Study on Digital Consumption of Sports Finds Interesting Results

About 58% of fans watching a game on TV are also using their mobile devices for instant messaging, e-mailing, text messaging or talking on the phone, the study found. In addition, research shows that these multitaskers are more engaged and have better recall of the ads they see than the viewers who are only watching the game, the report said. This provides an opportunity to engage fans using multiple media at the same time. Two offshoot industries will also provide opportunities for new digital sports marketing: video games and fantasy sports. Both are creating new opportunities for sponsorships and content deals, according to the report. For instance, ESPN partnered with game developer Skyworks Technologies in June 2007 to launch ESPN Arcade, which is expected to launch 40 ad-supported videogame titles. In another example, videogame developer Electronic Arts is making moves into the fantasy sports arena. In June 2007, EA unveiled a free ad-supported fantasy football service to extend its Madden NFL videogame, the study reports. But even with the new digital innovations, online sports marketing will continue to live in the shadow of TV advertising for the near future, because fans still prefer to watch games with friends on large HDTV screens, said Verna. Indeed, the eMarketer study showed that ad revenues at sport-related Web sites would represent 10% of all sports marketing spending by 2011 (up from 4.9% last year), which is proportional with the Internet's projected piece of the overall ad pie by that date (13.6% compared with 5.9% in 2006).
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