It seems funny to say after a Summer involving the Euros and the Olympics, but sport is back! At least that’s how it might feel for a lot of fans. COVID-19 hugely disrupted the industry, with the majority of fans only just getting their first taste of live action this season after 18 months out.
Sport is an important routine for many who visit their favourite clubs regularly and they are a vital lifeline for communities too. With fans once again enjoying sport in stadiums and pubs, there is huge pent-up demand.
The global sports market was worth over $388bn globally in 2020, offering businesses lots of potential to capitalise on the passion of fans who are the engine room of the industry. Post-pandemic, here are some of the best brands re-engaging fans and enhancing their experience:
IQONIQ
Even before the pandemic, fan engagement was changing. Younger generations, with a digital-first mindset, have led the growth of social media interactions with sport, the rise of eSports and digital content consumption to get them closer to their favourite sports stars and teams. The pandemic has accelerated this trend and IQONIQ is one of the leading brands to support fans through the digital transformation of the industry.
IQONIQ is facilitating fan engagement by combining all the modern-day features of fandom into a single, all-in-one platform across a range of sports including cricket, football, rugby, e-sports, Formula 1 and more. Recent partnership announcements including with London-based esports and gaming tournament organiser, Gfinity, and a three-year global licensing agreement with Spanish top flight division La Liga, are signs of an exciting future for IQONIQ.
Supponor
With fans restricted from attending live games during the pandemic and priced out of regular matchday tickets, they are increasingly turning to TV. That’s why the value of sports broadcasting has grown significantly – the 2021/22 football season alone is now reportedly worth more than $10bn to European broadcasters.
Supponor is successfully helping to connect brands with highly engaged international and multi-lingual fans. Supponor, a virtual advertising firm, offers rights holders world-leading end-to-end marketing communications solutions that personalise advertising hoardings at sporting fixtures in real-time. technology has successfully revolutionised sports advertising across a number of sports including hockey and basketball, and is expanding with commercial partnerships with La Liga since 2015 and the Bundesliga since 2018.
Sport Buff is helping brands to cater to the next generation of fans by creating unique and fun in-play gaming experiences. Brands can monetise the audience directly through transactions and sponsorship. Sport Buff’s gaming solutions offer brands the chance to enhance the online match experience while also creating new ad revenue streams that can be tailored to a variety of languages, platforms, properties and regions.
Football fans are constantly hungry for the latest updates from their favourite teams and players. In a fast-paced industry like sport, media has to be gathered, prepped and approved in minutes.
Chorus is Third Light’s solution for supporting commercial sports teams – including resilient file syncing, built-in metadata and AI tagging – helping brands to reach and engage huge social media fanbases at scale and at speed. A number of prestigious brands are already successfully using Chorus’s agile production tools to drive fan engagement including FIFA World Cup 2022, AS Roma FC, Southampton FC and Nascar.
If you’d be interested in discussing how we could help raise your organisation’s profile why not get in touch today to discuss how our award-winning team could support you.
