A few obvious yet vital statements to kick off. Fans are critical for sports and sports properties. Sponsors and broadcasters invest money to eventually monetise fans. Players play just as much for themselves and their teams as they do for the fans. This bit has held true since the time of gladiators battling in the colosseum – though the stakeholder were different and stakes much higher.
And now, technology is taking fan engagement to another level.
What role does technology play in engaging fans?
Mobile technology has revolutionised the way leagues and teams engaged with their fans- in stadia and remotely. This process accelerated during covid. I recently spoke with Filmily and Yinzcam around changes in fan engagement. One of our previous articles also touched upon how sports tech companies were approaching fan engagement.
There are three ways that technology has helped sports teams and leagues:
- Connect with fans throughout the year
- Enhance the live experience in stadium
- Immerse remote viewers in the live game
Companies like YinzCam build customised apps which allow teams to provide their fans with relevant curated content, check interactive scorecards during games and access free to play games. This allows fans who download these apps to stay directly connected with their teams even during the offseason. This in turn, augments the usual connect that teams build with fans via social media channels.
The same apps also improve the in-stadia experience by allowing virtual access to every part of the stadium in addition to ticketing and purchases. But this is just the starting point. The FIFA world cup augmented reality app allowed viewers to see data rich immersive content in 3D in their living rooms.
Whether at the stadium or home, fans could see real time performance analysis of games and players on their personal devices. And they could play immersive games which made them feel like a part of the action.
Similar advances have been made in third-party applications which allows betting and participation in fantasy leagues. These providers work completely independently but equally can be sponsors of sports properties and leagues as well.
What does this mean for teams and broadcasters or even sponsors?
Lots of usable data. A good example is Filmily which leverages user generated feeds (from stadiums or their homes) to create AI generated relevant fan moments and stories. These moments could also be displayed on giant screens in stadiums to engage fans.
However, the company also extracts significant data from these feeds (demographic, geographic, brand preferences) which is of use to sponsors and clubs. Clubs and sponsors are looking to better understand users and create/market content, products and campaigns which are highly personalised and segmented.
Furthermore, stadium owners are also leveraging AR and creating virtual museum experience in stadiums in North America. This is one more avenue of stadium usage during the off season.
How is fan engagement evolving?
Web3, NFT’s and Metaverse are poised to be a part of the future.
Web3 is at an early stage and faces some complexity challenges which can inhibit adoption. But there are examples of leagues exploring using decentralised autonomous organisations and NFTs to take fan votes into account and even give them a share of the licensing or property. The Australian Open has expanded its Artfall NFT from just a digital collection to a membership which provides tokens for use in real life.
The use of NFTs is already growing across sports (think NBA, ICC Cricket) – however this will have to happen in step with proper regulation when aiming to provide real world value.
The Metaverse is also an option as seen during the FIFA world cup where fans experienced games in the metaverse.
Rounding off…
Eventually, the manner in which leagues and sports IP holders engage with fans has to stay in step with social trends. Engagement has to be immersive but also bite sized. A large part of the 18-24 demographic wants something more beyond getting together and watching a live match. And there is enough content available 24/7 for sports to compete against.
Leagues and sports IP owners across the world from the NFL in America to the IPL in India to the AO in Australia have already realised this and hence fan engagement is more paramount than ever.
I love the company IDRO doing real time fatigue scores like in FIFA based on lactate sensing with a wearable
Thanks! I looked into IDRO and they are doing some cool things.