The Number 1 Secret to Targeting The Gen Z Sports Fan
Record-breaking sales and stadiums filled
with raving brand fans that work on your behalf to increase reach and costs per sale… Sounds awesome, right?!
…. But how do you achieve that?
The landscape has changed.
The way fans consume content has shifted.
Sports revenue generation once heavily relied on sales and sponsorship, which has since started to shift.
The Gen Z generation is not consuming sports.
So what can sports organizations do to get back on track?
Targeting Gen Z Sports Fans
The facts:
Between 2010-and 2018, the North American industry saw more than 40% growth, fueled by media rights and sponsorship revenue.
The cause? Consumer interest in live sports.
Gen Z market is not interested in sports in the same way.
Nearly one-quarter don’t watch any sort of live sporting event
75% of adult men identify as being sports fans vs 58% of male Gen Zers identity as being sports fans
42% of adults say they watch live sports at least once a week vs 25% of Gen Zers
Gen Zers are twice as likely to never watch live sports
How big is the Gen Z market? Does it impact the industry that much?
Gen Z makes up about 20.2% of the US population which accounts for roughly 68.2 million.
As we can see, this presents a big opportunity. A market that is not currently successfully targeted.
Understanding your ideal fan profile
Gen Zers do not consume content in the same way. Meaning we can’t produce content and distribute it on platforms the way that we’ve traditionally done so. Putting content out and expecting them to come fleeing towards us isn’t going to happen.
The onus is on the organization to go out, find Gen Z, and speak to them in the way that they want to be spoken to.
A house needs a foundation before you can start building it. The foundation of content is understanding your audience. It’s the only way to effectively speak to your ideal fan.
If you don’t have this in place, you can be on all the platforms, producing content across different mediums, but you’re never really going to know what contributed to a successful campaign or why you need to pivot because of low results.
The number 1 secret to targeting the Gen Z sports fan is understanding them.
The breakdown.
Secure your ideal fan profile (this is your prospective fan)
Just because someone fits into a category based on their age, doesn’t automatically mean that they’re going to be an ideal fan. The more clarity you have on who this person is and who this person isn’t, the stronger your content is going to become.
Typically, when putting content out there you should be speaking to 1 person.
You want to attract your ideal fan and deter people that are not your ideal fan.
It sounds counterintuitive, but that’s really where you make the money.
Start thinking about the people that are gold glove/MVP status fans.
What are their motivations?
What do they desire?
What are they longing for?
Why are they purchasing from you?
Why don’t they purchase from other companies?
What are their expectations?
Where are they consuming content?
How do they speak?
Look at the different generations and map out the same questions from above. What separates them? What similarities do they have?
Conduct market research, and look at third-party research that’s already been conducted. Developing a better understanding of your ideal fan is only going to help you reach them more powerfully.
When you line up a few of your MVP status fans, you’re going to start seeing some crossover. There are going to be ties and connections that you never realized.
Oftentimes, you’re going to have 1 ideal fan profile. It’s 1 person. But here’s the thing - multiple people can fit into this depending on the stage that they’re in.
That’s where diversity in a service/product suite comes into play.
You’ll want to revisit this ideal fan profile for every promotion that you have.
Ex. the person that buys tickets to your home opener might not be the same person that buys tickets to a daytime kids geared game.
Developing this isn’t a one and done, it’s a working document that you’ll often come back to and adjust.
2. Determine where your ideal fan hangs out & choose your medium
Dive deeper into your ideal fan to understand the psychology behind their behaviors. Again, you want to show up in the places that they are. And when you show up there you want to speak to them using their language (i.e. there’s a big difference between speaking to someone and speaking to them).
Why does this matter?
I’m a huge fan of repurposing content. That being said, there's a right way to repurpose content and a wrong way. When you’re looking at your marketing content plan in a holistic view, you’ll be able to see the whole picture.
How each medium and platform play together.
The differences between each medium.
The ways to connect through each channel.
The outcomes/goals of each medium.
Let’s dive deeper, shall we?
Typically, a sports organization produces content in a variety of different mediums.
Print, broadcast, digital, web.
Within each of those mediums, there are also different channels, for example:
Broadcast - TV, radio, podcast
Digital
Social media - Twitter, Tiktok, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest
Search - Google
Each channel has best practices and ways in which consumers consume content on said platform, meaning your content is going to differ slightly between those platforms.
Ex. Long and short-form series, docu-series, in Arena videos, promotions, commercials.
What goes where? And how?
A strong content strategy will allow you to effectively show up and use the platforms that your organization is using.
However, you MUST first know and understand your ideal fan profile - where are they consuming content? How are they consuming content? How do they speak? What matters to them? What desires do they have? What dreams do they have? What is the solution that your organization offers? How do you differ from other teams, in their mind? Why should they care? What’s ultimately in it for them?
3. What is your fan lifecycle?
This is your customer life cycle. What is the journey that you’re taking a fan on?
Where are they coming in from?
What experience(s) are you providing them with?
What are the different stages that they’re moving through as a fan?
Who are they through each of these stages?
What actions are required, on both ends for this to happen?
What is the ultimate transformation or promise that you’re providing?
When you map this out, consider costs.
What is the cost to acquire a fan?
What is the cost of keeping them with your organization?
What are they spending money on? How frequently? What’s the ROI here?
4. The stakeholders and other parties involved.
From here, you can start looking at other parties and relationships involved in helping you reach your goal. And you can start mapping those phases out.
The number 1 secret to targeting the Gen Z sports fan is understanding them.
How well do you know your ideal fan?
If you’re looking for more on how to build a content plan, storytelling, or reach your ideal fan be sure to sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter.