Digital Playmakers Team Talk

First and foremost, the entire Digital Playmakers team would like to use this opportunity to wish everyone good health in these unprecedented and challenging times. We send our support out to all clients and those within the sports sector who are working hard to adjust and keep their businesses moving forward despite the uncertainty around us.

As many organisations have their say on the subject of COVID-19 and its impact and limiting factors; we have decided to outline key pivots and agile actions you can take to thrive during this period. Thus, highlighting the sector’s immediate challenges but also the bright future, providing some positive reading in these difficult times.

COVID-19 Impact

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had an extraordinary impact on the digital sports sector with almost every sporting event cancelled or postponed for the foreseeable future.

Digital Playmakers core values and agile nature has allowed us as an organisation to adapt and thrive during these testing times, offering value, uninterrupted performance and additional revenue streams to all clients and stakeholders.

Digital Playmakers COVID-19 Game Plan, below outlines Digital Playmakers D2C pivot to deliver direct and in-direct revenue, supporting all client and industry initiatives. We will dissect these in more detail, arming you with the actionable intelligence and data-driven insights that matter, to achieve your goals.

The Game Plan

Digital Playmaker Pivots

OTT & SVOD

If we look at the sports media industry, the change that is now happening with broadcasting being brought about by OTT is disruptive, offering user convenience, impacting sports consumption. It is more than a trend; it is a clear shift towards a D2C approach.

Having executed many successful OTT campaigns for sports organizations, data clearly shows that OTT provides a more efficient way to engage with a fragmented fan base all over the world through online live coverage of sports events, including niche sports.

We are also assisting with new monetization methods that relate to the interaction of D2C channels with social media as users currently have more time at their disposal, resulting in a 60% spike in OTT subscriptions globally [1]. The focus of our campaigns and activations is to optimise end-user engagement and increase retention within the digital ecosystem.

Live Events & Ticketing

Government guidelines expect COVID-19 trends to continue through 2020 which slows Digital Playmakers growth expectations in the live events and ticketing sector in the short-term. That said, we maintain our optimistic forecasts in the medium- to long-term working with our partners to strategically implement plans to capitalise upon expected live action resuming. Ticket Sales will continue to be a key revenue stream in the sports industry, increasing from $46bn in 2019 to $65bn by 2024. [2]

Amid the global pandemic crisis comes opportunity for the sports tech sector, which certain federations have already started to embrace with domestic peak hour usage up 75% during April [3].

With almost all live sporting events on hold, fans will turn to virtual events for reassurance, familiarity, guidance and entertainment through the uncertainty of COVID-19.

Esports

Esports is riding the crest of a digital tidal wave, sweeping into the hearts and minds of consumers. For sporting organizations and athletes, maintaining fan engagement, whether through social media or new media formats (such as esports), will be a core focus for all franchises and federations.

The ePremierLeague Invitational 2020 netted an average audience of 70,000 and achieved a viewership increase of 275% from the opening round to the final, galvanising fans and filling the void of live action [4]. We expect increasing numbers of sports to adopt such strategies in the near-term, bringing significant opportunity for sports tech companies positioned in the space.

E-Commerce

The abrupt arrival of the Coronavirus has had a tremendous impact on sports commerce. Mid-March saw ‘non-essential’ brands see a sharp decrease in frequentations and in certain countries, a complete shutdown.

Adverse commerce effects have seen opportunities arise for e-commerce offerings as sports-related purchases jumped 55% through April with users’ average household spend increasing to higher levels than Christmas [5].

In collaboration with our partners and clients we have been able to serve the increased e-commerce demand, positioning clients within some of the fastest growing categories to accommodate and thrive during a frenzy of buying behaviour and ‘new normal’.

Sponsorship

The impact of COVID-19 on the sports sponsorship industry is profound and will have multiple consequences at every level. Although these days most analyses focus on assessing the loss of income, as simply speaking, no sports events equals no benefits for sponsors from live events. The postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics until 2021 has cost a staggering £2 billion [6].

In what is undoubtedly a very challenging situation, it’s crucial that brands look at ways in which they can provide value to fans. Sponsorship is at its most powerful when it enhances the fan experience and it’s more important than ever for brands to do that now with sponsorship revenues forecast to increase from $45bn to $62bn by 2024 [7].

Digital Playmakers has outlined the potential of gaming and eSports but if there is one thing we know about sports fans, it is that they want to be participants in the sports experience, not just isolated spectators.

For brands, it’s therefore key to engage people in a way that genuinely creates utility, rather than in an attempt to sell more products. GoPro’s #HomePro challenge encapsulates this, encouraging people to share lockdown activities, with a chance to win their latest product innovation [8].

CRM & Membership Growth

Though new platforms are driving more accessibility to viewing sports, they have given rise to a less captive fan. According to Google’s Sports Viewing Survey, 80% of respondents juggle multiple screens while consuming sports (messaging other fans, searching for player stats or live scores on their mobile devices or computers) [9].

Consequently, brands, organisations and broadcasters are increasingly fighting shorter attention spans, making it more challenging to create fans that are as loyal as they have been traditionally.

With declining loyalty and increased consumer choice, the sports industry is also seeing fans lend their viewership to a broader spectrum of more niche sports. Platform agnostic approaches to serve the right message on the right platform are imperative to capture the imagination of sports fans in a non-invasive way. These are techniques we have been utilised to great effect, tailored to client objectives.

Audience Development

The sports fan ecosystem is broad, with hundreds of millions of fans for each major sport. Today, owing to the triple revolution of high-speed internet, smartphones and social media, the fan ecosystem has become highly globalized, hyper-digitalised and fully connected.

These advances in technology and a general shift in the media consumption landscape have empowered sports fans and subsequently raised expectations. Audience demographics are shifting to younger generations of digitally savvy, tech-enabled fans. This audience is “on-the-go”, experience-driven, and seeks immersive content from rights holders and increasingly teams.

As certified growth specialists, Digital Playmakers sophisticated audience development campaigns are incredibly important at this time, not only to engage existing audiences, but also to infiltrate and penetrate the wider digital sports ecosystem for new fans and addressable audiences.

Digital Coaching

Across all sports marketing verticals, industries and platforms, it is essential to have world class digital marketing intelligence, creative and performance in order to thrive.

Digital Playmakers digital coaching helps you master the digital tools, techniques and tactics to elevate your business to the next level. Our expert digital consultancy covers a full digital audit bespoke to your business needs and objectives, identifying growth opportunities to produce incremental gains and is available on a retainer or pay as you go ad hoc basis.

Whether you’re looking to grow your business, increase brand awareness, leads or sales, our flexible coaching model covers the entire marketing spectrum from social media, content marketing, web development and SEO; to audience segmentation, platform expertise, creative best practice, campaign management and reporting.

Digital Playmakers Match Report

Digital Playmakers position as sports marketing growth specialists enable us to cut through the noise and data overwhelm. Equipping you with actionable insights across the core pillars of our business that has seen our clients thrive during this testing period.

If you are in need of a game plan to win during this unpredictable digital game or require consultancy or digital support, please feel free to get in touch!

References

[1] Nielsen, https://www.ibc.org/monetise/coronavirus-isolation-to-spike-streaming-by-60-according-to-nielsen/5601.article

[2] Drake Star, Sector Reports https://www.drakestar.com/sector-reports