Digithoughts

Last week, GM of Digitaria Sports John Van Spyk attended the IMG World Congress of Sports in Miami, FL. The conference, one of the largest and most well known in the sports industry, celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. The following are John’s key takeaways from the event:

The Future of the Sports Industry

When it comes to sports, social and digital are leading the way.

Digital is always changing; it is a daily learning process

.

One-to-one marketing is key -- the ultimate goal being to facilitate and inform your fans/community.

The sports industry is actively looking to pave the way for stronger social marketing and social commerce through their digital properties

.

A good example of a company tapping the community is how EA Sports has begun to truly utilize their fans and engage them in brand decisions. For the next Madden game, fans will be able to vote on what athlete will make the cover. This has not been done with previous versions of Madden and could lead to a controversial player such as Michael Vick potentially making the cover once again (based on his performance last season).

How fans consume and interact with sports is evolving fast. The future of sports will be a three screen environment; success will be measured on how to deliver the content, what type of content produced, and how it is monetized (or by activation of the sponsor)

.

In addition, improving the event experience will be key moving forward. This is due to the fact that both the three screen environment and overall home theater experience have become heavy competitors when it comes to taking the family to the ballpark, football stadium, etc.

International Sports

In terms of international sports, emerging markets will be the ones to watch. In particular, China and Mexico. Both are projected to grow in sports affinity and penetration over the next 10 years

.

The challenge for any league that is trying to penetrate the international marketplace is to focus; dedicate time and effort and be patient.  You must first show that there is opportunity to take the game into a market, and then enter just that market. After you’ve established a foothold, begin to build an avid and sustainable fan base. Trying to do this in 10 different countries at the same time would be impossible.  

The audience at the conference was polled on which league will have a team in another country first (EPL, NFL, NBA, NHL). 70% of the audience thought the NBA would make the move first.

The NFL does have somewhat of an advantage for an international team opportunity as they only have a select amount of games and enough travel time between games, but the logistics and challenges for any league are significant. There are legal and regulatory challenges as well.

In conclusion, content, geography and devices are all major focuses for sports organizations growing in a digital world.

John Van Spyk VP/GM Digitaria Sports

Read more from the Etcetera category. If you would like to leave a comment, click here: Comment or stay up to date with this post via RSS, or you can Trackback from your site.