The way sports are delivered and shown to fans is evolving. The main catalyst for this change in the sports media world is COVID-19. This pandemic has forced many industries to change the way they operate. No industry was affected more than the sports industry. Once sports came back to the television screen, people began to notice the the viewing experience changed to a "more personalized experience for fans" (Rodero, 2021). This transition has taken place as media providers are experimenting with using new technology such as augmented reality and personalized streaming services. An example of using augmented reality during a live broadcast was when the NFL decided to show a playoff game on Nickelodeon. During the game, augmented reality special effects were used to personalize the game more to an audience that would be watching from the Nickelodeon network. Remote production is also becoming more commonplace as cellular networks are beginning to upgrade to 5g signals. According to Rodero (2021), the 5g signal allows for higher quality video and reduced latency. This creates the ability to produce more immersive and interactive content inside and outside the stadium due to the increased signal strength. The advancement of technology also has influenced consumers to approach the consumption of live sports from multiple screens such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other devices. This requires a more flexible and inclusive approach. Many media production staffs are focusing on the quick turnaround of developing and posting content to social media. This encourages more interaction with the content among the audience, and can provide more personalized experiences for fans as well. As technology continues to become more prevalent in the day to day life of fans, the motivation to provide a more personalized and interactive experience will increase as well.
Reference: Rodero, E. (2021, Mar 9). The Future of Sports Media: Personalized Content, Interaction and New Technology. Red Bee. https://www.redbeemedia.com/blog/the-future-of-sports-media-personalized-content-interaction-and-new-technology/
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Within the world of sports, it is imperative to have a crisis communication plan in place. According to the Special Olympics Committee (n.d), this plan is a “detailed guide to managing internal and external communications during a crisis situation” There may be many applications for this plan, which emphasizes the importance of having a communication crisis plan established within an institution. At a professional level, such as the Clevelan Cavaliers there may be many instances where there is a need to use this plan.
One such instance where this may apply is the cancellation or postponement of an event. Some events may be cancelled due to inclement weather, safety concerns, or other unforeseen factors. For a team like the Cavaliers, whose season is primarily in the middle of winter, postponements/cancellations for inclement weather are always a looming threat. In order to communicate to the public that the event has been postponed to another day, the organization needs to follow a structured and well-thought out plan to ensure that all participants and attendees for the event are aware of any changes to originally scheduled plans. This also held true when the NBA postponed, then cancelled, the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A game was scheduled to be held between the Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Thunder’s home arena when minutes before tip-off the game was suspended. Fans were notified that the game was cancelled according to a crisis communication plan, and ultimately they were sent home from the venue (Aschburner, 2020). Another incident that could involve the crisis communication plan is when the conduct of a player, coach, or staff member of an organization engages in behavior detrimental to the team. An example of this with the Cleveland Cavaliers was when troubled young prospect Kevin Porter Jr. was behaving inappropriately within the locker room and was sent home from the team (Salvador, 2021). The communication plan in place likely led to the way the organization covered this issue with the media and informed fans of the incident that occurred. One final incident where a crisis communication plan could be put into place is in regard to social media usage by a member of the organization. One such example was with Antonio Brown and the Pittsburgh Steelers, as he live-streamed the speech coach Mike Tomlin gave to the team in the locker room (Kelley, 2017). Social media can easily create a firestorm when it comes to scandal, which makes having a plan for proper communication all the more important. Within the Cleveland Cavaliers, the issue of a social media firestorm came when former head coach John Beilein called the teams “thugs” during a team meeting (Davis, 2020). Not only was the organization handling an internal crisis, but also had to address external reactions to the crisis once social media users were aware of the issue. References: Aschburner, S. (2020, Mar 12). Coronavirus pandemic causes NBA to suspend season after player tests positive. NBA News Archive. https://www.nba.com/news/coronavirus-pandemic-causes-nba-suspend-season Davis, S. (2020, Jan 9). Cavs coach John Beilein is under fire after he says he accidentally called players 'thugs' instead of 'slugs'. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/john-beilein-cavs-players-thugs-slugs-2020-1 Kelley, J. (2017, Jan 16). Antonio Brown secretly posts video of Mike Tomlin talking Patriots: 'We spotted those assholes a day and a half'. SBNation. https://www.sbnation.com/2017/1/16/14283680/antonio-brown-facebook-live-video-mike-tomlin-assholes-patriots-vs-steelers Salvador, J. (2021, Jan 18). Report: Cavs Looking to Trade or Release Kevin Porter Jr. After Tantrum Over Moved Locker. Sports Illustrated. https://www.si.com/nba/2021/01/18/cavaliers-trade-release-kevin-porter-jr-locker-outburst Special Olympics, (n.d). Special Olympics Public Relations Guide. http://media.specialolympics.org/soi/files/resources/Communications/Guides/CrisisCommunicationPlan.pdf Money is everything when it comes to sports. The ability to successfully draw in enough financial resources to aid the development and daily operations of an organization is vital to a healthy organization. One common way to acquire financial resources is through fundraising. Fundraising is an act that many high schools, colleges, universities, and clubs partake in so that they may continue their operations. The most common application of a fundraising event is through sport. Oftentimes members of sports teams will see what funds they are able to find in order to help with the cost of equipment, travel, competing, and other related expenses.
In a study conducted by researchers from Central Washington University (Martinez, et al. 2010), they proposed and completed a meta-analysis regarding the relationship between intercollegiate athletics and intercollegiate fundraising. Throughout the course of this study, the main issue that was highlighted was whether the success (or lack thereof) of an athletic department had an effect on the number of funds a college or university was able to generate. The study looked at independent variables such as the win-loss records of certain athletic teams in a department, the number of championships an athletic department has pulled in, or even the number of television appearances an athletic department has collected. They then contrasted this variable with a dependent variable such as alumni giving/contributions to either the athletic department, the academics department, or both. The final observations concluded that while the success of an athletic program at a college or university did have some semblance of correlation between success and fundraising efforts, it was a small correlation. The initial findings also were determined to not be an appropriate description for all universities because each had differing characteristics and variables to consider. In general, the fundraising for both academic and athletic departments saw the largest increase when the success of both departments was considered. Athletic programs were also found to have the ability to “assist in the growth of both academic and institutional fundraising” (Martinez, et al., 2010). This will be an important finding to keep in mind as universities try to rebound from their financial losses due to COVID-19 through their fundraising efforts. Reference: Martinez, J.M., Stinson, J.L., Kang, M. & Jubenville, C.B. (2010). Intercollegiate athletics and institutional fundraising: A metaanalysis. Sport Marketing Quarterly 19(1), 36-47. When fundraising for an athletic program, any technology or applications that can aid in the fundraising process can be a source of extra revenue generation. Apps and programs such as “FundMyTeam” or “GoFundMe” are becoming more popular avenues of fundraising for athletics than the traditional door to door sales of chocolate bars. Technology allows for the ability to reach more people that are outside of the local community that may wish to still support the team. As technology advances, more teams and athletic departments will begin to adopt this new option of fundraising and it will ultimately become more prominent.
Technological means of fundraising comes with both pros and cons. One pro of online fundraising is that the ability to fundraise is now faster with online applications. Multiple people are able to donate to a program at the same time and at any time as opposed to trying to find time to donate in person. Also, fundraising online is more efficient as it reaches more people in a short amount of time. As mentioned earlier, if there are potential donors who live outside of the local community, online fundraisers now allow for those individuals to donate. One of the final pros that comes with the incorporation of technology into fundraising is the ability to fundraise in a safer manner. Students are able to fundraise in a safe and secure environment via the internet rather than going door to door (Flipgive, 2019). This is particularly important as COVID-19 has become an issue athletic departments have had to work around for nearly the past two years. The inclusion of technology into sport fundraising became even more important during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. One specific example of how technology is being included into fundraising is the “Keep Jumping” fundraiser that Virginia Tech held. This program was included on the Virginia Tech athletics website. This fundraiser was held to offset any lost revenue due to COVID-19. When the pandemic shut down the world of sports, any ticket sales or other revenue generating activities that were related to sports were stopped. According to Bryan Manning of All Hokies Fan Nation (2020), the budgetary impact of COVID-19 was measured to be around $50 million. The “Keep Jumping” fundraiser allowed for season ticket holders three options: convert a 2020 ticket purchase and per-seat gift into a donation for the athletic department and receive 5x priority points, convert the ticket for the 2020 season to the 2021 season, or receive a refund. Giving fans the ability to easily convert their tickets not only answers a lot of questions fans may have had at this time, but also made it very easy to donate to the program (Manning, 2018). Evolving technology made it possible for Virginia Tech to hold a makeshift fundraiser that helped their athletic program during a time of much uncertainty. The university was forced into a corner as their budget was being impacted, but also could not generate revenue in traditional ways. Ultimately, the pandemic may be the catalyst to updating fundraising methods to include more technologically advanced options. References: Manning, B. (2020, August 18), Virginia Tech Athletic Department Launches “Keep Jumping” Fundraising Campaign to Aid in COVID-19 Shortfall Recovery. All Hokies Fan Nation. https://www.si.com/college/virginiatech/football/virginia-tech-athletic-department-launches-keep-jumping-fundraising-campaign-to-aid-in-covid-19-shortfall-recovery FlipGive, (2019, September 25). Technology: Inhibitor or Enabler in Sports Fundraising. https://www.flipgive.com/stories/technology-inhibitor-or-enabler-in-sports-fundraising The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympics have been a long time coming. On Sunday, Sept 5, 2021, the world finally saw the completion of all the Paralympic events that were placed on hold for an entire year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games saw one familiar and unrelenting problem, broadcasting in different time zones. This proved to be difficult for both games, companies streaming the games such as NBC, and for the Olympics itself.
Through the evolution of technology, fans are able to access information instantly, no matter where on the globe an event occurs. This has drawn spectators away from the traditional live television setup that has been commonplace for many years. Evolving technology, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the different time zones between the United States and Tokyo, Japan have all proved to be quite the challenge for Olympic and Paralympic organizers. Once the IOC found a way to safely hold the games in spite of the pandemic, the next biggest challenge to face was the differences in time zones. According to rating data, viewership of the Olympics was down in both the United States and Europe. This led to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics becoming one of the least-watched Olympic games in recent history. This is due to the 13 hour time difference between the United States and Japan. Companies such as NBC struggled to retain viewership as many events were happening during times where Americans were asleep. While viewership in North America and Europe was down, ratings increased in Australia and Japan since the games were not a twelve-hour difference. Countries such as France saw a 16.5% drop in viewership compared to the Olympics. The problems that plagued the Olympic games also plagued the Paralympic games. Both events were faced with the same challenges and offered the games through different modes. NBC attempted to draw viewers into their recently launched streaming service, “Peacock.” However, splitting coverage between multiple platforms led to many instances of confusion and frustration. One example of the frustration this caused was that all events were free to watch on the platforms a respective sport was being shown, but live men’s basketball was no longer free to watch. Instead, “viewers need to pay for the $4.99 premium tier to watch men’s basketball live” (Coster, 2021) Viewers did not know which channel offed certain sports, which then deterred them from watching the games at all. The debacle that was the coverage of these Olympic and Paralympic events shows how important making a clear viewing schedule and user-friendly platform is. This may prove to be the biggest challenge the media faces. Social media is already converting people who were traditional viewers of the games, so companies such as NBC cannot afford to make mistakes that drive viewers away as they did with the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics. Reference: Coster, H. (2021, July 30). Analysis: WHy TV Audiences are Tuning out the Tokyo Olympic Games. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/why-tv-audiences-are-tuning-out-tokyo-olympic-games-2021-07-30/ In today's world, technology is rapidly changing and evolving. The way people communicate with one another is now instantaneous and allows for easy accessibility to others. Simply put, social media has taken communication to an unprecedented level, and it is only upgrading from here. Social media allows for everyone to have their voice head through a variety of platforms, allowing for groups of people to engage with one another's opinions, statements, and thoughts on any topic. One topic that seems to be at the forefront of social media is sport. Video sharing, photo sharing, blogs and other platforms allow for people to post clips of games, interviews of athletes, and even their own opinions. There are many different types of sites that can be used such as: blogging sites, opinion and review sites, social shopping sites, and crowdsourcing sites (Newman, T. & et al., 2013). All of these sites allow for people to stay in touch with friends, up to date on news and events, and share information and access reviews.
Sport has not only changed the way that communities talk about sports, but also how they view sports. According to a report by YPulse, approximately 70% of sports fan aged 13 to 37 years old prefer to monitor their sports teams through social media as opposed to watching live games. The trend of sports fans transitioning to social media as their main viewing platform has increased as social media has evolved. Another interesting trend is that "data shows that 13-37-year-olds who report watching the leagues/sports that they follow on live TV declined from 86% from 2016 to 65% in 2019" (YPulse, 2020). This trend is most likely to continue as professional and collegiate sports leagues turn to social media to grow their revenue. One example of teams raising revenue through social media is TCU women's volleyball team, which saw a "40% increase in revenue directly from social media" (Rosy Strategies, 2017). The combination of technological advances, trends in society, and the pursuit of raising revenue by sports league may change how sports fans consume their favorite sport. As this trend towards social media consumption increases, governing sports bodies will look to find creative ways to capitalize on the growing popularity of social media. This will change the landscape of sport and the way that we consume it for years to come. References: Newman, T., Peck, J., Harris, C., & Wilhide, B. (2013). Social Media in Sport Marketing. Holcomb Hathaway. Rosy Strategies. (2017, December 22). The Huge Statistics of Sports on Social Media. Rosy Strategies Integrated Marketing. https://rosystrategies.com/the-huge-statistics-of-sports-on-social-media/ YPulse. (2020, March 4). How Social Media Is Changing Sports Viewing for Gen Z. YPulse. https://www.ypulse.com/article/2020/03/04/how-social-media-is-changing-sports-viewing-for-gen-z/ |
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October 2021
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