The concept of sports fandom can be traced back to ancient Europe with the first Olympic games in Greece and Roman gladiator battles — and ever since, people have gathered to watch, cheer, and celebrate athletic performance.
However, in recent years, sports content providers have arrived at a profound understanding of how fan engagement plays an essential role in the business and commercialization of sports.
A marketing strategy developing relationships and emotional connections between sports brands and consumers has one primary goal: monetization opportunities.
New technologies, trends, and applications have provided sports brands with new engagement tools. Still, they’ve also caused significant shifts in consumer behavior — forcing brands through trial and error processes.
Sports brands must adapt their production and digital advertising strategies to satisfy these new needs. Short-form video has required more creativity in general storytelling and specific angles as brands scramble to pump out brief, compelling content.
The new algorithms powering organic content distribution in social media have raised the entry barrier for content creators and brands by optimizing for high-quality and original content.
These algo’s prevent brands from going viral with low-quality or bait content and leveling up the competition for attention.
We spoke with world-class, data-driven companies such as Playmaker, Nielsen, Endeavor, and LaLiga Tech to understand their approach to the new fan-engagement challenges and its foundational principles.
With fierce competition for attention, the companies willing to invest resources and step out of their comfort zones to create authentic relationships with fans will, ultimately, be the champions of the new era of fan engagement.
Want to learn more? Check out the full fan engagement report here.
ICYMI: Last week, we published a new Report on the booming sports nutrition market. You can access that report and our entire catalog of research at Pro HQ.
