Today, sports fans demand a more rewarding, multi-channel relationship with sports clubs, leagues, and federations. The more these organisations understand the fans, the better they can engage them with personalised content. This is a fundamental shift, and technology is the key to unlocking fan engagement.
The Rise Of Fantasy Sports
In this week’s community piece, iSPORTCONNECT’s Raghav Chawla looks at the constant rise of Fantasy Sports.
The idea of creating a team and managing it by picking up the players of your choice from the sport that you love the most in itself is very satisfying.
Unlike other eSports, Fantasy is dependent on the actualities which make it so significant and unique. With the rise in internet accessibility, this Sport has only witnessed a seamless growth in terms of popularity.
The major factors that contribute to the popularity of Fantasy are:
- The increasing popularity of players in various sports.
- A growth of investment in the internet infrastructure.
- The launching of various fantasy sports’ applications.
Covid-19 has had a positive impact on Fantasy Sports’ Market, as more and more people are isolating themselves, the demand for online gaming platform has significantly increased.
Since the players are not required to interact physically with the fellow players, the current scenario for the game couldn’t have been any better.
The fantasy sports market is expected to register a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 5% over the forecast period 2020-2025.
Impact on viewership
“Fantasy sports is a powerful fan engagement tool to increase sports consumption”- John Loffhagen, ex-chairman, Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS)
Fantasy sports games has a great impact on the “user” i.e. the player, it leaves him/her more excited for a game than the game alone could ever have. Every second of every game counts regardless of who is playing and what the score is, and as a result, fans consume more sports content across all media platforms once they start playing.
No game seems to be one-sided for a Fantasy player, as the points are based on a player’s individual performance rather than the team’s performance, due to which every game feels like a nail-biter.
Being a Premier League fan myself, I do play the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) against 7.6 million players. Watching every game makes more sense now because the Fantasy’s team performance is based on the players’ performance which is not limited to an individual club. “Out-of-market” sports packages feel more relevant than ever.
According to a survey conducted by the FIFS, more users are spending more time on various sports. Among the 1,434 respondents who engage with online fantasy sports, stated that around 60% of users claim to now follow sports more than before because of fantasy sports. 87% of those who play fantasy sports claim that they now research more information to be able to make a better strategy when playing fantasy sports.
Around 59% have started watching new types of sports because of their interest in fantasy sports. After starting to play fantasy sports, 48% of users now watch every game irrespective of the team. 38% of users lookup social media updates as sources of information for sports content. Television remains the primary source for watching various sports with 51% claiming to consume sports content for more than five hours a week after playing fantasy sports.
Major players in the world of Fantasy
The points below show the kind of impact that has already been made by a few of the big companies in the Global Fantasy Sports Industry:
DraftKings and FanDuel has partnerships with the NFL, Bleacher Report, NASCAR, UFC, Madison Square Garden, Staples Center, and 45 sports teams from the four major sports (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL)
Mobile Premier League (MPL) has recently replaced Nike as the new apparel sponsor of the Indian Cricket Team. It is a three-year deal worth US$ 16.18 million. BCCI will also get a revenue share of 10% of every jersey or merchandise sold by MPL.
Dream11 won the IPL 2020 title sponsorship for US$ 29.74 million.
Gambling or not, it seems all uphill for Fantasy Sports gaming.
Lessons from Digital Native Media Companies: Amazon Prime, ZEE5, France Télécom
The past decade has seen an influx of digital-native media companies which have thrived completely online. These are companies that have scaled up without the legacy infrastructure that their traditional counterparts have long relied on (and now have to wean themselves off).
The proliferation of digital-native media companies can be largely attributed to shifting demographics and consumption patterns. Today, millennials often dictate the trends and technologies of the time as they form a large part of the consumer base. As a generation, they gravitate towards digital platforms to access
information on the go.
This not only enables them to control what they consume but also lets them share their choicest picks with friends. It is little wonder then that millennials end up spending far less time and money on traditional linear and recorded media than online services.
As content consumption patterns skew towards purely digital channels, digital native media houses seem set to rule the roost. The adaptive capabilities of such enterprises lend them a competitive edge over their legacy counterparts.
LDN UTD Adds Rambo As Advisor And Ambassador
LDN UTD, the esports org that unites gaming and esports with social responsibility, has announced its latest Ambassador, Rambo, who has joined as lead FIFA content creator, on camera host and social impact advisor.
LDN UTD has addressed issues such as knife crime, nutrition and loneliness through the medium of physical and online esports events, and last month hosted a six hour #UTDAgainstRacism stream in partnership with Leyton Orient FC and Kingston Race & Equalities Council.
Rambo has presented the Premier League’s hit FPL show – FPLFYI along with the action-packed footballer interview led series, Uncut. Both feature on the Premier League’s YouTube channel which boasts over 105 million views. Rambo has regularly appeared on the Radio 5 Live show The Squad and on Sky Sports’ Saturday Social. As an avid FIFA player, he is looking forward to engaging with the LDN UTD community on interactive campaigns, with the first to be a FIFA 21 Career Mode series which will include assistant manager interviews with some of the biggest names in the FIFA community.
As part of Rambo’s Ambassador role, he will also be fronting a number of LDN UTD streams going forward, starting with the LDN UTD Inter-Borough Esports Championships which will be revealed next month. Additionally, Rambo will partake in the LDN UTD Social Impact Think Tank that will meet regularly to determine the most effective and innovative ways to address societal issues using the LDN UTD platform.
Jacob Harrison, Chief Gaming Officer of LDN UTD said: “From the first conversation with Rambo, we knew we were aligned on the vision and how LDN UTD can address societal issues using the mediums of gaming and esports. We are pleased to welcome Rambo to our squad, where we know not only will he play a major role in engaging the community with innovative content, but he’ll provide a valuable voice in determining our strategy going forward.”
Rambo said: “LDN UTD cares a lot about the things every single person should care about. That honest desire to want to do something means a lot to me and continues in every conversation I have with the team. I’m incredibly excited to be a part of this journey in making a difference in a way that we all can understand and appreciate. We can all do more and this is the perfect opportunity for me to turn my words into actions. I’m thrilled to be on board!.”
£1million Covid-19 #Funds4Runs Initiative Launched By ECB And LV= General Insurance
The England and Wales Cricket Board and LV= General Insurance have today launched #Funds4Runs – a pioneering initiative aimed at helping the grassroots cricket community recover and rebuild financially following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The £1m investment, jointly funded by the ECB and LV=GI, will focus on key areas where access to cricket support or cricket itself has been limited – children from deprived backgrounds, diverse communities, disability groups and women and girls’ programmes.
The initiative, and LV=GI’s support, will also help deliver against three wider ECB objectives – delivering the purpose of ‘connecting communities and improving lives’ through cricket, increasing the relevance of cricket locally and growing long-term engagement with the game in these communities.
Financial support from the initiative will be accessible to affiliated clubs, All Stars cricket centres, Community organisations, County Cricket Boards and Cricket Wales. Interested parties can register their interest in #Funds4Runs funding at ecb.co.uk/funds4runs or find out more information at lv.com/gi/cricket now.
The ECB Participation and Growth teams will oversee the administration and determine final financial approval while working collaboratively with local county cricket boards to ensure priorities in their local areas are met.
The fund will show initial financial support with two live projects – expanding the existing All Stars programme and a new partnership with the British Film Institute.
All Stars Cricket provides a first experience for children aged 5-8 years old through eight 60-minute sessions, held over eight weeks of fun, activity and skills development. The programme is designed to introduce children to the sport, teaching them new skills, helping them make new friends and have a great time doing so.
This funding of All Stars Cricket projects will be extended to urban areas in every County region going forward.
#Funds4Runs will also provide cricket clubs across England and Wales with the opportunity to apply to enrol in a filmmaker programme – titled First Run – delivered exclusively in partnership by the British Film Institute (BFI).
Successful applicants will undertake a course led by some of the country’s leading film professionals. The training will allow them to create compelling films showing the unique character of their community and club as well as equipping them with editing, communication, digital and planning skills, enabling them to create a variety of exciting video content on behalf of their club – whether that is a YouTube channel or digital storytelling through the club’s social channels.
With approximately 2.5 million male and female recreational cricketers across the UK, Mark Wood highlighted the importance of grassroots cricket across the UK after beginning his own journey to national honours at Ashington Cricket Club in Newcastle.
He said: “I am delighted to help launch #Funds4Runs. I know from my experiences as a young cricketer that grassroots cricket is the heartbeat of the sport and being given that opportunity to access cricket is crucial in building a love for the game. Like many other players, I’ve been concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on the game so thank you to everyone at ECB and LV= for providing much needed support that will help English cricket to recover and thrive.”
Lauren Winfield-Hill added: “It really is amazing to see this level of support being made available to grassroots cricket across the country from the ECB and LV=. There was a real danger that the impact of COVID-19 could have caused a whole generation of young girls to slip through the cracks through lack of access. But it is a great that this has been recognised with this initiative and its genuine focus on projects aimed at female cricketers.”
Jordan Williams said: “Cricket is a game for everyone and it’s fantastic that ECB and LV= are working together to ensure the game remains open to the most vulnerable during the pandemic. There are some brilliant projects out there that will benefit hugely from this funding and I’m sure the benefits will be felt throughout the game whether that is through men’s, women’s or disability cricket.”
Heather Smith, Managing Director of LV= GI said: “The impact of COVID-19 has been felt by everyone and the efforts of the cricket community to get the professional game up and running has been immense. However, at a local level, cricket has been less readily available or fundamentally more challenging to get involved in due to the pandemic. Having had such a long association with cricket, we felt very conscious of the need to do what we can to help rebuild the lives and future of cricket communities across the UK.
“Our aim with #Funds4Runs is to support the ECB in connecting communities, building better lives through cricket and increasing the relevance of the sport in traditionally non-cricket communities. Ultimately this will help engage communities with cricket, either through participation, attendance or support. Community projects like this allow LV= to live out our brand purpose of looking after what you love and furthering our commitment to positive wellbeing, rebuilding communities as well as inclusiveness and togetherness. These values have never been more important than now which is why we’re so delighted to be working with the ECB on this initiative.”
Tom Harrison, ECB Chief Executive Officer said: “As an organisation and a sport, we are hugely dependent on the role which cricket clubs play in their local communities. At every level of the game, COVID-19 has presented some of the toughest challenges we’ve ever faced.
“I am both incredibly grateful and proud of the work put in by thousands of volunteers across England and Wales, in order to get the recreational game back on in the summer. What they managed to achieve was outstanding and will be important in helping safeguard the future of our game.
“However, I am mindful that in many areas the pandemic has taken its toll. That’s why I am really excited that through this new partnership with LV= we will be supporting the areas hit hardest, either through boosting participation or by helping clubs connect with their communities. Both LV= and the ECB are delighted to be working with the BFI to bring the latter to life.”
The Suspicions Of A Year Ago Becoming The New Reality
iSPORTCONNECT’s Head of Consultancy Brandon Garcia overviews how some of the gossip and suspicions within sport from 12 months ago have become the new reality:
Sharing Responsibility
Shared responsibility between broadcasters and sport (cutting down the giant cheques and rights bidding wars), resulting in more available content for a number of digital assets and platforms.
Are they just taking advantage of these organisations at their weakest point?
This has, and continues to be, an opportunity for rights holders to entertain fans over their own channels, gain more followers and obtain more transparency over data rather than losing it to other companies.
Financial Opportunity
Investment firms are grabbing more and more pieces of the sporting cake.
Is this a fair safety net for those sports and organisations in distress? During this year we have seen CVC’s investment in the Six Nations, with the group also negotiating a deal to buy around 20% of Italy’s Serie A. Numerous SPAC’s within the sports industry have also appeared.
Do we wave goodbye to the production truck with big satellite dishes we all know?
Is this a bargain for the investment desk? Are they just taking advantage of these organisations at their weakest point, it is something that many people have been expecting since last year, but may have been accelerated by the pandemic.
Where do we go from here with broadcasting?
Do we wave goodbye to the production truck with big satellite dishes we all know? Cloud-based and remote production has been the primary way for many companies to broadcast sports events in recent months.
Whether that continues to increase after Covid-19 That’s something that remains to be seen, but we are already seeing the avalanche of AI – production based conversations and initiatives.
France 2023 To Work With Two Circles For UK&I Ticketing
France 2023, the organising committee for the Rugby World Cup, has named Sport Industry Agency of the Year Two Circles as its official ticketing marketing agency for UK and Ireland.
Working in partnership with France 2023, Two Circles will help France 2023 achieve its ambitions of selling record-breaking 2.6m tickets and generating up to €373m in ticketing revenue by designing and delivering a three-year, end-to-end marketing campaign for the tournament’s biggest international market.
Two Circles uses data to grow direct relationships between sports and fans, and is the leader in global event ticket marketing having helped events such as the ICC Cricket World Cup, golf’s Open Championship and Nitto ATP Finals deliver record ticket sales.
The agency’s proven approach helps event organisers build direct relationships with fans and then uses a deep, data-driven understanding of their demographics, behaviours and attitudes to develop and execute engaging and commercially-successful ticketing campaigns.
France 2023 CEO Claude Atcher said: “Our ambition is to host a tournament that breaks records, and our ticketing strategy will play a central role in our commitment to generate a record level of revenue to be reinvested back into rugby union. Two Circles have a proven track record helping major global events achieve record ticket sales and reaching fans from outside the traditional sporting bubble – we are delighted to have their support to reach our friends across the Channel.”
The partnership also marks the opening of a fifth global Two Circles office in Paris. The office will be led by Clément Barouillet, a seven-year veteran of Two Circles, whose team will service Paris-based clients including Paris Saint-Germain and the LFP, in addition for France 2023. Two Circles also works with several French clients based outside of Paris, including Ligue 1 football clubs OGC Nice and Montpellier HSC.
Richard Harris, Head of Ticketing, Hospitality and Marketing at Two Circles, added: “There is huge demand globally for live experiences – even despite the pandemic – and a global showpiece like France 2023 will be no exception. Due to the UK and Ireland’s proximity, we believe there are record numbers of fans, both rugby enthusiasts and general sports-lovers, that will want to experience a once-in-a-lifetime sports event in unique and charming towns and cities across France. We’re excited to be working in partnership with France 2023 and helping realise their record-breaking ambitions.”
How The Belgian Pro League Connected Fans At Home With Esports
Amidst the ongoing pandemic with no live sports taking place, Belgian Pro League and Belgian pay-television and telecommunications company Proximus managed the heroic task to connect fans, players and clubs by using StriveCloud’s scalable technology.
“Social Media Can Be A Labyrinth With No Map”
In this week’s Digital Cafe, David Granger takes a keen look at how data is utilised in the world of content.
Taking time to drop in was Brad Rees, CEO of data translators Mediacells. He talked to us about measuring content success and what clubs should be aiming for with their content, with the numbers to back it all up.
Social media can be a labyrinth with no map but conversely, can also provide the opportunity to change the dynamic between team and fan. It can (will) consume enormous amounts of time, energy and budget and yet still be difficult to quantify in terms of return on investment.
MediaCells specialise in ensuring data is used effectively in sports marketing and by influencers is monitoring and measuring that return. It’s tracking, week by week engagement of top soccer clubs on social – and it doesn’t always mirror their on-pitch performance.
Since the start of the 2020/21 EPL season the company, which lists global and European football federations and premiership clubs as long term clients, produces a weekly top ten social engagement league.
But who’s getting it right? They measured engagement across the week with Twitter posts and came up with an alternate football league: which clubs were most successful on social.
Social media can be a labyrinth with no map but conversely, can also provide the opportunity to change the dynamic between team and fan.
“Club Social is a weather report for how effectively you as a club are getting your message across to your fans in the competitive context of your rivals. But your rivals are not who you think they are. For example, the Paris St Germain merchandise brand is not competing with Olympique de Marseille or Arsenal’s new 2020-21 kit is not competing for fan attention with Spurs, that would be preposterous,” said Rees.
So your rivals might not (actually) be other clubs: “In this context, the competitor landscape shifts to Apparel brands like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Zara, Chanel, Hermes. Club Social not only enables marketers to benchmark themselves against rival clubs’ fan engagement levels but also to jockey for walletshare against the fashion brand giants and generate more income for the club.
“If the club wins on the pitch, fans want to buy from the store and if the club is intelligently informed on what social content is hot and what is not, they can maximise, optimise purchase opportunities.”
And it threw up some interesting trends and anomalies. Leeds United’s return to the premier league and the manner in which they did it was impressive on the pitch, but also has seen positive sentiment towards them and an engagement rise to give them a position on the Mediacells Club Social chart higher than their actual league position. and while Wolverhampton Wanderers have constantly improved since their promotion, their social influence was assisted, not by performance by their artist in residence. And in the first week of the season, Manchester United remained relevant on social even when they weren’t actually playing.
Successful posts tend to be personality-driven, team celebration posts? Not so much.
Mediacells takes the data available to teams and federations and asks the questions to bring a deeper understanding of what is driving business and bringing fans closer to clubs.
So, for Brad, what – statistically – makes for great engagement? Which trends in social which he can see working well?
“Successful posts tend to be personality-driven, team celebration posts? Not so much. The ‘How It Started … How It’s Going,’ meme-theme is powerfully deployed in the football experience. The basic concept is to showcase the passage of time with an inspiring or surprising current status as the bookend.
Official channels are sometimes the most authentic and emotional.
“Southampton were innovative in adopting the trendy meme when Gareth Bale returned to Spurs. To be a Saints fan this return from Real resonates because of the debut career the young Bale enjoyed at St Mary’s Stadium AND leaving to Tottenham Hotspur the first time around.
“For me, the above shows how complex and enmeshed true fan engagement has to be and how official channels are sometimes the most authentic and emotional.” You can find the MediaCells Club Social tables from this season, along with some pointers as to what’s working on their blog.
Christian Seifert To Step Down From DFL CEO Role In 2022
Christian Seifert, CEO of the DFL (Deutsche Fussball Liga) has announced he will step down from his role once his current contract comes to an end in 2020.
Seifert has overseen the DFL since 2005 and has today released a statement sharing his intention to leave the role.
Seifert said: “These are demanding times – and they call for clarity and reliability. That applies both to DFL as a whole and to my own professional ambitions. For this reason, I have informed the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of DFL GmbH of my intention to leave the company when my contract expires in June 2022.
“It is important to make my decision known now, so that the Supervisory Board have ample time to take account of it in their future organizational planning for DFL GmbH.
“In my position at the apex of DFL, I have been able to play an active role in steering the development of what is simultaneously one of the world’s biggest sports leagues and a crucial social institution, and in establishing one of Germany’s most innovative media enterprises. It has been both a pleasure and a privilege to do so.
“In two years’ time, I want to begin writing a new chapter in my professional career.
“But for as long as I work for DFL, I will continue to focus, with the utmost dedication and ambition, on the current and future challenges facing the organization.”