The postponement of the Olympic Games has had a big impact not only on the sports industry but also on many other industries. The Olympic movement is going through a period of reframing their entire model and strategy, from athletes and fans communications to commercial and partner contracts. COVID-19 is impacting everyone but for many organizations has created an opportunity for shifting their content and communications strategy to be more digital-focused.
On May 14th we hosted our 8th edition of the N3XT Sports online Meetups entitled Olympic Innovation: Commercial Opportunities for International Federations. All the way from Singapore we had Matt Pound, Marketing Director at the International Table Tennis Federation, and joining us from the Olympic capital, Lausanne, Switzerland, we had Greta Avola, Sponsorship Manager at FINA. Both speakers shared many great insights about commercial opportunities at their respective international federations, some of the challenges and opportunities that COVID-19 has brought to them, and what to expect from the sporting events in the future.
¨During these unprecedented times, we have to reframe the entire model, be flexible in order to adapt to the situation and to reinvent ourselves to make sure we don’t get left behind¨
Finding new solutions in front of COVID-19
The impact of COVID-19 from a commercial perspective has been quite large and drastic in the sports industry and around sports organizations such as international federations. In this time, there are a lot of renegotiations happening and discussions around how to move forward. Matt shared with us how his work in the past two months has been a mix between canceling and postponing all their events to having one-on-one conversations with all the stakeholders as there are many different parties involved in one event, from the media, to the sponsors, to city contracts, to partners to athletes to fans.
¨Now we all have to be patient, have a lot of flexibility and have a greater dialogue between all stakeholders to try and find the best solution for all involved parties.¨
Investment opportunities to grow the commercial value
Well in advance of COVID-19, the ‘sportainment’ trend was forcing sports organizations to create more personalized and direct to consumer offerings to compete with the highly sophisticated entertainment industry. During the online Meetup, Matt shared more about the ITTF’s approach to this challenge, with the creation of a new legal entity called World Table Tennis. This entity was created in order to rebrand, invest, and reposition the sport of table tennis by creating a new event series with a strong digital backbone. By creating a more standardized and entertaining product, the ITTF will be able to attract more sponsors, better broadcasting deals, and find easier ways to monetize fans. By inviting external private investment, the ITTF created World Table Tennis with the aim of accelerating its roadmap of professionalizing the sport, making it more entertaining, and tapping into the global fan community of table tennis.
¨We could have had more organic growth and waited five or ten years with the commercial values gaining 10-20% every year but we really wanted to revolutionize the sport with a bang, that’s why we looked for some private money.¨- Matt Pound
The sponsorship landscape
The entire sports industry is constantly changing, and the sponsorship landscape is not any different. Years ago, there was only one way to watch sports on streaming, through TV. Nowadays there is a viewership fragmentation as fans have different platforms to watch a game/competition, from OTTs to social media channels. International Federations, like many other sports organizations, have more assets to offer, with the digital aspect being a big reason for it. Brands have shifted from brand exposure to brand values association and storytelling and also wanting to have a direct relationship with the fans.
¨The sponsorship landscape has changed over the years as now there are more assets to offer to the sponsors, brands are looking for that direct relationship with the consumers, and it’s not about brand exposure anymore but about how to associate a brand with the organization’s values¨ – Greta Avola.
Tech and data within international federations
By implementing broadcasting technology, the ITTF has seen that it adds a lot of value to the sport as it is more attractive on TV, and to the fans. Matt shared that his organization is currently working on its data strategy in order to know who table tennis fans are. They have different inputs where they can gather data from, from selling tickets to merchandising, to OTT subscriptions, and social media. Without a data strategy in place, one does not know who their fans are which makes it harder for them to interact with and to offer them a personalized experience. Also, knowing your sports’ fans gives potential sponsors a greater understanding of what an investment in sponsorship means.
Is your organization rethinking its commercial strategy through a digital lens? Let us know, and we would be happy to accompany you on this journey. Do not hesitate to contact our digital team at digital@n3xtsports.com to learn more and receive a high-level digital assessment to get you started.
If you were not able to make it to our online session, you can watch it here, also we would like to invite you to subscribe to our newsletter, and follow us on Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook to stay up to date with any N3XT Sports news.