Part 1 of what to expect in sports business in 2015 included comments from Bill Sutton, Nancy Lough and Dan Rascher.  The second installment features Darin White and Vassilis Dalakas sharing their views on key topics for the industry next year.

Darin White, Chair of the American Marketing Association Sports Marketing Academic Society (SIG) and Founding Director, Sport Marketing Program in the Brock School of Business at Samford University: Social and mobile will offer unprecedented opportunities for the sports industry in 2015.


Advances in the social media space will give sports properties extraordinary opportunities to engage with fans in meaningful ways. This is welcome news for sports properties across the sports industry as they seek to improve the in game experience in order to reverse troubling attendance declines of recent years. I see three primary ways social will shape the sports industry in 2015:

• The union of social and mobile will be fully embraced by sports properties seeking deeper fan engagement. Wearable technology and smart objects (like smartwatches, smart glasses, etc.) will be used by innovative sports properties to reshape the fan experience by allowing for more personalized, real-time fan involvement.
• Smartphone usage while attending games will reach the tipping point. In 2015 it is projected that for the first time ever over half of all fans at sporting events will use their smartphone while attending games for game-related purposes. This will include activities such as watching video replays for the game they are attending, ordering food at the game, checking real time game statistics, tracking scores of other games, following fantasy teams and watching other sports live.

• 2015 will see deeper integration between sports e-commerce and social media. Innovative sports properties and brands will utilize newly developed social listening labs (like the Quack Cave at the University of Oregon and the Social Media Command Center at Gatorade) to offer in game, real-time, personalized deals. Based on data from MLS, NBA and the NFL, it is projected that 10 to 20 percent of all fans will make a team related purchase via their smartphone while attending a sporting event in 2015. Thus, in-game e-commerce is rapidly becoming a significant revenue stream for sports properties. 

You can follow Dr. White's insights on the Sports Industry from throughout the year at www.BusinessSideofSports.com or on Twitter @Sports_Biz_Prof.

 

Vassilis Dalakas, Professor at California State University San Marcos and visiting professor at San Diego State Sports MBA Program:  Social media have elevated the engagement between fans and teams and athletes to a whole new level. I am looking forward to seeing what new tools may emerge and how sports organizations will use them to engage fans even more. And, I am also curious about what mistakes and failures we’ll witness in that domain.

This year entailed some serious controversy for some of the world’s biggest sports properties including FIFA and the NFL. While they seem unaffected by those crises for now, I am curious to see what the new year will bring; will sponsors pressure the properties for changes and will we see any changes or will it be business as usual?

Along those lines, I am hopeful that 2015 will bring more good stories about sports organizations being actively involved in their communities and affecting them positively. Sports is big business but can also be a powerful platform for positive societal impact; I look forward to seeing cases exemplifying that. 

Dr. Dalakas is also on Twitter @DrSportBusiness.