Category: Blogs

With the end of the club football season fast approaching now is the time for publishers, marketers and brands to turn their attention to the impending World Cup.

The Russian hosting of the tournament is subject to massive scrutiny for various reasons. But even outside of the world’s geopolitical landscape, doping allegations in other sports and the initial bidding process for the awarding of the tournament in the first place, there are still a number of issues to cover.

Is this a make-or-break tournament for FIFA thanks to recent controversy?

After Russia comes Qatar and a potential winter World Cup. There is also fresh controversy over the bidding for the following tournament in 2026 between the USA and Morocco. FIFA’s image may get no better for another decade. But it can still get worse. A smooth Russian World Cup could be of vital importance

How will non-sponsor brands will approach the tournament and how big is the threat of ambush marketing?

At every major sporting event, ambush marketing is rife. Brands always aim to be part of the discussion, and when it comes to the World Cup, international football is the only issue anyone talks about. Those who are not sponsors will be aiming to steal the spotlight from those who are, and FIFA will have to be on its toes to crack down.

Is this where live-streaming overtakes linear TV? Or will people continue to watch on their bigger screens?

Newcomers Amazon, Twitter and Facebook have arrived on the sports rights scene since the last World Cup, and the threat from live-streaming is growing. Just yesterday, Eleven Sports acquired UK and Ireland rights to La Liga. Whilst that’s no threat to the BBC or ITV’s World Cup coverage, plenty of people will be interested in seeing whether a growing number of people will be watching the games on linear TV or on streaming platforms like the broadcasters’ websites or apps. A switch away from linear TV would hint at the disruption to advertising and marketing models for future sporting events (and not just World Cups).

CEO and founder of Snack Media, Niall Coen and Co-founder of Snack Gaming Rupert Pratt will be available for comment on how the upcoming tournament will have a major effect on the sports industry landscape in the short term as well as in the years to come.

Once a betting company is established with a fan base, things seem to be going good but the next step is to grow. The question is how do betting companies expand their offerings to reach new audiences. Additionally, it is key to retain the current audience by keeping offerings up to date with what they are looking for from a betting company.

One option to expand the audience is to add some digital fan engagement tools to the site or app to get more individuals involved in the game. You can also do this through quizzes on social media. These tools help to bring excitement back into the game. One way is to include predictors allowing you to capitalise on quick bets. A variety of apps have introduced white-label fantasy sports tools which allow you to bet on what will happen in the next 60 seconds. This keeps users coming back for one-of-a-kind thrills.

Other ways which increase and build support for betting corporations is through marketing. Often through risky strategies, these campaigns help to build awareness to a wider audience which may not have been on their website before. An example of such would be when Paddy Power took odds on Barack Obama’s presidency ending early or their questionable wording surrounding Floyd Mayweather’s fight with Conor McGregor.

While these may have offended some people, it brought large numbers to the app and kept it in the forefront of the public eye so when big events came up Paddy Power was their number one choice due to quick recollection from previous campaigns. 

With the Cheltenham Festival currently taking place, companies are running a variety of advertising campaigns to attract them to their odds. Whether these are in article ads, social media or videos, organisations are working hard to build awareness. Cheltenham Festival is one the biggest racing events in the United Kingdom.

There's a few hours until the first race – why not test your racing knowledge with our ridiculously difficult #Find50Horses quiz?https://t.co/kVeQkod1KI pic.twitter.com/cvKWxLyKcM

— Betfair Racing (@BetfairRacing) March 13, 2018

When sporting events are held betting corporations see a spike in new sign-ups and higher use of engagement tools on their apps. This shows that it is imperative that betting companies get it right when a big event is on as they have the ability to monetise new sign-ups and advertising to boost revenue.  

With the expansion of the internet, there are thousands of blogs on every conceivable subject and this breadth is especially wide in the realm of sports. Individuals who create sports content are now looking to diversify their offering. Often high-profile blogs partner with sports digital agencies like Snack Gaming to increase traffic, revenue and produce content which is attractive. One way to achieve this through fan engagement tools.

When implemented well, fan engagement tools can increase interaction and time spent on a site. There are a variety of tools on the market. These include voting articles, opinion polls, fantasy tools, predictors and countdown timers to name a few. To get the chance to engage with the content and cast your opinion provides many readers with a reason to revisit. It also helps drive content creation making sure it is in line with what the fans want.

Other tools include news tickers which allow a blog to have a breaking sports headline scrolling along the bottom of the page as readers are browsing the content. With this, the blog not only acts as a breaking news source but it also creates a forward-thinking and creative atmosphere for your site.

Relating to the latest of social media can increase traffic as it integrates sports and pop culture. Meme generators help keep posts entertaining by captioning popular memes to fit your subject or taking a snapshot from a sporting event and turning it into a comedy or skills GIF. Additionally, quizzes can increase a following as people encourage their friends to visit the site in order to take part in a competition. These recommendations can be turned into followers which further extends the reach and traffic.

For a blog, fan engagement is the key to a large followership and boosted website traffic. Getting fans to the website is one thing, but retaining them is the most important and this can be done by keeping the blog interactive and fun using the aforementioned tools.

No doubt the 2018 agenda will be dominated by two main events The FIFA World Cup in Russia and the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Two of the world’s most powerful governing bodies and biggest events, trying to put controversial pasts behind them with events hosted in controversial regions. Interestingly a major event is a global economic, marketing and political platform for any host nation, stimulating culture, commerce and tourism; so, it will be interesting to see how these two play out. The IOC is off to a good start and will be delighted with South Korea’s diplomatic peace offering to the North as this demonstrates ‘the power of The Olympics’. But much has been said about both these events and the one thing that never fails to deliver is the actual sport itself. I doubt many watching The World Cup will be debating the political infrastructure of Russia (but who knows what might unfold).

However, there is plenty going on as Austen Donnellan of Bray Leino points out ‘Will 2018 finally become the year when the tipping point is reached on women’s sport, be it coverage, sponsorship investment, viewing figures or attendances?’ The Women’s Hockey World Cup in London in July and the Women’s World Twenty20 in the West Indies in November are but two highlights where UK success will raise the profile even further.

The Women’s sport debate is a good one, as it has many agenda’s. Fantastically positive on the pitch but more complex commercially.

Hopefully, this will be the year that commercial support for the women’s game continues and more brands buy into the power of sport and its ability to engage fans into loyal consumers (it’s not about eyeballs – it’s about who you’re talking to, their influence and purchasing power).

Also, will this be the year that the FANGs (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google) get their teeth into Premier League Rights?  

With the Premier League ‘Audio and Visual’ (that’s what we used to call ‘content’) rights up for tender, the big question is will the FANG’s make a major play. Again, much has been said about this – any commercial tender needs competitive tension so regardless of their intentions just their presence is enough to keep price increasing. They’ve been around for a while and are now in a position to do whatever they want.

Will Amazon (my front-runner) pay out big and disrupt the sport like Sky did? I don’t think so, but I’m pretty sure they will do something. Therefore the football bubble continues to get bigger and 2018 will be the start of a new era of sport as we know it.

Rupert Pratt is Co-Founder of Snack-Gaming.com and consultant to Snack-Media