Fans are brand-loyal. In fact, Brand Engagement Surveys found that sports fans are the most brand-loyal over and above cars, technology, clothing and food. This loyalty is something that, for many years, sports makers have taken much for granted. In recent years, however, we have begun to see much more emphasis put on the fan.

We at 3e60sport, have been focused on developing the fan engagement strategy. We have divided our approach into the 4 core areas that a 360° view of fan engagement should focus on.

Firstly, a look into what is important to a sports fan. Understanding users is at the heart of any project that we undertake and so should be at the heart of any fan engagement strategy. We started out by stating the loyalty of sports fans.

There is a long tradition to many sports clubs, with fans often connected to their club by virtue of their place of birth, or family history, the Sport Maker that a fan follows is part of their identity and so the identity of that Sport Maker is not to be messed with. Changing a logo, team colours, or moving location can alienate, and downright anger, loyal fans. Therefore the brand identity is extremely important and not to be underestimated. It should carry through everything the organisation does.
 

As a Sponsor and Sport Partner, you should always take into every aspect related to the Tradition, in order to enhance your sponsorship activation and fan engagement strategy.

To engage is to become closer to something. In this case, fans want to get closer to the Sport Maker, the action, the team. Anything that affords more intimate access to any of these is going to keep a fan enthralled. Social media has a part to play here in that it can open up a behind-the-scenes view to many areas of all sports. OTT services also have been a real game-changer by opening up access to footage of gameplay as well as ancillary content, on-demand.

Every sports fan wants their team to be winning but keeping fans engaged and bought into their team will support their desire to stick with their team in good times and bad. An important Survey of NFL teams and their fans revealed that no matter whether a fan is a casual fan or a super fan, improving an NFL franchise’s current stadium, or building a new one were the two factors most likely to make someone more of a fan. They found that teams with a highly ranked stadium have higher fan equity and also enjoy better winning percentages suggesting, as they put it, “a positive cycle of stadium experience, results and equity/engagement.” Pride in a team can also come from the way the club and the athletes themselves interact with the community.

The young sports fans, the ones who will be filling stadia worldwide in the near future are a mobile generation. A mobile phone is an intrinsic part of so many people’s lives now and so when engaging with fans, the mobile experience needs to be a core consideration. This does not mean simply having a mobile website, as that consists of merely adapting an existing piece of collateral. The approach needs to be about catering to the fans’ needs in any place and at any time. It is important to note at this point that not all sports fans are the same and any club/body seeking to better engage fans must first seek to better understand their fans. Understanding who they are, what they do and what they want is an exercise to be undertaken thoroughly by each organisation, before even thinking about how to cater to those fans.