The sports world is the latest addition to join the digital world, including sports clubs, global athletes and international sports brands. This is changing how the sport’s industry is targeting and engaging with sports fans, as Sports New Media has recently witnessed.
Athletes and sports stars are now household names as brands and celebrities in their own right – David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand and Kobe Bryant – just some of the sporting icons that have their own Facebook Page, Twitter account and personal website.
This invites brands to invest millions in sponsorship deals, as international sports stars become vehicles for brands that wish to promote their products and engage with sports consumers worldwide.
Today, fame and popularity are dictated by your ‘worth’ as a celebrity and fan loyalty, based on likes and followers. One of the best footballers in Europe, Ronaldo, has 33,618,286 likes at the time of writing – an example of the fan base and global reach brands can benefit from.
Unlike traditional advertising models, digital and social media offer cost-effective alternatives for the sport’s industry, enabling a focus towards audience engagement and content sharing, as well as the opportunity for innovative communications strategies.
