7 Key Strategies to Boost Digital Fan Base For A Sports Team

Sports are the biggest source of entertainment and pass time for people across the world. Whether you are getting bored during summer vacation or want to chill on weekend with friends, Sports is your good-to-go option. As we know any Sports team is strong only when it has fans. Fans are not the crowd who only like to watch their game, but also want to know all the ins and outs of your life.

In this era of digitalisation and the internet, having your fandom has become a trend. Whether it's about an individual player or a Sports team, fans are their strength and biggest motivation to perform their best every time they play. Fans are not limited only to watching you playing on-field, but they would like to have a one-on-one session with you.

Having a huge fan base decides whether you can survive the market or not. Even if your sports team is not playing or you are on a halt from playing the game, these fans will keep your name alive in the market. For example, Chennai Super Kings is one of the IPL franchises. This year the team is not performing well, but their fans are putting all their efforts to cheer up their favourite team. They have become the biggest support system of CSK in these hard times.

So, in the world of millennials and Gen-Z, it's important to have a digital fan following. Here are a few ways we have listed down that will help Sports Team to boost their Digital Fan Base:

1. Social Media Platform

Social Media Platforms are the fastest way to grow engagement. Nowadays, all sports teams have their accounts on various social media pages. Sports organisations discovered that Social Media is the best way to boost the digital engagement of any team by interacting with fans directly. By posting daily updates related to the team, team players and upcoming events; the Sports team can maintain regular communication with their fans.

As the usage of social media has increased, people have spent their maximum time on social media platforms. This regular posting and a little bit of interaction with fans make them feel important and part of the organisation.

2. Live Streaming

Not all sorts of sports are broadcasted on TV and therefore, the internet becomes the alternative for fans to watch their favourite sports. Sports teams started doing live streaming from their social media pages to reach out to the fans directly. There might be some piracy concerns, but Live Streaming has increased the fan base of Sports teams.

3. Tickets

Sometimes pricey tickets become a concern for the fans as they can’t afford to watch live games of their favourite teams. That’s why most of the teams are not able to get their huge fan base in-stadium/grounds and sometimes, this results in demotivation to the sports fans. Teams can offer discounts to their fans or even provide some free tickets, which will attract the fans to the stadium. Hosting such activities on digital platforms will directly target digital fans.

4. Polls and Opinions

Fans love it when their favourite sports team involves them and asks for their opinions on board. Putting regular polls, or questions asking what they think, will make your fans feel that their opinion matters for their favourite sports team. This will increase engagement and eventually the digital fan base. Moreover, such efforts might attract sports fans who are following your game from a distance.

5. Player’s Direct Interaction

Who wouldn’t like to have a one to one conversation with his/her favourite sports player or team? Sports fans die to talk to the sports team and are willing to know about the inside stories. Social Media has helped the sports team to interact with their fans directly. Teams can host a simple question-answer segment, and live session with the team or a player. For sports fans, nothing is more exciting than getting a response from their favourite player.

Hosting direct interaction with players will make them feel important and boost their digital fan base.

6. Mobile Apps

Most sports teams have launched a mobile app that lets the fan engage with the team quickly. Developing an application can help many sports teams increase their digital fan base and enter new regions where the sport is relatively unknown.

7. Goods and Merchandise

Selling team personalised goods and merchandise has helped the fantasy sports teams to increase their digital fan base. To increase the user base through the goods and merchandise, the Sports team should focus on the type of products their audience would like to purchase. It is a slow process, but over time it can become a rage among fans.

However, they can sell customised team T-shirts, players’ autographed sign t-shirts and other customisable goods to attract more sports fans.

Conclusion

Hence, in this era of digitalisation, social media GenZ, and influencers; if your team doesn’t have loyal fans, you are not going to survive the market. Having a digital fan base is equally important as having potential players in the team. I hope, the above tactics will help you to boost the fan base of a sports team. Fantasy Sports App Developer has been ruling the market to see the results of such smart marketing tactics. Moreover, the fantasy sports industry is incomplete without its name.