Why fan engagement practices are important in sports?
Can any sports survive without fans? They are the reason why some sports are extremely popular while others are not so much. Whether they are in the stadiums, on their sofas at home, or office, fans would be rooting for their team while they live stream the match. Fans are the reason why some teams play with so much passion and determination that they win against all odds. If you would remember during the pandemic, to give players the feel of playing in front of a live audience when mass gatherings was prohibited, cardboard cutouts were placed in the stadiums to motivate them.
Well, you must be wondering why we are so enthusiastic about fans, the reason is we are going to look at how fan engagement technology has reinvented the future of sports. If we look at the history of Fan engagement in sports it can date back to ancient Greece, where only a few practices were there now technology has revolutionized the way teams engage with their fans.
Entertainment and experience are given their due importance and more and more money is being poured in to come up with more ways to engage with the fans and generate revenue. Here are a few reasons why:
TV and its diminishing viewership
The sports industry gets a sizable amount of revenue from media rights and a world where live game broadcasts are extremely important. But fans say this is not enough, the number of fans watching the games live has been steadily decreasing, and the 2018-19 Champions League football match had just 1.3 billion viewers as opposed to two billion in the past. During the Champions League television audience faced a gradual fall of 35% in a single year.
It is a fact because of so much advancement, fans have a number of options for entertainment, for many viewers television has lost its relevance and thus calls for innovations by organizations to ensure their survival. The way sports media consumption is done has undergone a significant change and companies need to evolve as well, a change is required in broadcast experience even the in-stadium experience. Digital transformation holds the key to fan engagement.
Shorter attention span of the audience
The sports media organization has to consider the audience’s behavior as well. Their attention span is declining and the fans base needs information quickly as well as it needs to be informative or they would likely switch. Many innovative ideas are already being employed by teams as they depend on augmented reality and artificial intelligence to engage their fans digitally. That is because AR and AI cater to shorter attention spans and improve the fan experience, through personalization, and gamification.
Sports Fans want to be entertained not just by sports
Well, the reality is sport is not about just sports anymore, the level of engagement needed to keep viewers on the app or website has undergone a massive increase. Sports fan engagement ultimately will boil down to money. A team if it engages with the fans regularly through a vast mode of communication it has at its disposal, would increase fan loyalty ultimately. Thus teams would have a better chance of selling out at every match or even improving sales of their merchandise.
Gameplan Insights back in 2018 conducted a Sports Fan Engagement Marketing study and released some shocking results in their report. As per the research, 60% of sports fans will be willing to pay more from their pocket if it offers experiences with their favorite athletes or teams.
While we continuously talk about how sports fan engagement is the golden rule of the future in sports but what are the strategies that can maximize fan engagement?
Leverage technology to make better memories for fans
Explore the benefits of personalized experiences with AI, AR, and all the technological advancements the world has made to elevate the experience of sports fans. A better understanding of fans' behaviors and motivators would play a crucial role in developing strategies that can target fans one-to-one.
Elevating live experience
When should you try engagement strategies? All season long would be a good answer but an expensive one, but if a specific time needs to be targeted, teams need to amp up their engagement strategies a few days before the match itself. From promotions, and deals, to exclusive content, inclusive VR experience and gaming would all count as good strategies to engage the fans. This would truly give the whole live experience to a level above which would motivate fans to join in the fun again and again.
Social media connections and targeting
The way teams and organizations connected with the fans during the pandemic has transformed the way of communication. From real-time video feeds of fans running on the big screen to having cut-out representation of fans on the seat became a real thing, teams, later on, allowed fans to even purchase the cutouts of not just themselves, but even of family members, friends, or their pets. All this drove the players as well who were playing in silent stadiums with no one to cheer them on.
The entire sports industry has undergone a massive transformation in its approach towards fans, earlier with few competitions and distractions not a lot of effort was needed but with the coming of the digital era, to attract fans they need to think outside of the box to stay relevant.
To succeed now you would need access to online sports data to customize your fan engagement strategies and for that data, Data Sports Group is the best sports data provider in the market that can help you through the process. Contact the team to learn more about how fan engagement is the way forward!
