Fan engagement
to individual athletes; and Twitter is their destination for live scores and news. But whatever the platform or content provider, the ultimate objective is inevitably revenue. Even someone like new Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has plans for the football club to build personal brands for players, tapping into the power of European football’s four billion supporters. “How do we get more revenue for the players?” asked Boehly, just after the Chelsea purchase in May. He knows social content increases income for his team, keeping players happy with higher wages that can be boosted either directly or indirectly. For instance, rather than straight salaries, name, image and likeness (NIL) contracts for college sports stars in the US are providing millions of guaranteed dollars. These colleges are employing the power of social media to drive information to fans with increasing expertise. “Traditional sports have struggled to engage younger audiences, especially 18- to 24-year-olds”
Deals worth around $1m for 18-year-old football players are becoming common, so that the colleges can both promote the team and pay the star athlete who is the focus of the institution’s sports income streams. A HUMAN VOICE It’s a player-driven market everywhere. Alex O’Hagan, head of social and digital at IMG, says the
% of online sports fans using social video platforms
90%
68%
Q3 2015
Q1 2022
Source: Ampere Consumer Q1 2022
22 FEED:XTREME SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022
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