Analysing the rapid rise of traditional US sports expanding into European and wider market places and the future outlook of opportunity.
Over the past decade the sporting world has evolved significantly and has no doubt been partially a result from the expansion of commerciality including increased media access, social media, sponsorships and branding.
Innovation through e-sports, sports betting and creating superior fan experiences has been crucial to such an expansion and allows us to understand the opportunities available through unlocking markets, and channels to help increase revenue.
Key US sports have led the charge in tapping into wider than traditional markets which is in a crucial stage of development. The NFL since 2007 have been increasing the exposure of a completely US based sport of American Football by executing a strategy to gain capitalisation in the UK market. It can be argued that the UK would be a particularly challenging market to enter for this sport where there are significantly established sports, fan bases and commercial partnerships. However the NFL appears to have utilised this as a tool to extend their own reach.
Each year the NFL host games across the UK’s capital which has been embedded as part of the UK sporting calendar, enjoying success when we look at key performance indicators;
'According to league research, there are more than 15 million NFL fans in the U.K., including four million “avid” fans. Sky Sports weekly ratings have doubled during the past decade, and overnight TV viewership, including the league’s RedZone channel, rose 32% during the 2018 season'
Source: https://www.latimes.com/sports/rams/story/2019-10-25/why-is-nfl-so-popular-in-london Following the success of NFL in the UK, another key US organisation is following closely behind. The NBA have leveraged the strategy successfully implemented and over the past few years have begun to increase the UK market exposure. What is interesting in this space is that basketball in the UK enjoys a relatively modest presence but does not rival the ‘top tier’ of UK established sports such as Rugby and Football.
So what makes the NBA different?
The key difference observed that the US sports bring with them is the commerciality gained through the ‘show-business’ aspect of their respective practices.
Both NFL and NBA in the US enjoy significant industry- fan relationships which appear to create an added level of aura to the events held through all channels.
By retaining this extra weapon in the armoury, NFL and NBA look set to continue capturing UK based audiences and extending structural pillars that can be exploited in the future. For example there have already been numerous debates regarding a permanent UK American Football franchise or an existing franchise co-locating. The very sentiment of this conveys the success and future potential of these sports in the UK.
How the next few years unfold regarding the presence and performance of these organisations will be particularly interesting with both looking at wider European markets including NBA in Spain and NFL in central Europe. This provides significant insight to existing UK sports looking to grow market capitalisation, revenue and presence in their own environment.
It can be concluded that the strengths NFL and NBA bring to the sporting industry can provide a real basis for existing organisations to improve their strategy for growth which can be centred on customer experience, media opportunities and branding capability.
Comments