I grew up loving the Patriots, and like most sports fans, my fandom has always extended beyond the games themselves. As a teenager I was a devout SportsCenter viewer, hungry for anything I could
consume on the Pats’ strategy and performance. I even watched the draft, years before it evolved into today’s media spectacle.
But I always wanted more.
Now, I am one of the millions tuning in for this year’s draft, obsessing over every decision, but now I’m no longer limited to TV content.
While
watching the draft, I’ll scroll through Twitter to get running commentary. And I’ll turn to YouTube to lookup highlight reels of rookies’ college days — and maybe how to
prepare another round of appetizers for my draft party guests.
Digital media has transformed what it means to be a sports fan. It has also transformed how marketers should
think about their consumers.
advertisement
advertisement
TV sports viewership is declining. Ratings dropped by 12% in 2017, according to Pivotal Research. Even football, the most popular sport on TV, saw a
10% ratings decrease in 2017, following an 8% drop the year before. And by 2021, Variety estimates, 30% of American adults won’t subscribe to traditional TV at
all.
But people aren’t turning away from sports altogether — they’re just turning to their favorite video environments, including YouTube, where sports content
thrives. In fact, there were more than 50 billion sports videos on the platform in 2014, and this year, there’s projected to be around 600 billion — an astronomical six-fold
increase.
Marketers need to understand changing consumer behavior and rethink their media and content strategy. Many of the 300 billion sports videos on YouTube look nothing
like what’s found on TV. While there are still highlights, recaps, and bloopers, sports content on digital largely turns around intersections with other genres.
Food
is a premier example of this overlap, with creators and fans sharing everything from Super Bowl recipe inspiration to game-day food challenges. These videos are wildly popular — food-related
sports content is growing 80% year-over-year.
There are also more than 40 billion videos on YouTube straddling the gaming and sports spaces, and they’re pushing
creative boundaries, with videos of fans predicting the Super Bowl winner by playing Madden, and others trying to recreate FIFA ’18 moves in real life. These videos are reaching a younger (and
for marketers, harder to reach) audiences while the TV viewership for sports is skewing older and older.
Online sports communities also offer athletes the chance to create content
and connect with their fans. Many are tapping into YouTube to connect with fans on a more personal level, such as Kevin Durant’s Q&As, and Richard Sherman’s challenge
videos.
Sports brands no longer have to invest heavily on TV to join the sports conversation, and those who break away from the traditional model of budget-straining Super
Bowl commercials and jersey logos can win big through digital video. And for smaller brands who can’t swing paying for TV time, there are more opportunities than ever to connect with their
audiences through digital.
To ensure you’re not missing out on opportunities to reach your audience and fans, think outside the traditional marketing playbook, and go
where the audience is.
And as always, go Pats.