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Sponsored Locations for Business
Drive foot traffic to your business through gameplay

By becoming a Sponsored Location, you access a broad audience of players. Players see your business on the game map and get fun gameplay and rewards for visiting your business.

The Sponsored Locations Program is temporarily suspended and we are no longer accepting new applications. If you are interested in nominating your small or medium sized business for future consideration, please complete the Sponsored Location Program Interest Form below:

Apply Now
With 1+ billion downloads globally, we attract diverse players [1]
  • 33
    Median Age
  • 43%
    25 - 44 year olds
  • 41%
    Female
  • 71%
    Households w/ Kids
What You Get

Feature your business as an in-game Sponsored Location

Drive location awareness and foot traffic through in-game locations that make it more fun to visit your business.

Share promotions in-game

Upload special offers, feature new products, and link to your website from within your Sponsored Location - like a virtual billboard.

Schedule mini-games

Schedule increased game activity at your location at specific times, when you want more players to visit. No physical event setup required.

Analytics

See aggregated metrics on how players engaged with your in-game location. As our players' privacy is important to us, we only share aggregated metrics, we don't provide access to individual player information.

How It Works

Easy Setup

  1. Apply to the Sponsored Location Program*

    Apply in minutes. If you are accepted, you will be notified when the program is live to complete the setup of your Sponsored Location.*

  2. Setup your location to appear in-game

    Once approved, set up your location in Pokémon GO (and more games to come in the future!). Players will see and visit your Sponsored Location while playing in the real world.

  3. Optimize your results

    Optimize your promotions to drive more transactions, and schedule extra traffic at desired times–spend as much or as little effort as you’d like!

*Sponsored Location Program application is currently closed. You may express interest through the Sponsored Location Program Interest Form above.

**Please refer to eligibility requirements.

Be Part of the Community
Being in Pokémon GO has been a great experience for our store. We’ve reached new customers and created new friendships through our Sponsored Location.
Margiori Bonini, Owner at GelatoGO Orlando
I love being able to support the local Pokémon GO Community with my sponsored gym location. This exposes my business to a group of people out to have fun and my gift shop is all about having fun!
Sherilene Catanach, Owner at Sea Things Ventura
Customers love that we have a presence in the game! It shows we're integrated into the local community and that we support them to come to our store to visit and play! Being able to increase gameplay through Raids, also means we can control when more players show up!
James Grasso, Owner at Recess Games
Much of our customers have moved online but Pokémon GO brings people back out into the world exploring small businesses like ourselves. What's really surprising is how diverse the player community is, and it's really cool seeing them playing inside or outside our business.
Wendy Kawada, Director of Operations at Kasa Indian Eatery
Working with Niantic on the Pokémon GO small business program has been a great experience all around for my company. We have seen an increase in traffic for the store that has brought in customers for both Pokémon and non-Pokémon related products.
Daniel Mercurio, Owner at Boom Tube Comics
Frequently Asked Questions
  • + - Can a business have multiple Niantic Sponsored Locations?
    A business can have one Niantic Sponsored Location for each physical location the business operates, up to 30 locations (each additional location incurs subscription fees). For businesses with more locations, please contact us.
  • + - What is the difference between a “standard location” and a “premium location”?
    A premium location attempts to attract more attention by being more visually and mechanically important to a player than a standard location. Specific mechanics differ on a per game basis. In the case of Pokémon GO, a standard location is a PokéStop and a premium location is a Gym.
  • + - What is a promotion?
    A promotion allows businesses to feature special promotions, new products, or seasonal content in addition to the main in-game location description and image–think of it as an extra virtual billboard space on your in-game location! Depending on the plan tier, businesses can change their promo campaign up to once or twice within a calendar month.
  • + - Who will be able to see and interact with my Sponsored Location?
    Currently, players of Niantic games who are within roughly 0.3 miles (~500 meters) of your business’ physical location are able to view your in-game location. This will differ based on the game mechanics and game map. However, only players within 40-50 meters of the Sponsored Location are able to obtain game experiences and rewards from it, and would count as an engaged visit in game.
  • + - What if I have more questions?
    For press inquiries, please reach out to press@nianticlabs.com. For general business inquiries relating to sponsorship, please contact us.
  1. 1 All demographics are based on US player demographics in 2018, collected via surveys by Frank N. Magid Associates. Niantic cannot guarantee the accuracy of third party surveys.
  2. 2 Pricing for the U.S. only, as the Sponsored Locations Program is currently exclusively available in the U.S. only. Sponsored Locations Program availability, pricing, and associated offerings in other countries are to be determined.