The evolution of sport’s digital footprint presents new ways to engage the fan. Growing demand for direct-to-consumer (DTC) content in recent years offers audiences an ability to watch sport whenever and from wherever they want – as long as they have access to a smart device.
What this has also created is an opportunity for rights holders to be creative, not only in how they connect with audiences via digital and social media, but also how spectators engage with live sport using mobile technologies and is seeing sports teams and bodies trial new, mixed-reality content.
While virtual reality (VR) offers the fan an entirely unique viewing experience, augmented reality (AR) is also proving influential for engaging with spectators inside stadia and those watching remotely. For example, last October Major League Baseball (MLB) expanded its partnership with the video platform Snapchat to allow fans to use AR via the league’s official Ballpark app during the 2020 World Series.
The event, held over a week at Globe Life Field in Texas, saw the arena become the first neutral site to host the MLB season finale, and witnessed the return of fans in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic during North American’s baseball’s postseason.
With a limited number of spectators allowed onsite, Snapchat’s AR feature allowed app users following the game at home to take selfies and videos as if they were at the World Series itself. While seemingly a simple innovation, it was designed not only to bridge the gap between the live event and its remote audiences but is also a creative way for MLB to connect with new fans via mobile.
In the absence of overseas spectators at Tokyo 2020, AR could prove pivotal for engaging fans who might have otherwise been able to attend
Christiaan Page, Legacy Sport co-founder
As touched on in last week’s blog post, the digital transformation is changing the way sport markets to spectators and the opportunity it presents organisations to enhance their ecommerce offering. By putting the fan at the centre of the conversation, AR is incentivising more people to adopt digital when watching live sport and provides an alternative gateway to reach both die-hard and peripheral fans of your sport.
Is this not yet another example of how sport is leveraging its partnerships in new and exciting ways? It isn’t uncommon, especially among the coverage of the US major league sports, for broadcasts to feature augmented branding within the live production and to elevate the matchday sponsor’s exposure on the field of play.
However, the fan experience is changing and now extends beyond the traditional viewing model where one would usually sit and watch two or so hours of live action. Mobile has opened the door for greater engagement in and around the event via social media. Now, AR is helping rights holders transform the live experience.
And that is also true of other major sporting events which are now integrating mixed-reality technologies into their presentation. By way of an example, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is implementing AR-powered features to its own content offering during this year’s Summer Games and it will be interesting to see its uptake while the pandemic continues to impact global travel.
In the absence of overseas spectators at the delayed Tokyo 2020 spectacle, AR could prove pivotal for engaging fans who might have otherwise been able to attend but now have the capacity to experience the Games via their mobile device and to use AR to take them behind the scenes.
Mixed-reality technology looks likely to beat the path for an Olympics experience like no other – and is true for both the rights holders invested in the Games as well as the audiences they are looking to engage.
Words by Christiaan Page, with the collaboration of Steven Impey. Image courtesy of Imago.
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