The battle for attention is brutal, and if you want to win, you’ve got to fight.
The battle for attention is brutal, and if you want to win, you’ve got to fight.
With audiences now having the choice of watching games alongside creators such as Mark Goldbridge, Broadcasters are slowly catching on and understanding that their audience wants more, and they need to meet expectations if they want the public’s undivided attention.
For any sports organisation, we understand match days are the most hectic of the week with all the social posts, content, and the nail-biting tension of the match being just a few hours away. But from a business perspective, are organisations maximising the match day’s potential to get the exciting and meaningful content fans love?
In short, the answer is no.
After seeing the WSL’s (Women’s English Premier League) successful transition from traditional broadcasting mediums to hosting full matches on YouTube, they showed that sports organisations and teams alike shouldn’t be bound by the traditional norms of presenting their match-day content to fans. However, we noticed a few ways the WSL could take their production to the next level.
There was minimal build-up and storytelling before the match, with the stream jumping directly into the action, and missing a key opportunity to enrich the fan experience. Building a compelling storytelling narrative of the event by discussing talking points such as key battles between superstars. This is the sort of action fans live and breathe for, and if you can’t provide it, your audience will find somebody who will.
As experts in fan experience and running successful match day operations (we’ve even won awards for it), we thought since organisations such as the WSL missed out on these ginormous content opportunities, how can we help broadcasters and sports organisations to create all-encompassing, fan-focused match experiences?
So we wanted to share some examples of how organisations can reclaim their fans’ attention before, during and after the main event, and help organisations and teams understand the ample opportunities they have to connect with their fanbase and turn their passive audience into an active community.
Watch-along content is currently skyrocketing, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. After our recent partnership with QTV and World Archery, where we empowered the organisation to provide a groundbreaking watch-along, we quickly realised watch-alongs were far more than a passing trend…
It’s clear fans crave this content, looking at fan channels such as The United Stand and Arsenal Fan TV, fans want different opinions from the “always neutral” commentators shown on live broadcasts. They want to hear from people who share their passion for their club, so why can’t clubs use content creators and club legends to create a new viewing experience whilst commercialising the second screen?
We get you might think watch-alongs take away from the action of the match, but this isn’t the case.
Watch-alongs enrich the fan experience, giving fans real-time, expert insights into the game. After sprinkling in some humour and off-topic conversations, fans feel like their sporting heroes are sitting in their lounge with them watching the game.
The Champions League has realised the potential of this form of content as they have employed superstar, David Beckham, to watch the second leg of the UCL semi-final and final alongside a series of celebrities and ex-players. Proving what we already knew, watch-alongs are here to stay, so you better get used to them.
Although some clubs, like Leicester, are catching on to the importance of using brand-owned channels to build the match build-up narrative, other clubs need to get with the programme. On pre-match live streams, a Premier League club has averaged over 76,000 views since the start of the season, demonstrating the fan interest in content outside of the traditional broadcast.
Alongside this, organisations can use technology-savvy solutions to promote other services such as merchandise or match tickets, as well as being able to enrich the fan storyline by providing player stats, to create your own narrative of the event.
Similar to the pre-match build-up, this is another opportunity to contact fans. However, this is where clubs and organisations can get creative.
Utilising gamification tools such as polls and quizzes, clubs and organisations can take further level up their content. By providing these interactive elements in your live content, not only do you take fan engagement to the next level, it enables more monetisation opportunities.
For example, if an athlete has a star-studded performance, you can show their stats across the game and season and a QR code directing viewers to their shirt. Not only does this enrich the storytelling of the event, as fans gain a deeper understanding of the player’s effectiveness on the pitch, but it reminds fans of their love for their favourite players, and when they see a QR code leading them directly to their shirt, the ease of making this purchase may be the difference between a sale and a lost opportunity.
If you want to see an example in action, look no further than our work with The United Stand / That’s Football. Goldbridge and his team have (rather cleverly) used our technology to share an advertisement with their fans.
What’s so amazing about this tech-savvy approach is the seamless delivery of the advert as Mark can remain focused on his topic of conversation, keeping fans engaged whilst maximising his stream’s monetisation.
A fan in the stands documenting the action from their perspective, gives a raw and unfiltered feel to the content you just can’t get anywhere else.
As fully-fledged brand advocates, fan influencers are some of the best advertisements for your brand. On top of this, audiences trust these individuals, studies have shown influencers have a significant on customer choices in numerous ways such as trust, engagement, and the emotional relationships audiences have with a brand.
Showing a fan in the stadium, soaking in the atmosphere and supporting the team may inspire fans to step away from their screens and attend a game in-person where they can live and breathe the match day experience.
Taking inspiration from documentaries such as Welcome to Wrexham and Sunderland ‘Til I Die, why can’t clubs put their own spin on the content and create an insightful piece of content?
The beauty of this content format is that it doesn’t need to be an all-singing, all-dancing production produced in real-time. It can be collected in small doses throughout the entire match day and supported by interviews which can be added in post-production.
Allowing fans to get a peak into match day life and gain insights into the work of backroom staff and how they help players prepare for match day, is what fans want to see. According to HubSpot, 68% of marketers found behind-the-scenes content to be their most effective content across social media platforms, clearly indicating the fan appetite for this type of content.
As recognised experts in levelling up match day production and experiences, if you want help producing engaging and inspiring content, that empowers you to reclaim your audience’s attention, don’t delay, contact a member of the Dizplai team to find out how we can help you transform how you produce content today!
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