Optimize Media Mix for Sports Teams

Business Problem

In recent years as media innovation has accelerated and consumer preferences have shifted, it has become increasingly important for sports teams to find new ways to connect with their fans and quantify the potential impact on impression count and, ultimately, ROI, attributable to a given channel.

Last year, Nielsen reported a 7.5% decline in TV viewership for NFL games and overall 20% of US households have self-identified as cord-cutters. Meanwhile, 61% of sports fans follow sports accounts and 80% interact with sports-related topics on social media. Social media usage has already had some notable success stories for teams – the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors increased ROI by 8900% (compared to their previous NBA Finals appearance) by using Facebook. This potential has led 93% of global sports leaders to believe that the social media engagement of fans will continue to grow over the next 5-10 years.

From social media to streaming to other digital experiences, teams that best adapt to the media consumption and engagement habits of their fans will be at an advantage and those who continue supporting legacy strategies will likely fall behind.

Note: this will be even more important over the coming years as teams adjust to the post COVID-19 world. Even once sports are being played again, it is likely that game attendance will suffer long after whether that be due to social distancing restrictions or fans feeling uncomfortable. Finding unorthodox ways to keep the fan base involved will be a crucial opportunity for teams to differentiate themselves.

Intelligent Solution

AI can empower your marketers to better understand how and where to engage their audience by using historical campaigns and tactics to predict ROI however your organization is trying to measure it, whether it be ticket sales, merchandise, or Instagram likes.

Look at your key engagement metrics across each media channel and what relationship they have with your organization’s overarching strategic goals and KPIs. Augment the intelligence of your media mix model by understanding the drivers of engagement and ROI at a granular level.

AI will take the guesswork out of your media mix strategy by identifying patterns that lead to positive engagement and can adjust as new patterns are introduced and older patterns become obsolete. AI empowers your marketers to score both the impact of each distribution channel and the kinds of content/media that is most effective for each channel.

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