The future of sports - Reflections on ISC 2022

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the International Sports Convention at the shiny Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Aside from the impressive facilities of the stadium, the show provided an exciting look into the future of sports.

The agenda was packed so, as always with these things, I could only see so much.

My focus was on what brands and sponsors are doing for social good and the communities around sports, what technology has to offer for the sports experience, and what clubs and associations are doing to push the modern face of sports forward on the whole.

How brands are pushing purpose in sports partnerships

Between an interview with Diageo's Global Head of Beer, Bailey's, Smirnoff and Captain Morgan, Mark Sandys; and a panel discussion involving Suntory's Head of Partnerships (Matt Riches), Nissan's Head of Global Sponsorship (Owen Hughes) and the Head of Marketing at Octopus Energy (Ailsa Roworth-Kear); there was a shared theme that was emerging for brands and how they partner with clubs, teams and associations - use the power of partnership for good.

Guinness' sponsorship of Cameroun's women's national team, 'the lionesses', led to the #herhomeadvantage campaign; showcasing one of the women players from the Super League and how, through her utter passion and commitment to her football, has garnered the same from friends and family; who now not only understand her dedication to the game, but come along to support her at the matches. This sense of community building, to encourage the development of sports from the grassroots level up, highlights how Guinness are using the connection to their audience and sports to drive positive change across the globe.

Octopus Energy's sole sports partnership with Arsenal was made for a reason. Arsenal have a clear sustainability strategy, evidenced by them being the first Premier League club to sign up to UN Sports for Climate Action Framework. The partnership between Octopus and Arsenal itself has a list of achievements to speak of - from Arsenal being the first Premier League club to switch to 100% green energy, to them recycling 80% of matchday waste (read the full list here) - and Roworth-Kear's view on the panel was that they've got plans to keep going further, together.

Of course, all of the speakers were agreed on one thing - brands need to be authentic to themselves when looking to affect change. Nissan, for example, can't claim to be solving climate change today while also contributing heavily to global emissions. But they can have a business strategy in mind to start taking the right steps towards doing their bit - and there's more to doing good than sustainability alone.

Enhancing the experience of sports with technology

The experience of sports is one that is rapidly shifting and there were a number of themes spanning how technology has a significant part to play in how it evolves. Data, OTT broadcasting, data, second-screen viewing, data, the metaverse, oh and did I say data? There's a lot to unpack in this space but a few things stood our to me at ISC.

A big part of the conversation was that between 50-65% of fans watching a match are also using a second screen (e.g mobile device or laptop) at the same time. So, while a lot of the use might be social media related, a significant portion gets taken up engaging in matchday, by finding additional stats around the teams and its players, or for betting and gaming purposes as the match goes on. So how can license holders, broadcasters and clubs enhance the experience? And, importantly, how can they leverage this experience to provide data that informs better decision making in the future?

A masterclass from NativeWaves and Stats Perform gave some insight into one version of what this might look like. NativeWaves' technology gives fans the ability to switch the broadcast camera they view the game through (they might want to watch that critical penalty kick from the goalkeeper camera, for example) while Stats Perform plugs in to provide additional stats about what probability that penalty kick has of going in (perhaps based on things like player performance and track record). While multi-camera viewing and in-the-moment stats might not be anything new, the focus on giving the fan control of how they view the game on their second device is compelling. Every fan has the ability to control their own viewing experience and focus on the stats that are important to them - hyper-personalised viewing for the fans.

Moving on to lower-tiered professional leagues and grassroots sports, I was fascinated by Pixellot's offering for broadcast production without the need for an extensive crew and the AI that underpins the offering. The fact is, most games across most leagues aren't broadcast. The fans of these teams, however, are extremely dedicated and want more ways to engage. Using a single camera that can livestream, provide player and match data, and create highlights of key moments makes for a better experience for everyone. The fans get to watch their team from anywhere. The coaches can review the footage to provide invaluable training advice to improve their team's performance. The players can share highlights to improve their own visibility - whether with their fans or potential scouts for career development. With almost 2 million games broadcast to date across a number of different sports, the business case of AI-powered, matchday videos for grassroots coaches, players and fans is already growing.

As for the metaverse? Well... no one's quite there yet, by the looks of it. Yes, you can create digital doubles of your stadium. Yes, you can create NFTs out of important sporting moments. Yes, you can monetise it all. But adoption and understanding is still low - it feels like it will be at least another year or so until the real 'aha' moment comes to fruition in sports.

A new focus for clubs

The pandemic highlighted how the atmosphere of sports events relies heavily on having fans at the stadium or arena. But it also accelerated a lot of the digital transformation that clubs and organisations might have been otherwise not been prioritising. What that means, for today's fans, is a new experience a the stadium. But also, for the club and its players, it gives them new ways to harness and develop talent, have conversations with their communities and drive commercial growth.

5G in stadiums and arenas adds a new level of connectivity for fans. Going back to the idea of a second screen and leveraging smart device technology - this doesn't just apply to broadcast. It's on matchday, at the stadium. The sheer investment into digital technology that Spurs have put into their stadium, beyond things like 5G connectivity, is difficult to summarise in a post like this. But what's clear is a modern fan is a connected fan, and that leveraging this connection is paramount to enhancing the overall experience.

On the other hand, digital technology aside, there's a clear drive to push visibility and adoption of women's sports. Pre-pandemic, the women's football World Cup had catapulted women's sport into the hearts and minds of a new audience. The pandemic stalled the rise of women's sport on the whole, but FIFA make no bones about the opportunities that exist in that space, claiming it as the 'single biggest growth opportunity in football today'. Pretty much every talk or panel I went to was agreed on this point. The recent women's Champion's League quarter final at Camp Nou, with 91,553 fans in attendance, clearly evidences the growing popularity of women's football - and this trend is reflected in pretty much any sport going.

So for clubs, in short, the future looks pretty exciting - from enhancing the fan experience (from avid to casual fans) to growing their audience (by supporting the development of women's sports) there's a vast swathe of opportunities to nurture.

A rapidly changing world for sports

The world of sports is changing and it feels like there is an energy, post-pandemic, that all parties share - the future looks bright, for the fans, clubs, sponsors and organisations. There was no talk that I went on where there wasn't a positive outlook on what the future of sports looks like (even the one I went to on stopping piracy - there's some pretty clever stuff being done in that space now!).

In the many conversations I had with delegates of the event, there was a shared feeling and ambition to capitalise on these emerging technologies, evolving fanbases and developing sports experiences. Not everyone had a clear answer on how they'd do that, but that's always the case when things are new - the challenge for everyone, it seemed, was the pace of change seems to be increasing and there's only so much anyone can do at any one time.

For me, I'm excited by what the future holds for sports - as a fan and as a service-provider. How brands, clubs and organisations adapt to these changes will be fascinating, and I look forward to working with new and existing clients in this space to help them take the right steps forward.

If you're looking for help to understand how you can adapt to these changes, you can get in touch with me directly for an open, no-obligation chat. Or, if you're not looking to reach out to anyone just yet, have a read of our paper on the opportunities for brands in the age of the consumer activist (just one view on the changing consumer and fan in today's world).

I hope I get the opportunity to attend ISC again next year, to see how far we've come and to see where we're going next!