It's time for sports organizations to shake things up
Times are changing and sports organizations need to shake things up. Now is the time to take inventory & stock. It’s the prime time for organizations to disrupt and become industry leaders.
The current climate is calling for us to shake things in the sports industry. Companies are faced with:
Coming up with new strategies to tap into the market, expanding beyond their traditional streams of marketing
Developing new ways to tap into the millennial market
Reducing employee turnover - employees are searching more and more for their purpose, feeling a calling to the work that they’re doing & desiring to truly leave a legacy behind them
Learning how to teach athletes to tune out the outside noise, in a world where we’re expected to be on 24/7
Traditional sports marketing emphasizes creating in-stadium experiences (and advertisement opportunities) and ticket sales. Consumer consumption is changing, the new covid-19 variant is leaving us looming with questions. Are things going to be shut down again? What are the new reduced capacities going to be? How is this going to impact our bottom line? How do we get on top of this now?
In North America, the industry saw more than 40% growth between 2010-2018. It was fueled by media rights and sponsorship revenue . This growth was driven by consumers interested in live sports. Stats show that this is likely going to decrease in the future.
UNLESS we can find a way to tap into the Gen Z market. A market in which nearly one-quarter don’t watch any sort of live sporting event.
Let’s put this into perspective a bit, according to a poll:
75% of all adult men identified as being sports fans
58% of male Gen Zers identified as being sports fans
42% of all adults said that they watch live sports at least once a week
25% of Gen Zers said that they watch live sports at least once a week & they’re twice as likely to never watch live sports.
What needs to change to tap into this market?
There’s increased importance on employee retention in the industry. The opportunities outside of sports, impact on our new lifestyle choices, and a miss on the industry evolving (salary & expectations) have talent seeking outside opportunities.
It’s not uncommon to work 60+ hours per week when you work in the industry. It’s not uncommon for these individuals to work multiple jobs due to the pay. An article dating back to 2018 that spoke to industries with the highest turnover rate cited the sports industry for being tied in third place.
The sports industry is known to be project-based, throughout the season there are times when projects, results, and completion is expected in a short period. In addition, employees are feeling the emotional toll from the pandemic. They’re increasingly drained, stressed, and struggling.
How can we reinvigorate our talent, show them that they’re more than a number, and enhance their contribution?
It’s estimated that we see between 6,000 to 10,000 ads every day. Social media gives us access to athletes all day, every day. There’s a constant feedback loop, eyes are always on you. Which has its toll, how do you drown out the outside noise?
Think of an away team going into Lumen Field, you’re dealing with the 12th man. A tribute to having the “best” and “loudest” fans. For the Seahawks, it’s an advantage. For their opponent, it’s a challenge drowning out the noise.
It can be challenging to stay in your lane. A challenge that we all face. But for athletes, that challenge is more amplified.
Let’s look at the Toronto Argos. The team made it to the Eastern final, playing the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Ti-Cats won 27-19. As one can imagine, losing in a playoff game is going to take its toll mentally. And it did. An incident between Ti-Cats fans and players broke out (it was quickly stopped and an investigation is further being done). A separate incident with a player brushing off a cameraman.
The emotional toll is taxing, it impacts your mindset, your energy. Everything is off. At the end of the day, athletes are human. But often they’re treated like superhumans. So, how can we better support them as humans? How would we help them drown out the outside noise so that they can be more present on the field?
All of these challenges can be solved using the same approach. It starts with a bottom-up approach. It’s an inversion.
When we look at the way that things are run within an organization, it’s typically a top-down approach. For this explanation, we’re examining things from an operations standpoint - strategy & implementation. The bottom line of any corporation is to drive in a profit. If you aren’t making money, lights can’t stay on, you can’t pay your staff, you can’t make ends meet.
In sports, revenue is generated from fan-based (i.e. ticket sales, concessions, etc.), merch & advertising (including broadcasting rights, sponsorship, etc.).
In the top layer of this organizational funnel, you’re looking at the governing bodies. This would be the organization, owner, CEO, stakeholders. Key decisions to move the needle are made at this level. In many ways, it’s a trickle-down effect. Two things to note here, both organizational objectives and personal objectives come into play. Decisions are made mainly looking forward - how is the organization stacking up to future projections, are actions aligned with the overall mission, etc.
Then you have what I’ve labeled as your front office as the next tier or layer. This would include the individuals that are in leadership roles within the organizations and the individuals that are responsible for carrying out the day-to-day projects and initiatives that contribute to driving revenue.
Information such as focus, scope, budgets would trickle down the ladder. Turnover at this level is very high and that’s contributed to long hours, salaries, and most importantly a desire to feel a sense of purpose. Considering the implications that covid has brought to the industry, scopes of roles and how these roles were traditionally done are changing.
In the last layer, is what I’ve labeled as the field staff. This would include your coaches, medical staff, athletes, etc. From what I’ve seen, they almost act solo away from the other two layers. At the end of the day, they play a huge role in the bottom line. Winning a championship increases sales of merchandise and ticket prices. More people are tuned in to the game(s) and the season is extended, opening more doors for sponsorship opportunities.
In a way they run parallel, they have their assignments that contribute to the bottom line of the organization.
It’s not just the sports organization that operates this way. All organizations have a trickle-down effect, running in a top-down approach.
Sports Organizational Layout
Alright, here’s where we’re going to shake things up a bit with the current approach and my viewpoint on it.
Why do most people become fans of a team?
Some fans are attracted to a team because of the location that said team plays. Others are attracted to a team because of the colors and branding. Some fans are attracted to the history or legacy that’s already been created. Then you have the fans that are attracted to a team because of the player(s) on the team.
Here’s what marketers know, outside of need buying, most consumers purchase and become loyal to a brand because of an emotional connection. That connection piece ties into shared values with the organization. So the question becomes, ‘how do you get a prospective fan connected to a team?’
One way is a connection to the players. Personalizing players, sharing more about their stories (more about them off of the field), can create that emotional connection piece.
To play at a high level, athletes go through quite the grind. A lot is expected, they’re putting it on all the line for their dream and their passion. And to continue to drive forward and push through the challenges, they’re required to stay rooted in that passion.
A company needs to work like a well-oiled machine, every person on the team plays a role. And their role contributes to the bottom line. When a system is set up the way that it currently is, there’s a lot of disconnect between the different pieces of the machine.
So, at the end of the day if it isn’t intertwined (and rather acts like a broken telephone or pieces of the puzzle operating parallel each other), then how can your well-oiled machine operate to the best of its ability?
It can’t.
I remember my days working in an ad agency. I worked in a lot of cross-collaboration teams - I was on the ads side, working with account coordinators, external creative teams, and the clients themselves.
From my experience, I found that I was so removed from really understanding the drive, motivations, mission, goals, of some of these clients that I didn’t connect on a deeply emotional level to what I was doing.
Here’s what I mean by that - there’s passion behind the creation of a company. There’s the passion for making a change, impacting people, and leaving a legacy. What I’ve noticed is that other millennials are also desiring to find their sense of purpose.
And to find your purpose, to feel like you’re making an impact, you need to have that connection piece. There needs to be passion.
How do we take the passion element in a sports organization and expand it throughout all levels?
There’s a ton of competition to break into the sports industry. Then when you get into the industry, to climb the ladder it comes down to who you know. Employees are faced with a long work week, tight project-based deadlines, and lower salaries. People work in sports because they’re passionate. There’s an emotional connection. It’s something bigger than themselves.
But if you aren’t continuing to build that passion, if you aren’t pouring into them and fostering an environment that allows for the passion to grow, well people are going to look for other jobs.
I believe that it needs to start with the athletes and then go up the rest of the layers.