Sports Marketing in 2024 – The State of the Industry

In the last few decades, sport isn’t only about competition. TV rights, politics, the global economy, and betting are only some of the factors that determine the current state and development of sports on an international level.

As 2024 is a year rich with important sports manifestations – the UEFA European Football Championship, the Summer Olympic Games, and other quintessential sporting events – each of these championships requires a certain kind of advertising and marketing.

Content and Influencer Marketing Bits

Content marketing has become a cliché word in every business field, including sports. People tend to label diverse promotional phenomena as content marketing. In the case of 2024 and sports championships, we can highlight the importance of social media presence and TV programs. As reported by the Sport Business, the worth of global sports media rights reached $56 billion in 2023. With the forthcoming major events in 2024, we can expect these figures only to surge and keep rising in the time ahead.

Social media presence is a newer business discipline, having become a relevant content strategy in the last fifteen years. International sports organizations, well-known sports apparel brands, and TV stations alike will fight for viewers’ attention through narrow-focused campaigns, personalized offers, and demographic-specific campaigns.

Data-Based Marketing Efforts

Everything stated in the previous paragraph requires proper data-based validation.

Older media channels, such as TV and radio stations, have developed their strategies and market research efforts to perfection in the last few decades. They’ve known their audiences pretty well as they’re embracing social media tracking and analytics.

This synergy of traditional marketing channels and new platforms based on advanced technology provides all interested parties with valuable volumes of applicable big data. To be more specific: the X international sports association organizing the Y sporting event under the sponsorship of Z business brand will use Google Analytics to monitor their website traffic, social media analytics tools to launch, track, and measure their marketing campaigns. They’ll probably rely on their respective mobile apps and the user behaviour data collected there to tweak their marketing and sales strategies, from ticket sales to media buying plans.

iGaming Variables

Sports manifestations and matches are observed for pleasure and fun. The latter doesn’t only mean preparing snacks and your favourite drinks, but it also encompasses different economic features.

Some fans buy their national team’s jerseys and flags, while others go and watch their squads and preferred athletes live at relevant venues.

Many sports lovers like to place a wager or two along the way, to spice things up. In terms of marketing trends, people should know that some of the deals offered by various bookmakers are better than others. When a year is as eventful as 2024 will be, it’s always smart to shop around and find the offers that have everything you need for a comfortable and safe bet. To be more precise, betting sites’s Jamie Clark notes: “Balanced reviews of bookmaker websites and apps is what we’re all about at bettingsites.co.uk with the team always striving to be honest in their appraisal. We’re not afraid to call a spade a spade. Being frank and honest about the big guns in the gambling industry is the best policy, as that’s what our readers want.”

Sustainability and Responsibility

As Marshall McLuhan was right and the world has become a global village, most of the 7.8 billion earthlings are mutually connected via the Internet. This awareness and connectivity make each of us feel more accountable for all the affairs happening worldwide in real-time.

Global sports companies, associations, and media brands are conscious of all the above. Hence, they’re making an effort to devise and launch responsible and sustainable campaigns around transnational tournaments.

Reducing their carbon footprint and spreading the word thereof, organizing special fundraising and charity events, and supporting athletes to promote certain values are only some of the marketing efforts we can expect in 2024. In the context of many difficult conflicts occurring in different parts of the globe, such initiatives are more than welcome and expected throughout this sporting year.

Partnerships and Venue Sponsorships

The marketing synergy of two or more recognizable companies is not a new way of strengthening brands’ professional efforts.

What’s innovative is the reinvention of innovative sports partnerships in the new business age.

For instance, the football stadium at which Bayern Munich plays its games – which will also host several games at EURO 2024 – has been carrying the name Allianz Arena since its opening in 2005; named after its sponsor.

Another correlated example is the Signal Iduna Park stadium in Dortmund, also named after the sponsor of FC Borussia Dortmund. Interestingly, this venue is called BVB Stadion Dortmund in UEFA cups and leagues.

In 2024, we can expect that sports clubs, companies from all walks of life, and international sports federations keep joining forces in establishing fruitful sponsorships and partnerships.