The Leader’s Report, ‘Fan Engagement: Right content, right channel, right time’, addresses the fact that “sport no longer starts or finishes with the peep of a whistle or the crack of a pistol. It’s a 24/7 treadmill of rolling news, views, behind-the-scenes snippets, trails, analysis, trivia, statistics and other snackable bits and pieces. Fan engagement has never been more important, nor have there ever been more tools available to do it in a creative and measurable manner.”

The report discusses six rules to engagement, namely:

  1. Don’t reinvent the content wheel (but do understand it) – understand why you’re communicating, who you’re targeting, where the audience is, what existing channels they’re using, what’s the right strategy to reach them on those channels and do you have paid promotion budget to support
  2. Bury your old analogue ways by building your own digital pyramid – The base layer has to be site basics – admin and hygiene. The middle layer is best practice, and the top level is innovation
  3. Don’t go quiet – It’s important to maintain a regularity of output. You have to have a content plan
  4. News is old news – When you study the analytics, news isn’t always what people want. Often it is behind the scenes, fun, engaging video content that enlivens and brightens their day, that distracts them for five minutes
  5. Word up – 85% of video on Facebook is consumed with the sound off. Subtitle your videos
  6. Don’t assume everyone consumes everything – It is not a failing to repeat key pieces of content. In fact, it’s advisable. No one fan will consume the full range of content you produce.

In addition the report shares ten game-changing technologies enhancing the in-venue fan experience, namely:

  1. San Francisco 49ers: food and beverage app
  2. The Open Championship: data wall
  3. Australian NRL: the Bunker
  4. Juventus: social media- driven choreography
  5. FC Krasnodar: 360-degree panoramic screen
  6. Cincinnati Reds: Food pick-up via app-controlled lockers
  7. Dallas Mavericks: 7 360-degree application in a ticketing app
  8. Minnesota Wild/Everton: Snapchat
  9. Miami Dolphins/San Francisco 49ers: tailgating with tech titans
  10. Barclays Center: wifi

Finally a US Open and NFL case study is included too.

To download the ‘Fan Engagement: Right content, right channel, right time’ report, click here.

If you would benefit from the advice of a sports agency, Strive Sponsorship can help. Contact us for sports sponsorship, commercial, content, operations, investment and communications consultancy services.