Sports management and its monetization from fans is moving from a linear back-and-forth to a circular, self-sustaining economy built on top of digital communities. It used to be that sports digital strategy centered around broad social media reach, trying to attract overseas fans and sell merch. But more and more, we are seeing the focus shift to multi-layered engagement within proprietary environments.
With the help of blockchain-backed platforms, sports organizations maintain a constant connection with their ever-globalized audience. It is changing the treatment of fans away from being consumers, and towards being stakeholders. In a world where Gen Z are becoming less of a fan of Real Madrid, and more a fan of Mbappe, it is important to try and capture them with fan tokens to give a greater sense of ownership and involvement in the club.
Data is the asset
The biggest advantage of this is the ability for organizations to capture first-party data that is extremely high quality. There is no comparison to the metrics provided by Twitter, for example.
By using digital fan engagement strategies, clubs get insights into fan preferences, spending habits, and voting behaviors without relying on social media algorithms or custom, expensive, API-driven analysis.
For many organizations, the FanTokens newsroom has become a resource to understand how these new digital models are changing commercial deals. More personalized marketing is possible, and the tailored experiences, which highly value fans (especially high-value fans) within the fan ecosystem. When a club understands which rewards resonate most with its fan engagement platforms, it can direct revenue streams accordingly. Revenue is less about ticket sales and running an e-shop, and more about building resilient commercial partnerships based on verified user activity. So, by looking at location-based engagement, they can better target pre-season games in these regions to solidify the fan base.
Fan participation
Innovation in sports is more and more about how well a team can gamify the supporter experience. Just how engaged are the fans? This is where sports innovation is becoming the bridge between digital assets and real-world utility. So, performance-driven non-fungible tokens, where match results can influence digital asset supply, creates a live link between the pitch and the fan ecosystem. It’s not a million miles away from FIFA Ultimate Team, which has seen eye-watering success.
This level of interaction is facilitated by specialized fan engagement platforms to turn otherwise passive global supporters into stakeholders – they feel their beliefs and views are having a real impact on the club’s digital identity. And for a generation of Football Managers and Fantasy Football addicts, this is powerful.
The ecosystems are powerful because it’s just the infrastructure – the integrations are still coming, whether it’s with gaming or apparel. But there is asset value in loyal, digitally-active fanbases.
Digital ecosystems are no longer a secondary or parallel consideration for sports organizations that run alongside real life stadiums and tickets. The on-pitch and tangible governance of the club is now directly linked to the digital world, and it’s opening up more commercial potential for overseas fans. Which, for the big teams, is now much larger than their local fanbase.
