Cultural Changes to Sports

CULTURAL CHANGES TO

Sports and Athletics SINCE 2004

Kristin Lowry

Friday, January 17, 14

changes to

Profe#ional Sports


THE SHIFT FROM PASSIVE TO ACTIVEOver the past decade, there has been a cultural shift from passive to

active. People are no longer content to just sit back and be entertained. They want to engage with what they are watching.


Social media has made watching sports an active experience. It gives fans a live update that they can’t get anywhere else. People are no longer just idly watching the game. They are actively listening, updating and sharing.

Up to 80% of fans use social media while watching a game on TV. Up to 60% do so while watching a live game.*

SOCIAL MEDIA AND VIEWERSHIP

Text

* Laird, Sam. “How Social Media is Changing Sports.” Mashable, 26 April 2012.


Social media has given fans a voice. It has enabled them to give and receive live updates, vote for the All Stars, or contribute to an athlete’s cause. Using social media, fans now have the power to make or break an athlete’s career. Just look at what #Linsanity did for Jeremy Lin.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND VIEWERSHIP


Fantasy spots started in 1960 by a small group of fans who took the scores and stats from each game to create a fantasy league.

Social media and the internet has made it easy for fans, especially new ones, to actively engage with sports. The popularity of Fantasy sports only continues to grow. Today 33.5M people participate.

FANTASY LEAGUES

Yahoo is a good example for search trends as it is the most popular host of fantasy sports.

* Subramanian, Pas. “5 Surprising Facts about Fantasy Sports.” Yahoo Finance, 4 September 2013.


Historically, fantasy leagues have been the domain of lifelong fans, with a lot of knowledge, who grew up playing or watching the game.

These days, fantasy league participation is bringing in sports fans not, vice versa. This is especially true for women who now make up 20% of fantasy league participants.*

FANTASY LEAGUES

* Subramanian, Pas. “5 Surprising Facts about Fantasy Sports.” Yahoo Finance, 4 September 2013.


Fantasy leagues create a sense of community among people around a common interest. They are a conversation catalyst, and keep people in touch.

Once people start playing fantasy sports, it becomes part of their identity. They become loyal to the activity and the relationships. Most become lifelong participants with no intention of giving up.

FANTASY LEAGUES


Silicon Valley backed Fantex Holdings announced that fans will soon be able to buy stocks of their favorite athletes, based on their projected earnings. The first IPO will belong to Houston Texans running back Arian Foster.

Sports and entertainment is a billion dollar industry financed by consumers. Now consumers have the ability to participate, seeing return (hopefully) on their emotional and financial investment.

PUBLICLY TRADED ATHLETES


THE DEMAND FOR INTEGRITYIn the last decade, the public has lost a great deal of trust in public

figures. As a reaction, we have become less tolerant of deceit and other immoral behaviors. This is especially true for athletes, whom the

American culture has always tied so closely with morality.


When athletes like Lance Armstrong use performance enhancing drugs, it is the equivalent of insider trading. They betray public trust by not being forthright about their abilities.

Doping has quietly gone on for years. However, social media and the internet has made it harder to hide from the disapproving public. When athletes get caught sponsors distance themselves accordingly.

KEEPING ATHLETES HONEST


CELEBRITY CULTUREReality T.V. and tabloid culture have created a rabid interest in the personal lives of athletes and celebrities. This interest is based on a

mixture of voyeurism, aspiration and moral superiority.


It used to be that the public only saw athletes in the capacity of being an athlete. Endorsement deals were their main source of secondary income.

Today’s athletes have seen that there is money to be made in branding themselves. They have become the new reality stars. Everyone from Ryan Lochte to T.O. has their own show.

ATHLETES AS PERSONALITIES


CHANGES IN MEDIA CONSUMPTIONOver the last ten years, the economic decline has coincided with

technological advancements in media. Old methods of consumption have improved and new ones have been introduced.


In the current economy, consumers consider stadium attendance too much of a “luxury.” Recent advances in TV such as flat-screens, HD, and the ability to connect to the internet has made the at-home experience much more appealing.

In fact, stadium attendance had been declining steadily since 2007.* Electronic purchases for tablets and TVs have been on the rise in recent years.

THE AT-HOME EXPERIENCE

* David, Javid. “What the NFL Season Says About the U.S, Economy.” CNBC, 5 September 2012.


While more fans are moving from TV to streaming, multi-screen viewership is still king. Last year, TV viewership of sports decreased from 96% to 94%, while online increased from 56% to 63%.* Mobile also increased from 21% to 35%.*

Multi-screen viewership gives advertisers the opportunity to take either a trans-media or more targeted approach.

STREAMING CONTENT

* “Sports Fans Slowly Move from TV to the Internet.” Adweek, 24 July 2013.


changes to

Everyday Athletics


BRANDED COMMUNITIESAthletic apparel brands have always sold a concept of who people

could be. Now they are creating communities around that concept that people can identify with.


Nike has gone beyond the apparel category with Nike+ FuelBand, amassing the largest community of runners ever assembled, at over a million runners.

Nike + Fuelband motivates people and hooks them in several ways. When people see their friends doing something they want to join. Being watched improves performance. It also make a solitary activity social.

NIKE + FUELBAND


Over the past decade, the world has moved at a rapid pace. As a result, there has been a reactionary focus on mindfulness and fitness as part of holistic health. Yoga has gone mainstream.

Lululemon has become the brand for this movement. They have created loyalty and authenticity by immersing themselves with local communities. They employ popular instructors to teach classes. They even host running clubs.

LULULEMON


ENDURANCE EVENTSIn the latter half of the decade, non-traditional running events have seen

a massive surge in popularity, especially among the under 30 set. They are inherently social and present a chance to triumph over a personal

challenge. They also remind people how it feels to be present in a hyper-tasking world.


Non-traditional running event participation has gone from 100K in 2010 to 3M in 2013.*

The Color Run, a non-competitive, non-timed event has become the most popular in the world at 1M participants in 2013.*

For many people, the Color Run is an unintimidating introduction to athletics. While it’s active, it is also about getting together with friends in a festive atmosphere and doing something new.

THE COLOR RUN

* Williams, Doug “Non-Traditional Runs Keep Growing.” ESPN.com, 23 October 2013.


Unlike the Color Run, Tough Mudder is much more about challenging yourself and accomplishing something you never thought you could do. Not surprisingly, it is on many people’s 20’s bucket list (the average age is 29).

Tough Mudder is also more male dominated and attracts a more athletic crowd. Many see it as a way improve their fitness.

TOUGH MUDDER


FITNESS TRACKINGThe obesity epidemic became a major cultural phenomenon in the early

2000s, when the surgeon general coined the term. Since that time, Americans have become obsessed with getting healthy. We are

concerned with every calorie ingested and every mile ran.


In the past few years, there has been a lot of buzz surrounding wearable tech. Some of the major players are FitBit, Nike and Jawbone.

There is a clear need and big opportunity for fitness trackers. Over 50% of people track health indicators such as weight and exercise.* However, it is still a very young industry. Only 9% are currently tracking their health on a device or an app.*

WEARABLE TECH

* Fox, Susannah “Few Americans Track Their Weight, Diet or Exercise Online.” Pew Research, 8 January 2014.


When people track their fitness indicators and see themselves making progress, it sets up a positive feedback loop. This leads them to modify their behavior and become hooked on the product.

The data from wearable devices provides companies with information they can use to improve their products and communications For instance, Nike found that it takes 5 runs before a user gets hooked. U.S. runners also run more in winter.

THE QUANTIFIED SELF


Cultural Changes to Sports

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