Sports Organisations Go Digital in Fight for Younger Audiences
Young audiences are lucrative for the sports industry, not just for revenue but also for growth and sustainability. And sports organisations and leagues have upped the ante with their digital approach.
The days of sitting down in front of the telly to watch sports could soon be over as the next generation of sports fans finds their fix through online mediums.
Many sports organisations are now following the younger audiences into the digital world.
In 2017, Snapchat signed a multi-year deal with the Victoria Racing Club to produce a series of "Our Stories" throughout the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
The move to the social media platform was driven by a desire to get more young people involved with race day festivities without them being at Flemington.
VRC gave Snapchat the licence to create custom filters for the event which were used heavily during the event. The aim was to get outsiders involved with the races, fashion, and entertainment if they couldn't make the events and inspire them to attend next year.
Victorian Racing also signed a deal that allowed Twitter to live stream the 2017 Melbourne Cup race with plans to renew for 2018. This was a first-time sports rights deal for Twitter outside of the US.
The aim was to target younger audiences and engage them in the races here in Australia but also reach an international market.
We recently wrote about live sports streaming wars on the back of Facebook and Twitter making a big play to broadcast high-profile sports.
Tech giants have been pushing into the traditional and lucrative broadcast arena and sports leagues are keen to engage, as they try to remain relevant to younger audiences.
After a decline in ratings, the NFL turned to Amazon for streaming digital distribution internationally.
The global reach of Amazon is vital to the NFL, which is struggling to generate interest among younger fans. The games are now available to anyone with a Prime Video account across 200 countries.
With the digital takeover already taking shape in the sports industry, there are questions surrounding regulations on advertising and gambling. Restrictions are already in place for traditional broadcast sports but the unregulated online market has no such rules or governing body.
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