The 5 Best Fan Engagement Platforms for Sports Organizations

Helpful Summary

• Overview: This article presents a detailed guide on fan engagement platforms for sports, reviewing five top options with their key features, pros, and cons.
• Why Trust Us: Cortex offers advanced digital solutions for enhancing fan engagement and creating new revenue streams across various sports channels.
• Why It Matters: Choosing the right fan engagement platform is crucial for expanding your supporter base, fostering loyalty, and generating ongoing revenue.
• Action Points: Streamline your sports fan engagement activities with Cortex. Its comprehensive features are designed to enhance fan interactions and drive revenue across multiple digital channels.
• Further Research: Visit the Cortex Training Academy to explore additional fan engagement strategies.

Wondering Which Fan Engagement Platform is Best for You?

Fan engagement platforms provide advanced tools that help sports organisations create deeper connections with their audiences. These platforms facilitate the sharing of exclusive content, interactive experiences, and enhanced brand visibility—all while boosting sponsorship value and driving revenue.

In this article, we explore in detail five top fan engagement platforms for sports organisations, starting with Cortex.

But first…

Why Listen to Us?

Cortex is a fan engagement platform specifically designed for the sports industry. We’ve successfully partnered with top organisations like Crystal Palace FC and Premiership Rugby, helping them connect data, content, and commercial assets to enhance fan experiences and boost profitability.

What Are Fan Engagement Platforms?

Fan engagement platforms are solutions that help leagues, organisations, teams, players, and venues engage fans with personalised, interactive experiences. These platforms enhance fan engagement by utilising strategies such as social media interactions, gamification, and loyalty programs.

Key features often include:

• Data collection and source integration tools
• Analytics and segmentation capabilities
• Content management systems (CMS) and content distribution networks
• Mobile applications
• Gamification features
• E-commerce features

Why Are Fan Engagement Platforms Important?

Increase Revenue

Fan engagement platforms are (or more accurately the engaged fans they help you create) a key driver of revenue growth. When fans are truly engaged, multiple sports revenue channels start to open up and multiply.

This was demonstrated in a recent Deloitte study which found that engaged fans spend 6X more than unengaged fans on average. This comes from a combination of ticket sales, merch sales, digital content purchases, etc.

Improve Data

Every click, view, and purchase is a valuable datapoint. Fan engagement platforms help you generate those data points first.

For example, Cortex helped United Rugby Championship increase their data points per fan from 9 to 200+ through integrated CMS, SSO, and fan data management tools. With this much data available, it’s much easier to:

• Understand what content your fans want
• Pinpoint which marketing efforts actually move the needle
• Identify untapped opportunities for growth and monetization

Grow Your Fanbase

Stadiums have limited seating, but your potential fanbase? Millions. Fan engagement platforms tear down geographical barriers to help you find and connect with new fans.

Just look at the NBA. Through a concerted digital fan engagement strategy centred around the NBA Live mobile app and social media, the NBA has built up its international following significantly. For example, viewership for the NBA Europe YouTube channel has increased 220% since 2023.

Criteria to Consider When Choosing a Fan Engagement Platform

Ease of Use

Your fan engagement platform should be simple to launch and operate so both fans and your team members can navigate and manage it effortlessly.

Data

Data and personalization are central to fan engagement. So, making the platform you choose provides insights into fan behaviour, preferences, and engagement patterns that let you tailor relatable fan experiences.

Integrations

Whether you subscribe to one feature or the platform’s entire product suite, look for a provider that integrates easily internally and with other tools like your CRM and social media channels. This connectivity ensures smooth information flow and unification.

5 Top Fan Engagement Platforms for 2024

• Cortex
• Monterosa
• Sport Alliance
• Genius Sports
• Sport Buff

1. Cortex

Cortex is an end-to-end fan engagement platform built specifically for the sports industry. It connects data, content, and commercial assets to create better fan experiences and drive new revenue across different channels.

The platform leverages MACH (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, and Headless) technology to optimise fan interactions. The integrated fan data platform and engagement tools enable real-time personalization and targeting.

Key Features

• Sport-Specific Headless CMS: Enables easy creation, organisation, and sharing of personalised content across multiple channels and devices. Includes a digital asset manager for uploading and storing media assets.
• Live Sports Blog: Provides a "plug in and go" content tool for building a live sports blog, allowing sharing of real-time updates on matches, press conferences, and other relevant events.
• Fan Data Platform: Helps source, manage, segment, and hyper-target supporters, enabling the creation of detailed audience profiles for more effective marketing.
• Open SSO (Single Sign-On): Unifies all digital touchpoints, optimising user registration and capturing critical data.
• Fandom Engine: Offers a collection of headless, configurable, and composable APIs to help sports organisations upgrade their loyalty and rewards programs, creating immersive, gamified digital fan ecosystems.
• Commercial Asset Management: Provides a tool for selling and allocating brand content to LED and other outputs.
• Campaign Management and Reporting: Enables accurate activation and optimization of marketing campaigns.
• Playout Software: Powers reliable and scalable in-stadium LED display content.

Pros

• Tailored to the specific needs of sports organisations
• Comprehensive fan engagement and data unification tools
• Drives both in-stadium and digital fan experiences
• Headless CMS enables content display across websites, mobile apps, and IoT devices
• Enables seamless digital asset management

Cons

• Only caters to the sports industry

2. Monterosa

Monterosa is a fan engagement tool designed to gamify digital products efficiently. While it caters primarily to sports clients such as teams, leagues, federations, and betting shops, Monterosa also serves broadcasters and other non-sport-specific users.

Key Features

• Real-time Content Publishing and Scheduling: Allows users to publish or schedule content instantly and as required. Easily add or remove elements and set up recurring event schedules with a single click.
• Event Centre: Creates a real-time digital hub for events or games, integrating interactive elements like score bars, live commentary, exclusive content, and sports data to enhance engagement.
• Voting: Offers various polling formats, including single vote, multi-vote, category vote, and auto-progress vote.
• Trivia: Engages fans by testing their knowledge through quizzes, featuring Q&As, point scoring, question timers, and multimedia content to boost interaction and completion.
• Competitions and Sweepstakes: Manages competitions and prize mechanics to attract and retain fans, ultimately increasing revenue.

Pros

• Gamification makes fan experiences interactive and enjoyable
• Caters to both sports and broadcast organizations
• Converts voting into a tool for attracting attention, collecting data, and generating revenue

Cons

• Lacks in-stadium fan engagement tools
• Not exclusively focused on sports-related use cases

3. Sports Alliance

Sports Alliance is a platform dedicated to personalizing sports for fans. It offers comprehensive fan engagement products, technology, and services, catering to sports organizations around the world and helping them generate optimal ROI.

Key Features

• Loyalty: Rewards fans with points or cash when they interact with content or complete an on-site or in-app transaction.
• Data Management: Unifies, controls, and enhances fan data. Limits data duplication and provides AI-driven analytics for marketing and sales.
• Omi-Channel Marketing: Connects with fans via mobile apps, SMS, CRM, social, and more.
• Digital: Provides single sign-on, fan experience personalization (on-site and in-app), and ROI optimization features.

Pros

• Loyalty features enhance customer retention, data collection, sponsor activation, and season renewal
• Leverages AI for fan data standardisation and insights
• Dedicated to global sports brands and fans

Cons

• Primarily drives digital fan experiences and not in-stadium engagement
• Advanced features may be overwhelming for users seeking simpler solutions

4. Genius Sports

Genius Sports is an intelligent sports software platform designed to enhance team performance analysis, betting services, and fan engagement. It bolsters fan interaction through features such as targeted advertising, augmented reality (AR) experiences, and gamification tools.

Key Features

• Fan Advertising: Delivers timely, relevant messages to fans, supports media buying, creates dynamic ads, and ensures fan identification across platforms and devices.
• Augmentation: Utilises AR to offer immersive, personalised viewing experiences and supports sponsorship activations within AR environments.
• Gamification: Captures fan behaviour and demographic data through gamified elements like fantasy games, polls, votes, and predictors, improving ad targeting and monetisation efforts.

Pros

• AR and advertising features enable effective content personalisation
• Gamification elements keep fans engaged throughout the season
• AR integration offers unique opportunities for sponsorship activations

Cons

• No sports blogging feature
• No loyalty and rewards program

5. Sport Buff

Sport Buff is a fan engagement and gamification software that enhances sports viewing and audience monetisation. It is a truly global platform, supporting all languages, properties, regions, and platforms.

Key Features

• Entertainment and Monetisation: Enables the creation of in-game activities, offering fun and unique fan experiences. Monetises audiences directly through transactions and sponsorships.
• Competitions: Engages fans with friendly games where they can win prizes and earn bragging rights.
• Retention: Brings fans closer to the game action and allows them to watch live broadcasts while playing games concurrently, effectively increasing watch times.
• Engagement Calculator: Provides a simple quiz for potential customers to receive a personalised response on expected results with Sport Buff.

Pros

• Users can assess potential ROI before investing
• Creates unique new ad inventory
• Combines broadcast and gaming for immersive fan experiences

Cons

• No fan loyalty or rewards feature
• No in-stadium technology or service

Deliver Excellent Fan Experiences and Boost Revenue with Cortex

Engaged fans are the foundation of lasting success for sports teams and leagues. And this engagement is just the result of success on the field, court, or ice.

The strategies and tools you use to engage fans with content and experiences outside of the games they love are what really set your team apart. Ready to take your sports fan engagement to the next level? Schedule a demo to see Cortex in action.

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