Sport Tap

DATA IN SPORT

SPONSORSHIP &

PARTNERSHIP

TAP

TRENDS ACROSS THE

PLANET 6.13

SPONSORSHIP &

PARTNERSHIP

TAP

TRENDS ACROSS THE

PLANET

The abundance of data in sport has finally made its way from the back of house statisticians and coaching teams and is revolutionising the way in which fans can interact, not just with the sport experience itself, but the brands building their businesses in its orbit. In their quest to be seen as the most informed in their circle of armchair critics, sports fans are consuming data at unprecedented levels, extending the match day debate into social channels long after the final whistle and, in doing so, providing extended opportunities for brands to engage with their audience.

Even the “Big Game” broadcast experience has changed. The once sacrosanct 90 minutes or 70+ laps of a Grand Prix circuit of unbroken concentration on a Wednesday night or Sunday afternoon are viewed on multiple screens, offering multiple data points that tell the story behind the action and stoke the debate before they even get to the pub or the office for the traditional post event analysis. This in itself is not new news on media consumption habits, but what is often overlooked is the phenomenal role data has played in driving this and the opportunities this same data opens up to brands - particularly in the sponsorship space.

We’ve been following this trend for a while now and, from what we’ve seen, we’d argue that it is now data driving fan engagement to new levels and the technology by which it is consumed is purely the enabler of this. We’ve found five great ways in which brands and rights holders have teamed up to create and utilise data to engage fans, and (we hope) drive preference that ultimately impacts the bottom line.

SPONSORSHIP & partnership TAP // 6.13

Contents

Contents 01

DATA as THE NUCLEUS OF BRAND ACTIVATION

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data redefining fans’ broadcast experience

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DATA REDEFINING FANS’ live EVENT EXPERIENCE

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MONETISING IN-GAME DATA

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commercialising fan data

Getting In Touch

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DATA AS THE NUCLEUS OF BRANDS ACTIVATION

data as the nucleus of brand activation

TREND

case study

The insatiable thirst for data has borne a new sector within the sports industry, with companies including Opta (in football) and Stroke Average (in golf) enjoying substantial expansion as demand from the consumer drives increased spend by rights holders, media and brands on sports data tools.

Adidas teamed up with Opta to answer the eternal question amongst football fans “who is the best footballer in the world”.

This dramatic change in the consumption of sports, presents some of the most significant opportunities for brands involved in sport partnerships and sponsorships and savvy brands are embedding data at the heart of their engagement programmes rather than bolting it on as a tactic.

Over the past two years, the two entities have been collaborating on a project known as The Engine, essentially an algorithm to monitor player performances against key indicators readily available in Opta’s extensive database. Based on metrics including work rate, pitch coverage and on/off ball statistics, players are scored out of 100 on a weekly basis to form The Engine Scale.

The (adidas branded) results are then pushed out to football fans and stakeholders around the world via what adidas promise to be a significant integrated

communications programme, including key media partners such as the home of the EPL, Sky Sports.

what this means At a time when prevailing wisdom recognises content as king, data is essentially ready-made content and brands (and forward thinking rights holders) have an opportunity to take an asset that is traditionally favoured by TV pundits and create a compelling consumer experience.

As this example demonstrates, adidas haven’t actually taken anything new, they simply spotted an opportunity to insert themselves at the heart of an on-going debate close to the hearts of one of their biggest global audiences and partnered with the company that possessed the means.

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data redefining fans broadcast experience

DATA REDEFINING fans BROADCAST EXPERIENCE trend Recent reports from Nielsen, Google, BSkyB and IMRG indicate that 75%-85% of TV viewers use other devices whilst watching TV, and 40%-55% of all viewers are using their mobile device to look at something relating to what they are watching. While broadcasters and the rights holders who benefit from substantial broadcast rights payments may be uncomfortable with the distraction from what they regard as the main event, opportunities are ripe for brands to augment the broadcast experience of the fans with data-driven mobile content.

case study The NBA continue to be a trailblazer in the often stagnant, occasionally shortsighted rights holder community, most recently inking a deal with SAP to be the official provider of statistics to the league. At the crux of the partnership is the ability to provide fans with the NBA’s official statistics feed, previously only available to the league and team personnel – in real time.

The partnership provides fans with the opportunity to evaluate team’s and player’s performance in real-time, and includes unparalleled statistical analysis of the league’s entire history . SAP will also help fans searching for key statistics via their mobile devices and will see real-time data delivered across NBA’s entire global operations, encompassing media, special events, mobility, social media, player & team statistics, technology and fan interactions, all the time pointing to SAP’s technical capabilities.

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DATA REDEFINING FANS BROADCAST EXPERIENCE

DATA REDEFINING fans’ BROADCAST EXPERIENCE what this means Broadcast integration for brands in sport is challenging enough considering rigid rights structures, on-screen clutter and, in some markets, the challenge of securing a branded presence on publicly funded channels. Add in the fact that brand inclusion in sports broadcasts is an utterly passive experience for the average sports fan, and the return on the investment and objectives from the medium is reduced to basic awareness and association metrics.

Using data, it is possible to create an engagement opportunity in parallel to the broadcast that results in a role for the brand and an opportunity to build deeper relationships for the rights holder too. We’d argue that the opportunity to get deeper into the sport on the big screen in front of them actually benefits, rather than distracting from, the traditional broadcast by allowing the viewer to curate their own experience, on their terms.

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data redefining fans live event experience

data redefining fans’ live event experience TREND For the über connected consumer, it is mindboggling to think that sports stadia for some of the highest profile leagues on the planet still don’t offer enhanced connectivity for fans attending major events. If you want to stay in touch with the outside world – or even get closer to the one you’re sitting in - on match day, you’d better hope the gs known as 3&4 are firing on all cylinders, because you almost certainly won’t be enjoying the free Wi-Fi found in coffee shops the world over.

It’s not difficult to provide the service, it’s actually logistically easier than keeping the toilets stocked with loo roll and the bar with beer, and that’s before you consider that most major sports properties enjoy a commercial relationship with a telecoms partner.

No, the issue is that teams and leagues are afraid that facilitating focus on anything but the spectacle on the track or field will be to the detriment of the “experience”. The truth is that all the evidence indicates that when the action picks up on the pitch, related social media activity grinds to a halt, only to resume again afterwards (a case in point being Twitter activity around the Grand National where

the volume of tweets during the final few furlongs literally stopped in its tracks).

This TAP has already demonstrated the value of datadriven content but, by and large, this is only available to those fans watching at home. Considering that NYC Movement Labs are developing a tool to analyse fan behaviours, which will enable brands and rights holders to review the reaction of fans to content and marketing messages and tailor accordingly.

What this means The live event experience is a key opportunity for brands to help rights holders drag their core proposition into the 21st century in line with the expectations of the fans. Those that get it right will benefit from the relationships built at the epicentre of the fans’ experience and thus the emotion and passion that goes with it.

Brands should, in our opinion, be leaning on their partners to provide the means for them to engage socially with fans during live experiences. To do otherwise is to limit the potential return on the sponsorship investment.

Case Study Bluntly, we’ve yet to see any great examples of content (and thus data)-driven live event experiences at major sports events, but we are encouraged to see Liverpool FC and FC Barcelona have recently signed deals with Xirrus and Telefonica respectively, and the NFL is investing in installing free Wi-Fi at all stadiums by 2015, to try and win back dwindling attendees.

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MONETISING IN GAME DATA

monetising in game data Betting on sporting outcomes is as old as sport itself, although today’s gladiators tend to all end the day in rude health and with a substantial pay cheque. The act of betting itself is now big business and, certainly in the UK, intrinsically linked to pretty much every major sporting event.

The New York Times estimates that the online betting market will be a $100 billion worldwide industry by 2017, with the majority of growth coming from In-Game betting. In-Game betting, which allows individuals the opportunity to gamble during the sports action, has grown from a niche industry at the start of the millennium to a sector which represents as much as 50% of the total betting market. The 2012 FA Carling Cup final between Cardiff and Liverpool received more than 24,000 in-game bets at William Hill alone.

Case Study Since entering the betting and gambling market in 2002, BSkyB’s Sky Bet has experienced phenomenal growth. In the five years from 2005, the business increased by 96%, firmly establishing itself as a major player in the UK market.

The key to its success is its ability to integrate betting functionality directly into Sky Sports programming, thus enabling sports fans to place bets whilst watching the action from the comfort of their home.

What This Means We’ve seen how data can enhance the sports fan’s experience and In-Game betting demonstrates that for the right experience, they are willing to pay for it.

Brands should, of course, exercise caution in the betting space – especially as rumblings of match fixing continue to reverberate through European football - but we are interested to see if the role data plays in informing betting choices becomes a hook for subscription services that provide at least a perceived edge for those sports fans who bet as part of their personal sports experience.

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SPONSORSHIP & partnership TAP // 6.13

commercialising fan data

COMMERCIALISING FAN DATA If brands can benefit from the data generated on the field of play to engage the fans that form their consumer base, they can also use the data captured by their sports partners about their fans to ensure their programmes and campaigns remain on-point.

The debate rages on about how brands can effectively monetise social media in the most literal sense, but for the rights holder, we believe the monetization of the data yielded from social media is already well underway.

In one perhaps unlikely alliance, Chelsea Football Club and Sauber F1 Team have joined forces based on identified synergies in their brand portfolio, with a view to cross-pollinating their respective fan bases and ultimately growing their sponsor line ups as a result.

Case Study Manchester United enjoys the largest international following of any team in the EPL, probably in any sport. Working with Kantar (and thus ensuring independent verification of the data), the club conducted a global survey to gauge popularity by region. The results, while not surprising, were

staggering in scale. Of 659 million supporters worldwide, roughly half are in the Asia-Pacific region.

United have subsequently used this data to develop their marketing strategy, which has seen the club attract more than 33 million fans on Facebook and secure a raft of substantial sponsorship deals not just high-profile global partnerships but, most interestingly, including regional partnerships in 72 different countries.

to pedal the same high level demographic data that has comprised the second section of seemingly every sponsorship proposal ever written (the first section, for those of you with inquiring minds, typically comprises of the relevant sports calendar and a world map showing the live events and TV reach).

Furthermore, brands should be demanding far deeper and more specific data to provide meaningful insights that can better inform investment decisions.

One of the more interesting examples is the club’s relationship with gloops, Japan’s leading social gaming company. Based on a foundation of 4 million United fans in Japan and engaging gloops’ 18 million members, it will be interesting to see if the strong cultural & linguistic challenges inherent in the Japanese market trump the ability of social media to blur geographic restrictions on sponsorship contracts and allow brands to activate outside of the parameters of their agreement.

What This Means Rights holders who capture smart data from their fanbases have a much stronger proposition to take to carefully-selected prospects than those who continue

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Getting In Touch

Getting in touch

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