Mastering communication through social media will be key. In this context, traditional communication channels of sport events, such as press conferences, seem quite outdated, and sports organisations need to adapt to this new generation of athletes and its audience. Naomi Osaka’s recent withdrawal from the French Open after tournament organizers refused to let her cancel press obligations, and the buzz it created on social media, also showed how athletes are now voicing their opinion and taking a stand, and how their audience is ready to support them. The league has also changed its highlight videos on social media to focus less on actions and scores and more on the performances of a given player. The National Hockey League, aware of this new way to attract sports fans, is currently investing in educating its players about how to effectively use social media to engage fans and grow their profiles. Footballers Lionel Messi and Neymar, as well as basketball players LeBron James and Stephen Curry, are all followed by tens of millions of fans from all around the world on their social media accounts. Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo is the most-followed athlete on Instagram with over 287 million followers. They go through their social media profiles, and they want to know what they do in their everyday life, how they exercise, eat and sleep, to have a more intimate relationship with them. Young people are interested in following specific personalities, and they don’t just want a t-shirt and a photograph, they expect a closer connection with their favorite players. This will completely transform the relationships between sports teams, sports broadcasters and their young audience in the years to come. That’s what convinced Jack Settleman to launch SnapBack Sports to connect with the new-age sports fan caring more about Steph Curry than the Warriors. A growing trend among Gen Zers that is directly linked to the rise of social media sports platforms is for many young folks to follow specific athletes rather than a sports team. With new platforms come new watching habits. In my national survey of Gen Z, 20% of Gen Zers ranked Twitch ahead of cable television and network television for viewing video content and that percentage is increasing by each quarter.” Athletes first As Mark Beal puts it, “ Gen Z is turning to Twitch for content ranging from esports and sports to music and entertainment. The audience loves funny clips, debate topics and the top highlights of the day” he says.Īnd let’s not forget Twitch, the gaming platform which is now broadening its reach. It is also great for in-game experiences. For Jack Settleman, a Gen Z sports commentator I follow and whose Snapchat account has more than 500 million views per year, Snapchat is a perfect platform for talking about sports: “ You have a one-to-one comment section, so no negativity is seen by the public. Young viewers appreciate the intimate, one-to-one relationship that the app provides, and the way it is tailored to stream live events. Snapchat is another popular option among Gen Z. In my recent nationwide survey of Gen Zers ages 13-24 in the United States, they consistently rank Instagram, YouTube and TikTok as their 'big three’ for content consumption including sports content.” “ Gen Z consumes sports content unlike any previous generation. Gen Z’s favorite channelsĪccording to Mark Beal, author of the book Engaging Gen Z, applications such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube are particularly popular among these young streamers. Among those who watch live sports, more than three quarters (77%) of Boomers (older than 56) most commonly watch a TV broadcast, as compared to 57% of Gen X (40 to 56) and just 35% of Millennials and Gen Z, who prefer using their mobile: 65 percent of Generation Z are relying on their smartphones for sports coverage. Unsurprisingly, young people, while still watching television, aren’t as strictly confined to it as older generations were. Gone are the days when a home TV was the only option to watch Saturday night’s game. First of all, they use a much broader set of devices and platforms.
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