The fan engagement market covers a wider range of verticals. It can be encapsulated as the services, technologies, and strategies that brands, particularly those in the sporting arena, use to engage and monetise their fandom.
The value of this practice lies in the fact that fans spend on more than just tickets and pay-per-view events. Instead, they begin buying and giving their time long after the game has finished.
Fan Engagement in Sport
In the connected world of social media and online streaming, cutting through the noise can be hard work.
Even major global brands, from Arsenal to the New York Knicks, can't rely on history and logos alone. Instead, they have to personalise experiences.
Once fans feel that they are part of something, sports brands can begin to unlock new revenue streams.
The key aspect of successful fan engagement is consistency. If both online and offline connections are not regular, then people will go elsewhere.
Usually, engagement means encouraging participation and sharing in the highs and lows of a team. This takes many forms, from social media to competitions, campaigns, and content.
Building a Community
A huge part of fan engagement is the building of a community. This starts at the pitchside, but goes beyond.
It is not just sport that has seen the value in this either.
Even hobbies like bingo, played in halls, have used community to bring in customers. Many online bingo rooms have created chat features, which replicate the gaps between games played in halls in which people can interact.
With the games and chat rooms found on a bingo app, players can share wins and near misses without having to go to a hall.
This can be found in the sports world too.
For instance, American football fans in Singapore can share in the jubilation of a Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl win, without having ever visited the stadium, through dedicated apps and live streaming channels.
The Benefits for Sports Brands
All this would not be done if it did not drive revenue. Fan engagement pushes up tickets, merchandise sales, subscriptions, and premium-level content.
The effect of this is that when fans feel engaged, they tell others.
No marketing is better than word of mouth. Fans may begin to share individual videos, stories, and pictures on social media. They could begin to spend more time researching or reading about the team, or spending time on its apps.
All this data is a powerful tool when the time comes to secure sponsorship. Brands are more likely to put their money behind a team that is spread across social media for positive reasons.
When they find out they have an engaged, invested audience, the club suddenly becomes an attractive proposition.
Behind all this, clubs must tread carefully. Go too hard when pushing this, and fans will feel the monetary nature behind it. Thus, fan engagement must look organic and natural.
By implementing these tactics over the long term, clubs can start to build an automatic groundswell of support, whether they are small teams or large professional ones.
These fans will stick with them, however league positions and matchday results go.
