“What we can do through our content development, our social handles, the innovative way we integrate opportunities for people to consume our content on our platforms…is figure out how we get people closer to the game and get them that up close and real experience,” Henault told Vanessa Perdomo, Bloomberg’s editorial lead of sports.
Nuria Tarre, chief marketing and fan experience officer for City Football Group, added that just 5% of its followers will ever get to the UK to watch its flagship team—Manchester City—play a match. Instead, its 13 clubs embrace gaming and esports, with fans in the U.S. market often finding their favorite club through City partner EA Sports’ EAFC game. With U.S. fans choosing their team at 16 to 20 years old—as opposed to 7 or 9 in the UK—City’s forays into gaming, fashion and new content were necessary to build a fanbase.
“Trying to get into new audiences creating fandom is a difficult exercise,” Tarre said. “It’s not like growing market share in any other industry: You need to create emotional connection, but also be where the new fans potentially are.”
Tell the stories behind the sports
How do you make viewers in the United States care about the plight and sudden prosperity of a low-tier, but ascendant Welsh soccer club? The folks behind Hulu’s “Welcome to Wrexham” not named Reynolds or McElhenney have the answer.
“It’s more than telling a story about a sports club; it’s about community,” Kristina Windham, head of business development at Maximum Effort, told ADWEEK executive chairman Rich Battista.
