Know your fans...and grow your business

Over the last few months, we’ve heard a lot about “Revenue per Fan.”  Is Manchester United worth $5billion?  One argument says it’s worth more than that – with a reported estimate of a billion fans, that’s only $5 through the lifetime of each fan… but sport doesn’t work like that, and fans aren’t like that.

Revenue per fan has some validity in the US – a large, single market, where sports are pretty much all on the same cable TV bundle, and where restrictions around out-of-area marketing mean that a team’s main focus is on their local fans, who are relatively homogeneous.  But Premier League clubs, F1 teams, or tennis tournaments are global properties with complex coalitions of different types of fans, with different needs, ways of engagement, and willingness to pay.  The properties that understand this – and who then take the time to understand their fanbase – can tailor products, services and content to satisfy all of them.  Those who don’t risk alienating large sections of their following with a one size fits all approach.

How does this look in practice?  A Manchester United fan in Salford may have a lot in common with a season ticket holder in Oslo, who boards a flight every other weekend to attend the game, but less so with fans in Singapore or New York, who watch matches on pay TV at unsociable hours.  An Indian cricket fan can be at least as passionate about the sport as a member of the MCC, yet have absolutely nothing else in common.  Even the wider fanbase – whose engagement may only extend to checking the results in a Monday newspaper – may consume free content or recognise and have a favourable view of a sponsor’s brand.  All these segments have equally valid claims to be fans – yet how clubs or sports engage with them, provide content to them, or monetise them, can and should be very different.

So how should sports understand their fans – and what should they do?

Conduct detailed, consistent research

For something this important, it’s vital to do your own research – and definitely not to cobble together a variety of third-party sources that will have different methodologies, samples, and different questions.  Being able to ask questions specific to your sports property will give you the answers you need to fully understand your fanbase – in all its intricate detail.  And having a consistent approach – in different countries, and over time – means that you can see if what you’re doing is having an impact.  Although it may be tempting to save cost by using a shared resource, this information has real strategic value – why would you want to share it with your competitors?

Avoid overclaiming

Last year, we saw Spotify agree a sponsorship deal with Barcelona, driven partly by the club’s reported 350m+ fans.  When they tried to access them, it became apparent that the club didn’t know who over 99% of them were – a source of some confusion to a digital partner for whom user data is its lifeblood.  Although there is always a temptation to increase the fanbase – by tweaking the criteria on the survey, for example - there’s nothing to be gained by getting into an arms race about meaningless data.  Meaningful data, on the other hand, can be used to make a difference where it matters – in revenue, fan engagement and fan satisfaction.  Don’t be distracted by competitors claiming ever bigger fanbases – feel sorry for their staff trying to convince sceptical commercial partners, and make a virtue of robust numbers.

Build a strategy for each segment

Once you’ve built that picture of your fanbase, the next step is to design a strategy for each segment.  What do matchday fans look like?  (Even within this, there will be segments with big differences – what do fans who travel to away matches want; what about those who only come once a year, but for whom it’s the biggest day of the year; what about hospitality users – further complicated by it often being different people who pay for the hospitality than who use it).  What about avid consumers of every broadcast, fanzine, podcast or social media post?  How can I reach them?  What’s my free content strategy?  And for each segment of fans – and even for lapsed fans - how can I gather data on each of them to better serve them in future?

Fan segmentation isn’t fixed

Segmentation can be dynamic.  Over time, we can grow the fanbase.  We can expand our relationship with fans, deepening engagement and potentially moving them into another segment.  New segments or behavioural types can appear – digital subscribers or podcast listeners (and producers) weren’t around a decade ago, but are now a key part of any fanbase.  Your fans will change, and segmentation can change with them.

Don’t be afraid to experiment

Once you have that understanding, you can tailor your interactions with each segment, offering products, services and content which more fully meet their needs.  If your understanding is right, then it shouldn’t be too much of a risk.  And if it doesn’t work – well, you understand your fanbase a little better than you did before…

O&O has conducted detailed bespoke research of the sports fan in over 30 markets around the world, covering all sizes of sports property.  Our segmentation work has supported streaming companies, broadcasters, investors, sports and teleshopping operators.  Our team is expert at designing research that obtains meaningful answers, and interpreting results into strategy that makes a difference.

Reach out to Sean McGuire at sean.mcguire@oando.co.uk if you would like more information.