How A Sports Fan Engagement Platform Helps to Connect with Your Live Audience

In the past, sports fans could only watch games on TV or attend in person, but now there are myriad ways for fans to engage with their favourite live sports.

The way we connect with live audiences has also changed a great deal over the last few years. No matter where you broadcast your shows, engagement is key. Your audience expects it, and if they don’t get it from you, they’ll find it elsewhere. 

In this article, we explore the many ways sports broadcasters can use engagement platforms to create immersive experiences that help to connect with their live audiences. 

What is a sports fan engagement platform?

A sports fan engagement platform is a digital platform that enables fans to interact with live sports broadcasts in real time. This interaction comes in many forms, including:

• Direct social integration (pulling comments from fans’ social media and heroing them directly on your broadcast)
• Interactive polls
• Custom webapps that create a branded environment you can tailor to your needs
• Live messaging displays that automatically update

The platform’s main objective is to provide broadcasters with a new and unique way to engage their audience, improving your broadcast and ensuring people come back time after time. 

How does an engagement platform help broadcasters connect with their live audiences?

Sports fan engagement platforms provide a wide range of benefits for both fans and broadcasters. Here are just a few ways that engagement platforms can help you to connect with your live audience:

Personalise fan experience

Engagement platforms include a variety of interactive features that keep fans engaged throughout the game, especially those involving social media. 

When ProSieben was broadcasting the 2022 NFL they wanted to enhance the experience for football fans on social media during the highlights show. They encouraged viewers to share their reactions to the game on social media by tagging the Ran football show and using hashtags. These social media updates were then featured on a lower-third graphic during the game, with images and videos heroed on a full-screen carousel during the pauses.   

This personalised experience is incredibly satisfying for the viewer, making them feel that their opinions are valued, while it becomes far more likely that they’ll return for the next broadcast. It also allowed ProSieben to connect with fans worldwide.

Drive engagement

Fan engagement platforms can also provide a way to connect with fans on multiple levels. Not only can social media updates displays be shared in real-time during the sporting event, but presenters can also cue, publish and interact with them during a live broadcast.

During the BT Sports Fury vs Wilder 3 Preview Show and the 21/22-season Champions League Tonight Show, social media displays, such as comments, images, videos and polls were shown in real-time, selected by the presenter from a tablet during the broadcast.

Similarly, the sports streaming service DAZN Italia were able to enhance their live audience reactions by displaying their rolling content on a bespoke 11-metre, 270-degree in-studio LCD. 

This real-time interaction from presenters incentivises fan engagement, making viewers more likely to share their experience of the event. More people commenting on social media means more exposure for your broadcast. This exposure often leads to higher rates of tune-in from people wanting to know what the fuss is all about. 

Increase reach

During their extensive coverage of the 107th Tour De France, the Australian broadcaster, SBS were able to create a broadcast centred around the social media engagement of a whole community of avid racing fans. Their live content featured fan reactions, such as Twitter comments and images, acting as a reward to those who stayed up each night to view the four hour show. 

The interactivity of their coverage had a tremendous response for SBS, resulting in a highly interactive community of cycling fans (over 500,000) tuning in to connect with the broadcast. 

Sports fan engagement tools from Dizplai

If you’re looking for the key to increasing connection and engagement with your live sports audience, a bespoke engagement platform will take your broadcasts to the next level.  

Book a tailored demo from a member of our team, and see the power of Dizplai for yourself.