All it takes is a glance at a sports fan’s Twitter feed to see that online media has completely changed the way sporting events and news are consumed and shared. Information and sports news has become more rapid, free form, and is being delivered more creatively than ever before.
Rather than receiving information from one or two major outlets, fans now look to local sports news sites, independent fan accounts, and even reputable journalists’ personal pages for real time news and updates. This diversity in options for content consumption has led industry leaders to invest in digital media as a tool to engage with fans and provide concise, real-time information as a way to maintain consumer attention.
Digital media also plays an important role in the emergence of new sports leagues into the professional landscape. There are a number of steps up and coming professional sports leagues can take to cultivate and connect with a passionate network of fans. Most notably, sharing creative online content and utilizing online streaming are two common practices that are helping to launch these leagues to success. Organizations such as the Association of Volleyball Professionals, The World Surf League, Major League Lacrosse, and the Alliance of American Football are just a few putting these practices into play .
It is also impossible to mention the future of sports without touching on eSports, arguably one of the most intriguing developments in the sports industry. Through personalities such as Fortnite topdog Ninja and wildly popular live streaming service Twitch, eSports has used online media to create a global community of followers.
The use of creative content has become key in growing a community of followers. The need to communicate with consumers more quickly and efficiently across channels is imperative, with many different sources of information battling for the attention of online consumers. Posts by sports networks, teams, organizations, and others have become increasingly more colloquial, humorous, and frequent, targeting a wide range of sports enthusiasts. Even the industry’s largest news contributors are constructing their digital posts to be as eye catching as possible, focusing on lifting engagement between their content and the consumer.
It is no longer optional to utilize creative content in online sports marketing. It is mandatory. This is especially the case with emerging sports leagues, that need to provide motivation for fans to want to keep up to date and stick through the growing pains.
A huge component in the success of emerging sports leagues is the ability to stream events online. This has been implemented by some of the biggest sports associations in the United States, most notably the MLB. However, smaller more niche sports stand the most to gain from an online streaming service.
The World Surf League is a fantastic example of the utility of online streaming. As an international sport, surfing fans are scattered in many different areas of the world. Since there is no true central location of the sport, the ability for fans to watch competitions anywhere, on one central platform has greatly impacted the league’s growth. As of July 2018, the World Surf League has over 2 million more Facebook likes than the National Hockey League, one of the top four most popular sports leagues in the United States. This difference highlights how media has changed the concept of popularity in sports. Despite being a niche sport, the World Surf League has found an international following that can be compared to the NHL in size. This is especially important with the World Surf League streaming all of their events through Facebook. With a large number of Facebook likes the league is able to reach a large number of viewers world wide.
With numbers like these, additional leagues are following suit. The Association of Volleyball Professionals stream their events online through Amazon Prime. The largest professional Lacrosse league, Major League Lacrosse, is partnered online with the Lacrosse Sports Network. The newly established Alliance of American Football has even incorporated both online streaming and a limited network deal with CBS, maximizing their ability to connect with as many fans as possible. The ability for these up-and-coming sports leagues to utilize these partners, with a wide range of resources at their disposal, is a very strategic decision to facilitate growth. Although not as profitable as a large network deal, the wide array of online streaming services allow emerging sports leagues to gain greater exposure to more targeted groups of consumers.
Perhaps the greatest example of the importance of media in the success of emerging sports is the rise of eSports. Despite being considered by many as a niche interest in the United States, both the domestic and global communities for eSports has exploded in the past decade. The finals for the World Championships of popular game League of Legends had a record 60 million unique online viewers, and a cash prize of over four million dollars. The 2014 FIFA World Cup final in comparison had a combined viewership of only 22.7 million in the United States. The NBA has even launched its own eSports league for the basketball video game NBA 2K, with seventeen NBA franchises starting their own teams.
The success of eSports can be greatly attributed to the popularity of online streamers who communicate daily with their fanbases. Utilizing online tools, especially the popular online streaming service Twitch, fans of eSports athletes can be connected around the world. This led to very organic growth for the eSports industry and a very loyal and engaged fan base. If we are to paint an accurate portrayal of the future landscape of sports, particularly when focusing on the role of media, it’s hard not to recognize the impact of this new movement in sports.
So what does this all mean for the future of sports? For staple leagues like the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA, change may be more gradual. They enjoy an enormous following of fans and are able to utilize this as leverage to form cooperative and profitable network deals. Assuming these fan bases remain intact and they keep up with major media trends, they should be around for years to come.
New up and coming sports leagues now have the tools at their disposal to connect with passionate fan bases that could be scattered across the United States or even around the world. By embracing digital media, they have the ability to become rooted in the minds of viewers and find long term success.
For the consumer, the future of the sports industry is all about choices. With streaming options often easier to use and less expensive than traditional cable packages, consumers have far more options of sports to follow. On top of this, fans are able to avoid periods of time during the year where they have no sports to watch, with more leagues in season during times where the four major sports leagues are on breaks.
Overall, the future of sports is exciting! With new types of sports attracting fans every year, from Surfing, to eSports, to Spikeball and beyond, the world of sports will hardly ever be dull.
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