How Sports Impact Smartphone Usage and Mobile Ads

Sports has always evoked passion amongst fans. Whether it’sbaseball, tennis or soccer – watching a live sports game brings with it analleled experience, intensified only by the presence of smartphones.There’s no doubt that mobile devices have changed the way we consume sports,and brands have an opportunity to leverage each event to connect and engagewith their consumers.

Mobile, Sports andGoing for Gold

The beginning of 2016 witnessed an interesting trend onmobile, particularly around national and global sporting events. In the run upo the Super Bowl 50 in February, American smartphone users began downloadingNFL related gaming apps. These gaming apps witnessed over a 100 percentincrease in downloads, and by the last week of the Super Bowl, users consumed150 percent more of their favorite sports app than usual.

Similarly, during the COPA America Centenario in June, usersfrom the 16 participating countries went on a downloading spree of gaming apps,increasing app installs by more than 70 percent. Fans were constantly scouringsports apps to check scores, game schedules, and to keep track of the latestes, results and commentary, which saw a 200 percent increase in contentconsumption of sports apps on mobile devices. According to Accenture, 87percent of consumers use a second screen device while watching TV. It’s notsurprising then that sports fans were glued to not just the TV, but they had theirmobile devices handy for that second-screen viewing experience.

Expectedly, all this excitement was too much to contain andclearly needed an outlet – after all, sports is about teamwork, community andsharing. Particularly during the last week of Super Bowl 50, sports fans spent45 percent more time on social apps than normal, connecting with family,friends and sports fans around the world who cared about the game enough to dohe same. Fans shared their opinions as they celebrated wins with their teamsand mourned a loss or expressed frustration. It was all about connecting withfellow sports fans and feeling the adrenaline in real time, while having a goodime with their dear ones – online or offline.

The Opportunity forAdvertisers

If Super Bowl 50 and COPA America are any indication, majorsporting events represent a huge opportunity for advertisers. There are variousmicro-moments that present themselves throughout the event, and advertisersneed to find creative ways to engage an audience that is constantlysecond-screening.

In a world where 57 percent of consumers use more than onedevice at a time, namely the smartphone, it only makes sense for brands tobreak the shackles and reach out to their audience on a channel that users willalways have in their hand. While there are fans who rarely shift their eyesaway from the TV during a game, there is also a substantial ratio of fans whoget distracted by their mobile devices, engaging with friends, or checkingsocial apps at the same time. The biggest opportunity for brand advertisersoday is to find ways to grab shorter consumer attention spans on the “onehing” most people claim they can’t live without – their mobile device – and toshow game specific content.

2016: The Year ofSports

Numerous sporting events have taken place this yearincluding Super Bowl 50, COPA America, UEFA Cup, and most recently theOlympics. These events, amongst others, offer advertisers a chance to reach alarger audience, across the various micro-moments that present themselvesduring an event. Revelling with your audience in their joy, sharing their hopesand anxiety and showing support during hard times are just a few opportunitieswhere brands can connect with their consumers. Timely messages and pushnotifications can do wonders, and brands need to make each experience about thecustomer, and cater to their wants and needs, contextually.

The shift to mobile and online video is expected to drawmillions of eyeballs away from traditional television viewing, providing bothcontent creators and advertisers significant new opportunities to reach fans.

Mobile as Number One

Mobile is now seen as the first screen and can no longer bean afterthought or an add-on. Instead, mobile is at the centre of every mediacompany’s content and engagement strategy. It provides advertisers with a levelof customization and on-demand accessibility, so it’s no surprise that we’reseeing consumers turn off the TV and turn to mobile to stay connected,especially when it comes to some of the biggest sporting events of the yearsuch as the 2016 Rio Olympics.

However, brands still need to think long-term and how theycan create an experience that’s compelling enough to obtain and maintainconsumer attention. It’s important to make use of the incredible amount of dataevery mobile interaction provides. These insights can help better understandyour audience and ensure you’re delivering the most relevant, and impactful,experience possible.

Smartphones aren’t just enabling real-time updates, but theyalso enhance the in-stadium experience. Many stadiums now offer high-speedWi-Fi that enables in-seat ordering, video streaming or directions to theclosest bathroom, which is taking the experience of watching live sportingevents to a more comfortable and fun level. Teams have also started acceptingmobile tickets for entry into the stadium, and many are even collaborating withicketing apps to offer fans additional features and services.

Mobile ticketing now offers a segway into loyalty programsfor fans. The possibilities are endless when smartphones solve real worldproblems by taking consumers online. However, for a brand, large sportingevents are a boon – they are responsible for gathering millions of users in oneplace at the same time. The next move is for brand advertisers to decide on howhey target users, via which channels, with what content, and when is the peakime to catch their attention.