The game has changed in the sports media arena, to the point the competition is no longer confined to the field or court. Leagues, networks, streaming platforms and advertisers are all vying for the same prize: the fans.
Over the past few years, billions of dollars have been spent on exclusive streaming rights across various sports leagues and properties. ESPN recently announced its plan to both acquire the NFL Network and launch a new flagship streaming service with WWE live events. Fox Corp. has entered the fray with Fox One.
But streaming rights alone don’t guarantee viewership or subscriptions. Churn is part of the game, just as it is when it comes to scripted streaming entertainment. Fans are in control, toggling between platforms to find their favorite teams, the best matchups or the most cost-effective experience.
For advertisers, this creates a challenging playing field. If brands want to win, they need more than just placement. They need data to make sure it’s the best placement.
The high stakes of viewership and subscriptions
The battle for streaming dominance is fierce. Networks and platforms are betting big on marquee sports rights in hopes of driving subscriptions and building loyal audiences. This includes everything from the big American professional sports leagues to pro wrestling to global leagues, like the Premier League.
While sports is often seen as the one thing that keeps viewers tied to linear TV, streaming sports viewership is mainstream. Nearly half of U.S. households identify as sports viewers and 70% of those watch via streaming services. That reveals one critical aspect of sports audiences: They are fluid, not fixed. Fans bounce between platforms from game to game or season to season, making it harder for advertisers to maintain consistent reach. Some fans may not be interested in an out-of-market package if their team has a down season. Others hop on the bandwagon later in the year. An American NBA fan may suddenly develop an affinity for a Premier League team in a part of England they’ve never visited.
Traditional broad-reach buys can’t keep up. Advertisers need a new playbook built on data.
The role of audience targeting in the streaming era
This is where precision audience targeting becomes the sports advertiser’s playbook. A Sunday afternoon NFL game is a media moment that provides mass reach. Sports streaming is more than just a media moment; it’s a data moment.
So while the streaming platforms are investing in acquiring rights, the brand advertisers need to understand who is watching. Who are loyalists, committed to watching a specific sport consistently? And who are the streaming platform switchers, who are more likely to cancel a subscription and pick up a new one as they dabble? Brands need accurate, actionable insights and data to get to the bottom of these questions.
There are several pieces of information that can better identify who’s watching. This includes first-party data, like app sign-ins and subscriptions, along with third-party data on demographics, purchase behaviors and lifestyle preferences. From there, brands can go deeper to understand what motivates the audiences that are watching different sports, then turn those insights into a strategy to engage this audience across channels.
If it’s not obvious, this is a more detailed approach than simply reaching a generic “sports fans” audience. The streaming era of sports viewership requires brands to distinguish loyalist viewers from switchers and then tailor their campaigns accordingly.
This could include any of the following strategies:
- Rewarding loyalists with exclusive offers or team-specific messaging.
- Using dynamic creative and retargeting to capture switchers’ attention.
- Extending engagement beyond streaming and into social platforms and digital media.
These different forms of engagement ensure that messages resonate with the right fans at the right time. Precision targeting maximizes the value of every impression, ensuring that brands are getting the highest ROI from the ever-evolving sports streaming landscape.
The real prize: Fan connection
In the end, streaming rights get networks and platforms into the game and create opportunities for advertisers. But it’s the fans who decide who wins.
The only way to do that is to recognize that not all fans are the same. This is true across the leagues, but also within the audience on a single platform, or for a single game. Sports streaming is full of die-hard loyalists who will follow their team wherever it streams. Others are going to stick to one platform or switch their subscriptions constantly as they chase hot teams, the best matchups, subscription discounts or convenience. The real opportunity lies in meeting all of the different constituencies where they are.
Victory in this area goes to the advertisers and platforms that go beyond reach and rights, using data to find fans and build meaningful and lasting connections with them.
Donna Hamilton is chief innovation officer at data-driven marketing agency Alliant.
