Let’s face it sport today has never been more accessible to fans. You can watch games live at the stadium, on TV, via your phone, tablet or laptop. There are so many ways to watch sport, and now there are so many sports and games to watch.
Yet the almost universal problem facing so many clubs and competitions is attracting crowds to their games.
After all fans at the venue watching their teams play is the key factor. The players relish that support, the fans experience something that they can never get off any device they choose to watch the game on, that sense of being there. The atmosphere of a live game, the build up, the anticipation, riding that wave of emotion with your fellow fans and when the final whistle blows feeling the elation that comes with a victory or the despair associated with a loss cannot be matched when watched remotely.
There have been many reasons attributed to the decline in live fans attending games of various sports, the price of tickets, the standard of play, the availability of games live on television or other devices, and all of these are valid arguments.
Another argument that is constantly thrown up is a lack of marketing. This is a very real issue across many sports. The clubs feel that the people running the competition should be promoting the competition. While those running the competition believe their job is simply to administer it, and that the clubs should market their games and the TV Station will promote the competition
There is an irony in the fact that television now bankrolls so many sports at the highest level. As a result television often dictates the start times of games, and the schedule of matches over a season. This scheduling often creates a major issue for fans, as the games are not held on the same day every week, neither are the start times the same. So only the truly dedicated fan knows when the games are taking place. The others rely on reminders, prompts via marketing or advertising.
Across this country fans have bemoaned the fact that matches are held at different times. Their regular match day build up that is all part of the match-day experience is disrupted and never consistent. Many have admitted that they have missed games simply because they did not know they were on.
At the top level the mistake many sports make is that they believe that the Television station will market the sport and the various fixtures. Which they do, but that will never be enough. If you rely solely on the television promotion then your sport will always struggle at the turnstile.
If you take competitions like the A-League or Super Rugby the various television outlets promote every fixture, as well as their coverage of the competition. None of these promotions will ever encourage fans to head to the game. This is where the individual teams and those running the competition must play their part.
Those running the various competitions must have a marketing budget and a plan that promotes their event. Dove-tailing with that promotion should be the marketing of each club to drive fans through the turnstiles. It needs to be a united effort and a co-ordinated effort that ultimately benefits all. Sadly many sports administrators running competitions fail to believe that they must be a part of the whole marketing package.
Of course the problem today is that there are so many areas through which you can promote. There are the traditional ways such as television, radio and newspapers. Then there are the modern digital platforms to consider. This is a minefield in itself as it is a landscape that is constantly changing. What may be flavour of the month now may be gone in six months time, so if you jump on board you have to be prepared to jump off just as quickly when the platform starts to fail to deliver. That in itself can be costly.
Sadly as discussed on Podcast 58 many sporting clubs and organisations feel that by simply having a Facebook, Twitter and Instagram account they are able to market in the digital space. It takes far more than that, and if a club or sporting organisation, or competition management only have one or two people working in this space, they are never going to be successful to the level that they are no doubt hoping or expecting. Quite simply the interaction with fans and the consistent messaging required takes time as well as a well-trained team of dedicated staff in order to reap the rewards everyone hopes for.
There are many who look solely to digital marketing to promote their teams or sporting events. The feeling being that they are targeting the younger generation and the fans of the future. The problem here is how do you know you are engaging them and how do you keep them engaged? They have so many on-line distractions you are going to have to be very clever to sustain engagement. The other problem with this approach is that you lose so many other fans who choose not to be a part of the social media whirl, or simply do not receive your posts. It is an area fraught with danger unless you have in place a good strategy, and a strong team with a united approach delivering clear messages. If you fail to have that as one expert said ‘you run the risk of simply burning money.’
Marketing teams, and events is a universal issue now in sport as they all vie for supremacy and their air-time.
Hockey is the first sport to launch a global international league competition, The FIH Pro League. The competition on the pitch has been outstanding with high levels of skill and goals galore. Crowds on the whole have been good, could they have been better? Maybe. Would better marketing have helped?
In fact with the FIH Pro League we have seen how a planned marketing strategy has worked well. In Great Britain they hosted the Women’s World Cup in June 2018, the event took place in the height of Summer and even though the national team did not perform as hoped GB Hockey still managed to maximise the exposure they gave the game through the success of the underdogs Ireland and Spain. GB Hockey started promoting the upcoming FIH Pro League during the World Cup, before even the FIH. They started promoting that there would be a ballot for tickets, which in itself made the public believe that demand would outweigh the number of tickets available. As a result when tickets went on sale the demand was high. Most if not all of Great Britain’s games are sold out. They also plan to play at the home of Harlequins Rugby Club, the Twickenham Stoop with a capacity of 14,800 for their last home game against New Zealand.
In fact when you logged onto the International Hockey Federation website, for a long time the first advert to pop up was one for GB Hockey promoting tickets to their Pro-League games.
Of course they were fortunate that they had the World Cup to ride off the back off, but they should be congratulated for planning ahead and having a strategy to maximise ticket sales.
Hockey is in many ways unique. The players are in a sporting context professional, yet the money they earn from the game is not enough for most to be totally dedicated to the sport and be able to live off those earnings.
There are other sports where players are full time professionals but have plenty of downtime when not training or playing. In most cases these athletes study, to prepare themselves for careers after sport. Many end up doing more than one degree or completing their Masters while playing.
Some sports do look to utilise these players within their organisations, but usually in coaching or game development, but why couldn’t those with marketing qualifications not be enrolled to assist in the promotion of their club or the game as a whole?
Marketing is so important and this would give clubs and competitions access to more resources who understand the sport and the culture of a club. There would be no need to try and explain this to an advertising agency in a pitch, and hope that they understood what you were looking for. These athletes immediately know what the sport is about and may in fact give some fresh and unique perspectives.
No doubt many athletes would jump at the chance to firstly be given the opportunity to put what they have learnt into practise, but also be involved in promoting something they have a passion for. Who knows what the end results could be?
In today’s world can a Communications Manager be across all forms of communication? If this were split into two roles there would be plenty of players who would jump at a chance to be involved in the traditional communications space, just as others would love to get stuck into the digital space to maximise their sport’s exposure.
With Marketing some may argue that one issue would be the diversity of cultures and languages that you would be looking to appeal to, but if an international body, or even a national body pulled in players from diverse backgrounds and took the time to understand the triggers in those communities, the long term effect could be incredible. The Football Federation of Australia is today boasting that their participation numbers have risen, what they do not reveal is that in every world cup year and the year following a World Cup in virtually every country where football is played participation numbers increase. They then decrease in the following two years before the next tournament. What they don’t talk about is the fact that there are over 20 registered football associations belonging to migrant communities in Australia and what they are doing to bring them in under the one umbrella. This is where one has to ask if the promotion of the game is in fact inclusive of all cultures and triggering people from those communities to come and watch?
In order to make the marketing message universal, they and others could rely on images rather than words. The power of vision along with the right music can prove to be incredibly emotive and effective.
What makes it easier for many of the sports themselves is that they have access to the footage of their sport, so there is less cost in creating content. This is sadly not the case for most clubs.
One thing that is clear is that in today’s world you have to think differently about the way you go about marketing. If we look at the number of football Clubs that have their own television stations, that would have been unheard of years ago. There is of course a large cost to set this up, but obviously the clubs that have done so see it as an essential means of communication with their fans, and also a new revenue stream.
This is an example of where the big clubs saw their television stations as a way of enhancing their brand. They recognised that as they became more global it was important that they had this connection with their fans, and they applied the relevant resources to that area and made it work, not only in terms of promotion but also driving revenue to the club.
The International Hockey Federation has set up a similar channel online with their FIH Live website. This is obviously a lower cost option but is a move in the right direction as it could generate revenue and will give fans the chance to find games with ease and watch them from all points around the globe. Provided they are not geo-blocked! Which if they are should be lifted after a set period has elapsed.
Remuneration for the athletes would be an issue that would be raised as an objection for going down the suggested path of tapping into their knowledge and passion for their sport or club. Yet a forward-thinking club or organisation would soon be able to find the money to employ such people, as like with the Club television channels they would understand the value of that passion and knowledge and what an asset these athletes could be to the successful promotion of their club or sport. There may even be grants available to give them an internship, or the role could be one that becomes a scholarship position linked to a degree. The other bonus is if the organisations are helping athletes during their playing days to get a foot up, a new level of loyalty is also created.
Marketing and Communications is an area that needs more resources of that there can be no doubt. Simple factors still occur in many organisations that simply would not be there if the right people were being put in control. For example the facts show that if someone goes to a website and they have to click on three or more tabs to find the information they require they leave the site and don’t return. If your web page is indeed ‘your shop window,’ you just lost a customer.
How many competition websites take more than one click to find the fixtures? Here is another clear reason why fans are not coming through the turnstiles. Link that with poor marketing and communications because these areas being under resourced and suddenly the problem becomes clearer.
The fact is times have changed, the old methods no longer work. This was proven in the by-elections in Perth and Fremantle in July last year. Voting was compulsory, but over 75,000 voters failed to go to the polls and faced fines. In Perth only 62% of the voters went to vote. Most people failed to even know there was a by-election. Nearly all of the advertising was done the traditional way via the newspaper. Thus proving that the traditional methods no longer give the desired outcomes.
Hopefully in the coming years we will see more clubs and sports look to use the players playing the game to help enhance the game and their club off the pitch. Surely in sports and clubs where players have to work part-time to support their sporting careers this marriage would not be one of convenience, but one that could reap huge rewards for all concerned.
