The DataPOWA view on the most important talking points in the worlds of sport sponsorship and digital.
TECH CAN SOLVE COLLEGE FOOTBALL’S ATTENDANCE ISSUE
With college football attendance in the US dropping, TechCrunch looks at the role technology could play in bringing the numbers back up.
Ticket sales are at a 22-year-low, but teams are now starting to look at disruptive means to get people into their stadiums, and TechCrunch notes that this offers hope for the future.
Jesse Lawrence writes: “At the start of the 2019 season… the majority of top 25 teams [have started] moving away from their reliance on 3rd-party distribution via the secondary ticket market and inside season-ticket sales.
“While the ticket category is estimated to be around $20 billion across both the primary and secondary markets, if that number is going to grow over the next decade, direct team and artist brands will likely have to lead the charge by taking a page out of the DTC brands playbook.
Of marketing in general, Lawrence adds: “In addition to leveraging performance-based marketing channels like Facebook, Instagram and Google, schools will also need to move away from a one-size-fits-all message and focus on hyper-targeting consumer with new and more personalized products than ever before.”
For more on this story, please visit TechCrunch
ESPORTS EXPENSIVE FOR NON-ENDEMICS
Non-endemic brands overpay for esports sponsorship, new research has found.
The esports industry has boomed over the last few years, with brands from all categories getting involved. For many, it’s proved a lucrative investment, unlocking audiences who are becoming more and more difficult to access. But some aren’t getting full value.
Sportcal research found that only $3.5 million of the $78.05 million investment comes from the gaming and gambling sector. Consumer goods brands contribute the most – around $21.8 million – tech firms offer around $15.9 million and clothing companies spent $13.35 million.
Sportcal’s Head of Sponsorship, Conrad Wiacek, said the results suggest many brands aren’t fully aware of what they’re getting into, but added that there may be a longer term strategy at play.
“The brand benefit from these sponsorships is in growing their awareness and visibility among a devoted and engaged audience, helping them to find and develop new brand advocates.”
For more on this story, please visit Consultancy.uk
HOW CAN BRANDS DRIVE GREATER SPONSORSHIP RETURNS
With the price of top-tier sponsorship soaring, what can brands do drive the strongest return on investment?
That’s the question asked by Marketing Week’s Harry Lang. Noting that sponsorship costs for the biggest teams in football are now “gut-knottingly insane”, Lang argues that women’s sport offers an incredible opportunity.
“The rapid (belated) growth in women’s sport has opened up a new, better-value and highly targeted proposition to brands priced out of the male sports market,” Lang writes.
“The fallacy that only women are interested in women’s sport has, according to Nielsen’s 2018 Women’s Sports research, been firmly debunked: 84% of sports fans are interested in women’s sports, with 66% of the US, UK, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Australian and New Zealand populations interested in at least one women’s sport.
“For now, the disparity in earnings and media coverage look disproportionately unfair. But for those businesses without media myopia looking to build brand awareness, identity and advocacy whilst telling a compelling and original brand story, women’s sport sponsorship is the low-hanging fruit that looks likely to bloom into significantly greater ROI than its male counterpart over the coming decade.”
For more on this story, please visit Marketing Week
LIVERPOOL LOOK TO TECH TO DRIVE AWARENESS
Liverpool will invest £16million in technology designed to improve the fan experience.
The European champions have recently launched a new ‘Brand Liverpool’ concept that aims to bring the club to more fans around the world. A key part of that will be technology, with CEO Peter Moore saying it’s the best way to get the word out.
“You can’t reach out to 771 million people without technology,” he said.
“We’re investing £16m over the next three years in rebuilding all our mobile offerings, our web offerings, global billing systems, customer service (etc) all so we can try and talk and add value to these fans’ experiences.”
For more on this story, please visit Business Cloud
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