Insights: Why sports needs to invest in tech to power digital fandom
What is Digital Fandom?
Notable for its dynamic and participatory culture, digital fandom refers to the communities and cultures that form online around shared interests in sports, entertainment, media, celebrities, gaming, literature etc. These communities are not just passive consumers but active participants in the creation and dissemination of culture and content, using digital platforms like app, web, social media and forums to connect, create, share and discuss content related to their favourite hobbies and interests, fostering a sense of belonging and connection among fans worldwide.
Key aspects of digital fandom include;
- Online Communities: Digital fandoms flourish online via social media, forums, and websites, enabling fans to connect and share content.
- Fan Productions: Fans create and distribute original content like fan fiction, art, videos, and podcasts, deepening their engagement with favourite media.
- Social Interaction: Digital platforms facilitate global fan interaction, including discussions, live-tweeting, and virtual events like watch parties.
- Influence on Media: Fan feedback on social media can shape the direction of media, sometimes reviving shows or inspiring sequels.
- Identity and Community: Participating in fandoms can enhance social identity and belonging, offering supportive spaces for sharing interests and experiences.
"As any devoted fan will tell you, fandom isn’t some frivolous pastime. It can be a deeply fulfilling and mood-elevating experience, helping people shape their identities and cultivate stronger connections to their community. According to KR&I’s Fandom Institute, fandom is a relationship between people and an object of their fandom; an object that is relatable, elevated, and inspires devotion and investment." YouTube Culture & Trends Report - Fandom 2024
Changing audiences
From stadium to screen
The shift from "stadium to screen" reflects a significant change in sports audience behaviour, driven by the increasing accessibility and convenience of digital platforms. Fans are increasingly choosing to experience live games from the comfort of their homes or on the go through streaming services and social media. This shift allows fans to engage with their favourite sports in real-time while enjoying interactive features, multi-angle views, and instant replays that enhance the viewing experience. As a result, traditional in-person attendance is evolving, with digital engagement becoming a crucial component of modern sports fandom.
New-gen habits
The new generation of sports consumers is reshaping the industry with habits centred around personalisation, on-demand content, and social media interaction. Unlike previous generations, these fans prefer short, engaging highlights over full games and value interactive experiences that allow them to connect with teams and players directly. Their consumption is driven by mobile devices and streaming platforms, reflecting a demand for flexibility and immediacy. This shift is pushing sports organisations to innovate and adapt to meet the expectations of a tech-savvy, digitally native audience.
The rise of social
The rise of social channels has played a crucial role in the development of digital sports fandom; it allows fans to interact directly with their favourite teams, athletes, and fellow fans in real-time. Instant sharing of highlights, behind-the-scenes content, and live commentary help to foster a sense of community and immediacy that enhances fan engagement. Social media helps to bridge the gap between fan and athlete making interactions more personal and more human. The challenge for sports organisations is how to transfer that level of interaction onto owned and operated channels in order to enhance and commercialise that level of engagement.
A new arena
We are at an inflection point where sports organisations need to not just be a spectator or join in a taster session, but truly enter the gamification arena. Looking at the likes of Duolingo and Strava, successful gamification allows fans to become active participants, rather than passive viewers, by making predictions, earning rewards and competing against others, increasing loyalty and excitement. These immersive experiences will continue to transform sports fandom into an interactive, gamified ecosystem that blurs the line between watching and playing.
The future of sports fandom in the digital age
Looking at a wider view of gamification and the introduction of digital communities across other industries, it is clear that loyalty, retention and ultimately financial conversion will be driven by younger generations who are looking for more in regards to their digital experiences.
Technology has already revolutionised the in-stadia and second screen sports experience, but it is now time to reshape how fans directly interact with their favourite sports, teams, and athletes and each other. Key ways technology will continue to influence sports fandom include:
- Personalised content experiences - Leverage data to building unique fan Profiles to help tailor updates, highlights, and recommendations to an individual fans preferences, making their sports consumption more immersive and relevant.
- Rewards systems - Rewarding key Moments incentivises fan participation by offering points, badges, or exclusive perks for engaging with content, attending events, or making predictions, turning fan interaction into recognition and tangible benefits.
- Interactive games - Interactive games allow fans to actively participate in the sports they love by competing with others and making real-time decisions. Blending entertainment with competition, games make the sports experience more dynamic and immersive.
- Digital collectibles, blockchain - Collectibles tap into the intrinsic motivation of a fan to show and demonstrate their support for their favourite teams or athletes, fueled by passion, loyalty, and a genuine love for the sport. Combining fandom with digital ownership, creating a new, interactive way to create connection.
- Socialisation - Socialisation allows fans to connect, share experiences, and engage in discussions as a community. This sense of belonging fosters a global fan network where interactions, debates, competition and celebrations create a vibrant, shared experience.
The challenges that sports rights holders face is recognising and learning from gamification-led technologies that are becoming commonplace across other industries like gaming and entertainment and then understanding what works for sport.
Sport needs to find and implement the right tools to engage these “future-facing fans”, whilst remaining within budget and working within potentially limited internal resources. Finding the right solution could be seen as an impossible prospect…
Introducing Cortex Fandom Engine
Power immersive, gamified & socialised digital fan ecosystems
The Cortex Fandom Engine helps you build audience retention on owned channels, connect with global audiences, supercharge data enrichment and grow your value per fan through new, incentive-driven high traffic sponsorship and revenue opportunities.
What is The Fandom Engine?
The Fandom Engine is a collection of headless, configurable and composable APIs that enable you to take your loyalty and rewards systems to the next level.
Based on four central and connected components The Fandom Engine is built for flexibility, allowing you to take what you need to meet current objectives and seamlessly integrate new features as your new digital fan ecosystem evolves and fandom grows.
Profiles
Integrate with new or existing SSO and Customer Data Platforms, collecting data on preferences and wider digital activity to create unique fan-facing personal profiles.
Moments
Reward fans for physical and digital engagement and tap into their sense of pride with points, achievement badges or collectibles. Attendance, content interaction, key event moments and more can all be rewarded, driving user retention and increased investment in your owned platforms.
Connections
Generate near real-time updates on other user activity, allowing fans to keep watch and compare with friends, family and the wider community, as well as offering share to social options to extend reach and attract new users.
Challenges
Create “stickiness” by building your own achievement based challenges or easily integrate into 3rd party gamification platforms for competitive time based challenges, streaks and games like quizzes and predictors with leader boards and mini-leagues.
Driving new revenue
All elements of the Fandom Engine offer a wealth of new sponsorship opportunities for multiple brand partners, placing in the heart and & centre of a totally organic fan experience.
Digital gamification sponsorship drives revenue by increasing user engagement and brand visibility. With integrated and branded challenges, rewards, and achievements, gamification will heighten engagement with sponsors, fostering deeper customer loyalty and boosting brand awareness by placing the brand in front of a targeted and fully engaged audience, whilst also providing valuable data on user behaviour that can be used for hyper-personalised marketing and further revenue generation.
Built for everyone
Importantly, the Fandom Engine can be tailored to your specifications and budgets - each feature works perfectly in isolation as well as a collective, allowing you to implement what works for you at the outset before adding other elements to the mix as your Digital Fandom strategy progresses.
Furthermore, The Fandom Engine can seamlessly integrate with your existing digital platforms, massively increasing efficiency and reducing time to deployment.
If you’d like to learn more about Digital Fandom, our experts would be happy to talk you through it, with no obligation; just get in touch and we’ll set it up!
