How the largest sports entities reached their fans in 2020
With the new strain of Covid-19 at the door, the ongoing trend to engage with fans via digital mediums is most likely to strengthen even more. Meanwhile, let’s see what the year 2020 marks for the industry and how it works for now.
According to the Nielsen Asia report, the way fans consume their favorite sports is still changing —linear TV lost 2% since 2019 (48% to 46%), while OTT-platforms gained 4%, from 36% to 40%.
The abovementioned trend is also fair for the sports news and how the fans find them. Traditional sports media show a steady decline over the course of the last two years — from 60% to 53% — while 63% of participants choose new digital media outlets (which means 1% growth in 2 years).
As Vitto Lazatin, Head of Content Acquisition Cignal, Philippines, noted:
“We need to provide easier access to fit within their lives, just sitting in front of the TV on the couch and watching is not always possible for our viewers”
Social media remains the most popular source of that news, followed by video streaming platforms and social messaging. Other digital sources, like websites, emails and podcasts also have gained some momentum.
What is of certain interest is the geography of digital transformation — while the USA and Europe still show less digital media engagement and penetration, generating pretty much the same numbers, Asian, African, and Latin American viewers strongly tend to digital consumption. Say, 54% of viewers still prefer traditional media, 55% go digital. At the same time, in South-Eastern Asia those metrics are at the 57–69 level. This might be related to the younger age of Asian fans, who are known to choose newer media types.
Such performance didn’t stay unnoticed by the major players on the market, who began to use their digital content way more often — which in turn led to generating way more views. Like NBA: with a bigger digital imprint, the association has noticed a whopping 37% followers growth.
While TV is still a force to reckon with in the wider landscape, digital is definitely set to become the main way to reach the fanbase, engage with (and monetize it too). Join us on Sportrecs now — embrace the future and start winning!
