ads with minimal effort:
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• Update the headline or message
• Swap out the background image
• Try a new color scheme
• Add a limited-time offer or event
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Small changes can make a big impact and show sponsors that their campaigns are being actively managed.
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Bonus Tip: Save each ad refresh as a new file in Canva, and create a new ad set in LIGR instead of replacing the old one. This way, you can compare performance over time or run multiple versions during the same broadcast.
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Why This Matters for Sports Advertising

In sports, attention is everything. Your graphic ads only have a few seconds to make an impression, so they need to be clear, well-designed, and tailored for the moment.

By using Canva and LIGR together, you can:
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• Design ads without hiring a designer
• Deliver professional-quality advertising to your sponsors
• Keep fans engaged with fresh, branded content
• Maximize the value of your broadcast inventory
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Want More Ad Design Tips?

Reach out to us directly if you’d like more information, examples, or detailed tutorials for any of the steps above. We’re here to help you make the most of your sports ads.