🏀 Collegiate Sports Move to Mobile 🏈

Marketing has turned to mobile with more people preferring an instant experience in the moments when it matters most. From coupon filled push notifications when you enter the mall or exclusive content when you finish your favorite show, marketers know that reaching consumers on their mobile phones increases engagement and revenue opportunities. Entertainment and retail industries have dominated this marketing movement, but other industries have taken notice and are making the changes to gain mobile momentum.

Collegiate and high school sports apps are at the forefront of mobile app demand. People want access to tickets to their favorite team’s games, the best deals on merchandise, and invites to the hottest sporting tailgating events. But how do sport’s apps reach the people who like to follow sports events with this information? And more importantly, how do these apps keep fans coming back to the app even when their favorite team is not playing? There are solutions to these issues with the utilization of a proper approach to mobile marketing.

Gathering Momentum

Collegiate sports is dominated by advertising and television and has since soon after its mainstream existence began. But research from Mary Meeker, Sports Business Daily, and the Center for Digital Future at USC shows a big shift: 65 percent of Generation Z and younger fans are rapidly consuming sports content on mobile.

Mobile growth in this vertical is 66% year-after-year, whereas conventional print & television advertising is actually on the decline. If ad spend catches up to consumer time spent on mobile, then all parts of the sports ecosystem, especially collegiate teams, will be driven by mobile growth.

As much as the way we watch has evolved, one thing has stayed consistent; the need to share and interact. It’s estimated that as 77% of people watching sports do so with another device nearby, like a laptop, tablet, and--most likely of all--their phone. It makes sense that the other aspects beyond viewing would follow suit.

Ticket Sales

One logically sustainable point with mobile ticket sales -- this would be better for the environment. From a business standpoint, though, it creates a marketing edge for team’s with apps as they collect data on the users who desire tickets to games in specific areas or for specific teams. With that type of data, you can suggest specific games and special events, predict the number of tickets that a user will want to purchase, and more.

Let’s say you attended a baseball game with an entry by a mobile ticket and the pitcher throws a perfect game. If the team uses mobile ticketing, you have an automatic revenue stream by sending segmented push notifications such as “Print This All-Time Ticket at Home!”

Building a Memorable Fan Experience

People love sports for their teams and the game, of course; however, there is a reason tickets to games are always in high demand. It is the experience that goes in hand with a live game. The smells, the food, the beer, and energy take a good game and turn it into a forever experience. So, how does an app deliver this? Imagine a fan enters the stadium to see their favorite team and they receive a push notification that offers 20% off refreshments from the vendor they love most. With the location and behavior data collected through the app’s software partnerships, the fan receives an incentive they will actually use at the time when it matters most.

Merchandise Sales

One of the largest profit segments in the sports industry comes through selling sports merchandise. Collegiate sports have a huge backing with die-hard fans, alumni support, and an overall community following. Utilize advanced push notifications with geofence triggers to reach fans as they leave a game. Promote new merchandise, game MVP jersey’s, and other promotional products with rich media push for instant engagement exactly when the user can use it.

Off-Season Starters

The off-season is the perfect opportunity to turn a casual sport’s fan into a full supporter. Gain interest for upcoming players, develop communication between fans and teams, send “app user only” content, and create a year-round experience that drives fans to games when the season starts.

Conclusion

Streamline the sport experience for fans and cash in on the growing mobile movement. Collegiate sport’s teams can streamline the fan experience like never before, and software products like BoardActive’s VisualMatic™ set the standard. Schedule a demo and see the results of advanced push notifications, detailed user profiles, and data analytics that make a difference.