What is sports marketing?
The million-dollar question we must first ask ourselves is ‘What is sports marketing?’. If you google that exact question you get a little blurb from Wikipedia that pops and says “Sports marketing is a subdivision of marketing which focuses both on the promotion of sports events and teams as well as the promotion of other products and services through sporting events and teams”.
When I think of sports marketing I associate the brand of the team with the excitement, enjoyment and admiration that fans kill for and think of when they think of their favorite sports team. The sports marketing umbrella covers many different sectors such as broadcasting, advertising, social media, digital platforms, ticket sales, and community.
As a sports marketing intern at the University of Montana, I have learned so much about what goes into marketing sporting events. I really never thought of everything that goes into the games behind the scenes before, during or after the games. From my experience, I would break sports marketing into 3 important main categories: Social Media engagement, content is the golden egg and promotions to get the butts in the seats.
1. Social Media Engagement
Social media engagement is one of best ways to get the fans interested in what is going on with the team and keep them up to date on what is going on. By engaging fans via social media, marketers can now reach audiences through new communication channels which is huge! This builds up a brand affinity and loyalty for the audience but also the sports teams and players. most sports teams release a game day graphic where they give fans information on the game. This gives the fan everything they need to know on their Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram page. For example, the Dallas Cowboys did a good job with this last season. They would announce the date of the game, kickoff time, and the location of the game.
Nowadays, millennials get their news from their social media sites and because of this sports marketers are having to find new ways to market in a whole new way. In order to get millennials into the game again and eventually get them to buy a ticket that have to appeal to them and that is through social media.
A huge challenge that the sports marketing industry faces when it comes to social media engagement is how to measure the value social media offers to its fans beyond page views and unique user data. “Increasingly we are building social media benefits into sponsorship contracts, but it’s a mistake to measure it in a narrow vertical, saying that you have spent so much on Twitter and asking what you’re getting back for that,” Mr. Lichtenhein, the PGA European Tour’s head of television, digital media and technology stated in a Telegraph article about a year ago. “You have to look more holistically in terms of how it adds value to the brand, its audience reach. An investment in digital media may come back through other revenue streams. The more popular your product is, the better rights values you can attract.” Finding a way for companies like the PGA European tour to value their social media posts outside of pure page views, clicks and likes is something they are obviously working on but at this point in time. In my opinion, companies should focus more on delivering engagement and value to the fan.
2. Content
Good content is like the golden egg at the Easter egg hunt, everyone ones that one egg but it is just so hard to find. For a sports marketer, content is what will keep the fans coming back for more information and knowledge on the team they are following. Finding things to write about that fans will keep coming back for is a fine line to walk. You want to give them enough information to get them to come to the games but not so much information that they will not even read the content.
We run into this a lot when we post on social media to remind fans of upcoming games and events. Is it better to put everything on the post or should we put it on the graphic? If it is on the graphic do we need to mention it in the post? Will it be more effective if we say it more than once or is that too much? Will the fans even pay attention to this if we post it? All of these things run through our minds when we are scheduling out posts and trying to get people to like and share the posts let alone get them to games. Finding the right balance when it comes to content and the amount of content is a problem that virtually any sports marketer faces.
3. Promotions
In the past couple years as I have started college and going to more sporting events I have noticed all of the promotions that sports teams do these days. It seems like anymore there are promotions at every game to get more butts in the seats. Promotions ultimately are used to get the fans to the stadium and engaged in some sort of way. Fans live for the opportunity to win prizes, share their opinions through social media, and gain exclusive deals for signing up for promotions.
This past baseball season, CBS Sports ranked the best 2016 MLB ballpark promotions. The number one promotion was on April 30 when the Athletics gave away Sean Doolittle Metallica gnomes that came with sound effects. The first 15,000 fans received the gnomes and continued to head bang as the game started along to some good ‘ol Metallica.
Promotions are one the biggest things that are going to drive people to games and this is definitely something we have found in the athletic department at Montana. We have noticed we get way more students in the stands when we offer free hats or t-shirts as an incentive to get to the games. But these days it is the same for professional teams, people are more incentivized to attend a game if they get something out of it besides the sports experience.
The Future of Sports Marketing
In my opinion the sports marketing industry faces three major changes in the next year, five years, and even ten years. Just like the world is ever changing, the sports marketing industry will follow suit. Things that were popular and normal five years ago will be irrelevant in the future.
- The first hurdle that the sports marketing industry will have to deal with will pertain to who will control the narrative in the oncoming years? Just as they have in the past couple of years, sports influencers will continue to become popular. It is through social marketing that we will be able to enable influential people in sports to sell products directly to their fans. A good example of this is the Sprite commercial that has come out within the last year where Lebron James tells you that he won’t tell you to drink the sprite. But I bet a lot of basketball fans started drinking Sprite because well Lebron drinks Sprite obviously!
It used to be that a brand like Sprite had to have deep pockets and wide distribution to launch a new product, now they can do it by leveraging the networks of influential people. The key to any form of endorsement is authenticity and many fans will not put up with deceitful product recommendations. Basically smart brands will ensure the athlete likes and uses their product or service to not make the fans feel as though they are being cheated in any way. But this doesn’t just apply to big companies anymore. Small companies are increasingly sponsoring up and coming athletes, coaches, and trainers with large networks in hopes that they will influence their fans to buy their products. This hasn’t happened before because small companies couldn’t afford famous athletes and didn’t want to work with undiscovered athletes who had no means to create a community around their personal brand. That’s all changed. Now if an up and coming athlete has a decent following then they have a good chance to be the face of something!
2. The second thing that sports marketers will face in the future will be how to define their brand and their fan experience. The fan experience will matter more than ever in the upcoming years. There is an opportunity to experience massive growth and an opportunity to extend brands into new territories.
The focus will now be put on the entire experience of the fans which will happen when they first step through the gates and continue throughout the event. This will be a great opportunity for companies to associate themselves with the fan’s favorite team, making their experience amplified. This can be done by organizations getting to know their fans through demographics and preferences of the fans to build a brand experience. A Forbes article recommends that organizations collect this data through transaction data, social media data, and fan profile data. “In some cases, this information may be easily and readily available, such as age of season ticket holders. In other instances, we may need additional business processes in order to collect or capture these data points.”
The sports industry is constantly evolving and for the sports marketing industry to keep up they must evolve with the times and realize they have a huge influence on the sports industry. J.D. Power just conducted a study on fan experience from professional sports franchises in New York, Los Angeles, Houston and Chicago. With over 5700 responses, the study is able to help these franchises to work on their fan experiences. It would not surprise me if very soon more franchises are doing this same exact thing.
3. The third and final way that sports marketing is going to have to grow is related to how they can we make sure that the live experience remains relevant in a technology-driven world. Many organizations are doing this by finding new ways to appeal to the fans. For example, the Cleveland Cavaliers are doing some amazing work in their communities and the communities around Cleveland. In one of the biggest underdog stories in NBA finals history, the Cavs continually make investments to connect their community, including those who do not have a seat in the stadium, with the game. From viewing parties that raised money for local charities to inviting local vendors to participate in the festivities, the Cavaliers scored big with their community by bringing them along. Good deeds like this show that they care about their community and is likely to drive more people to attend the games. By showing love to the community they will receive love in return.
Sports Marketing is constantly evolving and because of this the sports industry is expected to turn a revenue of $73.5 billion by 2019. The battle between stadiums and online streaming for customer attention will continue to be a relevant topic for many years to come. By bringing in new technology and seating styles, the stadiums are trying to offer more incentives for a fan to watch the game at the stadium rather than behind their mobile device. The Miami Dolphins are an example of a franchise that is dedicated time and resources by renovating the stadium with new seating. This new seating will include “living rooms”, upgraded suits and enhance, high quality concessions.
This article was written by Hayley Bingham. Hayley is a senior studying management and marketing at the University of Montana. She grew up in Dallas, Texas and enjoys sports, photography and hiking.
