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From our Founder Angela Ruggiero
"Technology and data-driven decisions will be the driving forces to recouping some of the lost revenue from the past year."
I hope everyone had a Happy New Year! We appreciate your support and look forward to supporting you in 2021. We believe there is a great opportunity ahead for the sports industry to rebuild and become better than ever before. We aspire to support your technology decisions this year with more data around understanding how Fluid Fans are behaving with more reports, data tools, and services that will help you flourish in this new age of sport. I am incredibly excited to announce that the world’s first data-driven “Top 25 Most Innovative Teams in Sport” will be officially released next week through our programming for CES! This ranking of the top global sports teams was literally years in the making, as we build a tool that is void of the typical bias you see in most opinion-based lists. This data-driven list will be supported by our recommendations of how to recover from a post-pandemic world, and what the most innovative teams are doing to capture the Fluid Fan and win in this new economy. Sign up for the Top 25 Most Innovative Teams in sport unveiling below!
Weekly Brand Breakthrough
The NBA is hoping to use corporate jersey patch sponsorships to offset their losses due to the pandemic. The 2.5 in by 2.5 in patches have seen great success since their introduction ahead of the 2017-18 season, bringing teams millions of dollars in additional sponsorship money. The prominently placed advertisements average in value from 7 to 10 million dollars a year, with the Golden State Warriors topping the charts with a 20 million dollar annual deal with Rakuten. The league has also recently allowed teams to sell sponsorships on their practice jerseys and shoot around shirts, hoping to provide them another way to generate revenue.
Weekly Live Entertainment Breakthrough
The NFL announced that they expect to reach more than 1 million total fans in attendance this season after tallying the last games today. Although this may seem like a lot of fans amidst the pandemic, it is a fraction of the 17 million fans the NFL saw in the 2019 season. The last time the NFL hosted a million fans was in 1938, and there were only ten teams at the time. This statistic provides a clear glimpse into the total revenue loss the league is facing. Forbes estimated that if the NFL hosted no fans this year, they would lose 5.5 billion dollars in concessions, ticket sales, parking, etc. That is to say that with the 1 million fans they did see, they still are set to lose 5.1 billion dollars this year. Although the pandemic did hit the sports industry hard, it is poised to come back more innovative, agile, and successful.
Weekly Media Breakthrough
On Christmas day, Amazon exclusively streamed the first NFL game on their platforms. The stream garnered around the same number of views as broadcasts on the NFL Network. The 4.8 million average minute audience is the highest ever digital viewership for an NFL regular-season game. Although Amazon has been a streaming partner of the NFL for a few years, this was the first time that they served as the primary outlet for a regular-season game. The accessibility of their platform and the millions of users they reach that aren’t necessarily watching broadcast television means that Amazon is a significant player in the future of watching sports. As large broadcast contracts expire, it will be exciting if streaming platforms like Amazon will be able to take their place.
Weekly Athlete Breakthrough
This coming February, student-athletes from 31 historically black colleges and universities will get the chance to showcase their madden talents and compete to earn scholarships. As part of the Groomed to Game partnership between Gillette, CSL Esports, and the HBCU Esports Alliance (HEA). The collaboration Gillette plans to do product giveaways, give back donations with purchases, and even provide haircuts for kids in partnership with campus barbershops. This partnership demonstrates Gillette's effort to be a player in the esports space and the potential for all brands and sponsors to work within esports. This program also hopes to provide more opportunities for esports athletes of color.
For more information on the changing trends in sports and all of our latest research visit sportsilab.com
Sports Innovation Lab Events
DON'T MISS OUR SPORTS ZONE IN PARTNER WITH THE CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW (CES)
The premier technology conference, CES, will be going virtual this year from January 11th to the 14th. You can purchase your ticket for the conference here! Tune in January 12 at 7:30 am ET to catch Angela Ruggiero, Gary Bettman Commissioner of the NHL, Cathy Englebert Commissioner of the WNBA, and Stephanie McMahon Chief Brand Officer of WWE talk about the forces of technology and fan behavior shifts that are having a monumental impact on the future of sports. Join us on January 14, 2021 when the Sports Zone, a CES Partner Program, goes virtual. The industry’s most progressive leaders will be joining Sports Innovation Lab for a day of provocative discussion around the power of data and the future of the fan experience. We are excited to partner with CES for the fourth year in a row, and happy to say all our sessions on the 14th kicking off at 11 am ET will be free to attend: register here! We will be unveiling our latest research report on the Fluid Fan, which includes the Top 25 Most Innovative Teams in Sports! Throughout the conference, we will be speaking with leaders across the sports industry about technology, data, and the market trends to look out for in 2021. Our sessions will focus on how the sports industry can rebound and innovate after the trying and difficult year we all faced. Sign up today and don’t miss out!
COMBINING DATA AND HUMAN PERFORMANCE WITH KINDUCT TECHNOLOGIES
On our first show of 2021, Angela Ruggiero welcomes Dr. Travis McDonough, CEO and Founder of Kinduct Technologies, to the Fluid Fan Podcast to discuss everything human performance and data. Travis is a medical expert who has brought his extensive knowledge of human performance to the sports industry to help athletes. Kinduct is a data collection and analysis company that utilizes technology to monitor an athlete’s performance, output, and overall wellness. With partners across the globe, Travis and his team at Kinduct are innovating the sports industry and leading the way in the quantified athlete space. With a crowded market, Kinduct is working to democratize athlete data and human performance. Learn about the innovative practices and technologies that Travis and his team are utilizing to create a healthier and more informed athlete.