Large sporting events such as the World Cup, U.S. Open, NBA Finals and the Super Bowl gather crowds of people and build a sense of community. There is unrivaled passion, commitment and enthusiasm towards sports – whether it towards a team, league, college, athlete or major sporting event.
It’s no wonder that brands want to get involved in sports from an exposure/sponsorship aspect. Historically, sports sponsorships have consisted of placing enormous signs in prominent, TV-visible areas such as the outfield wall or a scoreboard. However, with TV viewership continually declining, especially among younger audiences, it has caused teams and leagues to shift their media focus to social media for creation of and releasing content. Now, the most effective sponsorship assets are digitally powered, engaging and truly enhance the fan experience.
Since 2017, the five major U.S. sports leagues – Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League and NASCAR have posted on social platforms more than 6.3 million times, which have resulted in over 16 billion engagements. According to World Advertising Research Center (WARC), in 2018, companies spent over 65 billion dollars on sponsorships deals and is expected to rise 5% this year.
Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have transformed the way fans engage, interact and consume media and content by their favorite sports team and athletes. Statistics show that one in three Instagram users follow a sports account and an overwhelming 94% of users use Instagram to get an inside look at the personal side of athletes. Sponsors want to take advantage of this interaction and associate their brand/logo with that content. In the past two years, of those 6.3 million posts, 19% of them were branded and have resulted in $2.1 billion in attributed value for those brands sponsoring the content.
The main advantages of executing sponsorships through digital and social platforms are the unmatched data and insights. Sponsors are able to understand who exactly is interacting with their brand. It is an opportunity to truly capitalize on fan engagement and customize the relationship with the fan.
References
De, D. (2019). The New World of Sports Sponsorship. Retrieved from https://www.adweek.com/sponsored/the-new-world-of-sports-sponsorships
Nelson, K. (2018). 2019 Will See a Change in How Sports Are Processed Over Social Media. Retrieved from https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/2019-will-see-a-change-in-how-sports-are-processed-over-social-media/
6 Responses to Sports Sponsorships Shift to Social Media