Why Apps Are Coming Back Into Fashion As The Sporting Organisation ‘Must-Have’

Data.

The most crucial word for so many sports organisations in the modern day.

More specifically, fan data.

Every sports organisation now wants, and needs, to have access to as much data as possible from their fans as possible. By doing so they can then utilise this information via the best possible methods in order to serve these fans in the most effective and engaging way.

In this clustered area of data, it has become apparent that it is now a true necessity within sport as those who wish to be engaged with it, generally the supporters of teams, leagues or the sport itself, have become accustomed to more and more personalised experiences.

“Activations can be really powerful in apps, they can also be powerful in social and websites, but you don’t have the real-time access to your fans.”

This can be as simple as things they have experienced outside of the sporting field, such as buying their food shopping each week and receiving points for money off in the future through rewards, or clothing brands referring them to items they might like due to their purchasing habits from before.

All of these new options and personalisation methods in every aspect of life have come from data, but with sport in particular it is incredibly important, as this is an area where people are much more highly engaged and have a true connection to the team.

There are not too many people who would go around describing themselves as a ‘fan’ of a supermarket brand, there are slightly more who may categorise themself as it in terms of clothing, but on the whole still very little, compared to the near-tribal at times fandom of sport.

It is this key which makes it so very valuable for sport to maximise it to its full potential, as it is so vital in order to get the most commercial success through sponsors and sales to fans in order to keep the organisations running the sports we love constantly, successfully and profitably (something that many struggle to do).

Kaius Meskanen, CEO of Choicely says: “Activations can be really powerful in apps, they can also be powerful in social and websites, but you don’t have the real-time access to your fans.”

You would assume that social media would be a terrific place for sports organisations to get data from with their fans, considering the thousands and millions of followers many teams have across this wide range of platforms. However, this is not the case at all, as the social media companies, whether it be Facebook, Instagram (owned by Facebook), Twitter, and more, very often keep all of this information to themselves.

This means they can be greedy and use it for their own benefit to then get the most of it for their own brand and, often, it does not produce the high quality of results people are searching for.

As Vlad Marinescu, Director General of the IJF, said at our iSportConnect Lausanne Summit in September: ‘They [fans] can get that content and get that information delivered to them immediately with push notifications and they’re going to check it when they’re interested. 

“The moment I decide I am a loyal enough fan to go to the app store and search you and put on my phone, on the homescreen, an application that allows you to direct notification me, that’s the ultimate level of engagement.”

“When you’re pushing out content and you think you’ve hit those million or two million people who are following your social channels, the number of hits is very low [in reality] compared to an app.” 

But sports teams, as stated above, need this data to maximise their commercial incoming. One of the best ways to do this is via an app, and this is steadily seeing an increase within sport.

Through an app platform, they are able to keep the data all to themselves, provide these fans with a true connection, and be able to be in contact with them constantly.

Apps provide far greater accessibility, as once consumers have installed the application on their device, there is immediate access to the content their favourite sport is pushing out and through using features such as push notifications, the organisations controlling the app are able to be in contact with their fans directly at any time.

“Once I download an app, it’s the level of my loyalty to you as a fan. The moment I decide I am a loyal enough fan to go to the app store and search you and put on my phone, on the homescreen, an application that allows you to direct notification me, that’s the ultimate level of engagement,” said Vlad.

“Apps have now been around for many years, however in the past it was difficult for many sports organisations to be able to have the resources to be able to use them to their full benefit.”

What must be a main focus once these fans are inside the app is that they are catered to on a regular basis, so organisations must ensure that the content is updated constantly in order to ensure that they can consistently keep the fans using the app engaged.

Apps have now been around for many years, however in the past it was difficult for many sports organisations to be able to have the resources to be able to use them to their full benefit, with many initially launching an app and then closing it down. 

Now, the service is much easier to use thanks to companies such as Choicely, meaning there is a next generation of apps that can now be launched to let organisations reach their full potential and acquire this key fan data.