SNY to Promote "SportsNite" in Rival Yankees Territory SNY wants more viewers for its "Geico SportsNite" show. So it is aggressively trawling for them on what appears on enemy territory for the Mets-owned network: along the walls of the 161st Street subway station in the Bronx, where the B, D and 4 trains disgorge fans heading into Yankee Stadium. The SNY campaign, which will start Monday, makes its case for the "SportsNite" show's half-hour of local sports coverage by using dolls and figurines wearing real or ersatz New York team uniforms. The eight ads show the little tchotchkes extremely distressed that fans wait for a few minutes of local sports coverage at the end of the 10 or 11 p.m. news; sift through ESPN's "SportsCenter" for news of their teams; or watch MSG or the YES Network, which focus on the teams they carry but have no local news show like "SportsNite." A stuffed bear in a fake Devils uniform, and a pair of scissors in its paws, has its head cut off. "Don't mortify your memorabilia by watching a channel that only covers two NY teams," the ad warns. In another, a knitted doll, in fake Giants togs, sits on a sofa partly unraveled. "Don't depress your dolls by sitting thru coverage of every team to get to yours," the ad suggests. In all, 117 posters will be plastered throughout the station in July and August - some as small as 31 inches by 19 inches and some as large as 56 by 176. "Think about what "SportsNite" is," said Steve Raab, the president of SNY. Why wouldn't we go to that subway station? In the summer, if we're going to do an outdoor campaign, we want to go where the sports fans are. He added: "This isn't about the Mets" network trying to co-opt Yankee fans. This is a regional sports network that has always positioned itself as the home of all things New York sports, taking the program that is most representative of that positioning and going for sports fans. There is room for more viewers for "SportsNite." Since January, the show has averaged about 40,000 viewers each night, from 10:30 p.m. Eastern, its first live showing, to 1:30 a.m., after its four live updates. Randy Levine, the president of the Yankees, showed no distress at SNY's Bronx marketing push. "There's no such thing as any kind of turf," he said. But I give SNY credit. When you're a consistent No. 3 network, you shoot for No. Since it started in 2006, SNY has tried to differentiate itself from YES and MSG with "SportsNite," which boasts of its coverage of all local teams. MSG once had a strong nightly news show that did not focus fully on the teams it carries, like the Knicks and the Rangers. YES, which carries the Nets in addition to the Yankees, views a "SportsNite"-like show as expensive and unnecessary. Raab said that "SportsNite" has gotten enough credit for what it has done. "When we do focus groups and show "SportsNite," the response of "That's what I want," always comes back," he said. The subway ads build off a continuing television campaign with the same theme: in one, a depressed Jets figurine toothbrush leaps into a toilet rather than watch the sports fan in his house watch a channel where only two New York teams matter. In a second, a fake Yankees bobblehead jumps to his demise from an apartment building ledge because the woman inside prefers a "lousy 90 seconds of coverage instead of all night long on "Geico SportsNite." " All four commercials have the tagline: "Keep your sports stuff happy." In the commercials and ads, SNY does not use the names or logos of teams it does not have the rights to. So the hockey bobblehead with its head stuck in a waffle iron has Islanders colors but not the name. SNY also carries some Jets programming, in addition to Mets games. So the Jets toothbrush, and the Jets doll trying to escape through a window in one of the subway ads, wear the team's logo. "Don't chase out your collectibles," it says, "by watching a channel that only covers two NY teams."