Digital Sports Marketing To a New Generation
By: Noah Fries
Credits to QuickFrame
Gen Z at the Forefront of Digital Marketing
In our world’s history, marketing has taken the shape of a variety of different forms — moving from word of mouth to print marketing to radio and television marketing to digital (social media) marketing in today’s society. This is true when looking at a macro level, but holds even more true when looking at a micro level — in this case, sports marketing. While other forms of marketing may have been targeted towards different generations when they were popular throughout the world, social media and digital marketing is overwhelming popular with the Gen Z population. A 2023 study from Deloitte recently found that “nearly all” of Gen Z sports fans utilize social media in order to consume sports content; this content includes highlights, athlete interviews, and other behind the scenes content. This statistic displays the importance of effective digital marketing for sports teams and leagues in order to attract younger populations and get them to become a new fan of that team or the game as a whole.
Percentage of Sports Fans By Generation
For a long time in our society, the stereotypical sports fan has been the millennial (often times, the millennial male). This still holds true today, as a 2023 Statista survey found that 41% of millennials considered themselves to be avid sports fans, the highest of all generations surveyed. Gen X came next at 32%, with Gen Z following at 19% and Baby Boomers just behind at 18%. With Gen Z only having 19% of their population being avid sports fans — along with the rapidly evolving social media scene and Gen Z’s propensity to be online — there is an evident untapped market and room for growth in the marketing department to attract more younger fans. Gen Z has the highest percentage of casual sports fans at 53%, which is further evidence that there is obvious opportunities for sports teams and leagues to advertise digitally to this younger population.
How Can Sports Teams and Leagues Engage with Gen Z?
The ultimate goal of utilizing social media and digital marketing to gain Gen Z fans is to gain their fandom for life, according to Paula Minardi of Greenfly. There are a number of ways to keep Gen Z connected to one’s team or league, according to Minardi:
More digital assets create more continual promotion and sponsorship opportunities
Videos and photos shared across platforms reach even more out-of-market fans
Exclusive content helps attract and retain younger fans
Original athlete media keeps fans glued to their journeys
Fan-creators become more invested in their favorite sports property
Authentic media reduces staff time and agency-produced media costs
Real World Examples of Sports Teams and Leagues Marketing Towards Gen Z
Sports teams and leagues are aware of the above statistics, and they know that it is imperative to market to the Gen Z population through social media. The biggest way that I have seen sports organizations and leagues market towards Gen Z is through TikTok. TikTok is one of the most rapidly growing social media platforms found in our society today, and an overwhelming majority of users on this platform are Gen Z’ers. Therefore, TikTok is a perfect platform for organizations and leagues to produce content on that the Gen Z population is going to resonate with, as well as making them more likely to follow that particular team or league.
One of the biggest examples of this that I have seen frequently — and think is an extremely effective way to market towards younger populations — would be the NHL’s Gen Z ad created this October (linked below). This ad displays the youngest stars of the NHL and connects them with Sidney Crosby, one of the most popular hockey players of all time who is nearing the end of his career. The purpose of the ad is to highlight the younger population of the NHL, while directly marketing towards the younger demographics in hopes of getting them to like the ad and watch more hockey — something that definitely worked in my personal experience.
Another prominent example that I have seen on TikTok would be how the Brooklyn Nets social media team markets their team through their page. The Brooklyn Nets take the typical sports social media content and turn it into different memes and other things of that nature in order to try to resonate with the Gen Z population that loves this sort of thing. All of their videos are created in this manner, and it is definitely successful — the Nets have amassed a following of over 3.1 million on their page, which is good for second most in the NBA behind the Golden State Warriors.
What Should Be the Takeaways?
Social media and digital marketing are extremely prominent in our society today when targeted to all generations, but the most popular generation in terms of being targeted by social media and other forms of digital marketing would be Gen Z. With almost all Gen Z’ers utilizing social media at such a high rate, it is axiomatic that companies should be creating social media content to reach younger populations. In this case, sports organizations and leagues are using social media platforms — namely TikTok — to attract the Gen Z population to become fans of that particular team or simply the league as a whole. Gen Z fans crave behind the scenes and authentic content (with some creative flair) to keep them engaged and wanting more. Social media and digital marketing are here to stay — it is imperative that sports teams and leagues create social content to obtain more lifelong fans.