The Future of the Fan Industries
There are industries where being customer-centric just isn’t enough, because they don’t have customers, they have fans.
Across sport, music, gaming and culture, success and failure is driven in large part by what fans are thinking, and how much they stay caring. That creates huge possibilities, as well as a delicate balancing act.
In 2022 all these industries also face huge disruption. Fans are more powerful but also often less loyal in the face of so many other options for entertainment and engagement. The web3 world opens up new possibilities but also breaks old models. It’s already beginning to change how we engage, discover, broadcast, share and pay for sport and media content.
Don’t believe me? Then why is it a Dota 2 winner takes away 50% more in prize money than you get for winning Wimbledon, the most prestigious tournament in tennis?
The core of the new model is something that links what fans care about, what the organisation is good at, what it is or can get paid for, and what the world needs. Link only two of these things and you have interesting passion projects, sensible tactical initiatives, worthy impact projects or even a real sense of mission. Link them all and you have the opportunity for a new and quite different future.
Want a taste of that? Then check out the Savannah Bananas. A baseball team literally reinventing America’s pastime from the ground up. Or how about what Overtime Elite is doing to shake up the stranglehold the NCAA has had on college sporting superstars?
We believe there is a huge array of opportunities in how sport, music, gaming and culture industries can better engage with their fans, find new revenue streams for them and their players while also creating a more engaging and sustainable industry. It just takes a different way of looking at your world.
In recent months Label Ventures, Irregular Studio and Studio Something have been working with more and more brands in these fan industries. We’re running accelerator programmes to understand the new model and build out strategies and ventures in response.
Interested in exploring more? Drop us a line and let’s set up a chat.
