Love Story: The Inextricable Link Between Music & Sports

A reported 57.5 million Americans watched live sports in the past year.

Expected to climb a further 57% by 2025 (or 90 million), it’s clear to see live sports are experiencing a rising wave of new followers.

These metrics are built on platforms far beyond linear or streaming alone. Across all sports, Football captured 54% of all social media followers, 53% of social engagement, and 42% of social brand value. Why? One word. Fandom.

With a clear pathway to capitalize on hyper-focused fan bases, marketers are ready to seize any opportunity for involvement with live sports.

But that's not the point of this article.

Earlier this month, something truly extraordinary unfolded in the NFL - the "Taylor Swift Effect". Taylor Swift's surprise support and presence at her first Chiefs game ignited a crazy halo effect - Travis Kelce's 87 jersey sales went up by nearly 400%, Kelce’s podcast shot to #1 on the Apple charts. The following Chiefs game against the Jets raked in24 million viewers, making it the week’s most-watched show. In leaning into the Taylor-Effect, NBC sports used Carson Daly to air a Taylor-themed explanation of game rules to any new fans ready to support Travis.

Though Taylor’s presence at just one game was enough to generate revenue across the NFL board, it was the use of her iconic ‘Welcome To New York’ promoting the Jets hosting Kansas City in their promotions that really exemplified how music can elevate the excitement around the game.

Now, let's explore the science of this music/sport relationship.

Music’s Power in Sports, According to the Data

Research shows the use of motivating and stimulating music during exercise enhances mood, reduces perceived exertion, optimizes energy efficiency, and elevates overall performance.

This effect extends beyond endurance; even basketball players prone to faltering under pressure have shown improvement when they listen to upbeat music before stepping up to the free-throw line.

Basketball, for its part, is culturally entwined with hip hop - a symbiotic relationship that began as each was finding its footing in the late 1970s/80s. As we hit Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary, the genre is now the unmistakable soundtrack and heart of professional basketball and the culture of basketball worldwide - which is clear through its extensions into sports marketing, merchandising, or even ownership.

Lest we forget, Hip Hop culture made Nike cool.

As Jimmy King of Michigan’s Fab Five puts it, “Most basketball players want to be entertainers, and most entertainers want to be athletes. So we pay attention to each other”.

Music’s entanglement in sports teams is not exclusive to basketball or football. Consider Liverpool’s emotionally gripping link to Rogers and Hammerstein’s “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, or the Yankees to “New York, New York”. These tracks are unifying anthems.

Both sports and music have the unique ability to stir motivation, emotion, and physical energy - whether we’re passionately supporting our favorite teams or playing a game ourselves.

The Case for Marketing

For marketers, especially those investing in the sports space, the above learnings are a stark reminder: Investment in sports means an investment in the music that complements it.

When exposed to sports commercials, research participants found that those who watched with background music exhibited a heightened emotional response and had elevated levels of attention. A stark contrast to those who viewed narration-only versions.

According to a study in the International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, the inclusion of background music in sports marketing consistently translates into amplified brand connections and an increased inclination to make a purchase.

Similar to the fact that listening to bad music can decrease results during exercise, the right music needs to be harnessed when building out your creative to capture attention.

Each sport has its own style. Knowing the best type of music to fit the right kind of sport is crucial to building a formula for success. For example, the art of conveying your brand message to a hockey fan may not be the same as it would be to a soccer fan.


Wrapping Up

There is a plethora of sports marketing real estate that advertisers can utilize to drive deeper emotional connections with their audience - but for those aiming for a swift impact, it all starts with the right song.