Clack That Fan
As COVID continues to interrupt the sports world, it hasn’t stopped fans from wanting to show their support. But what does it mean to be a fan in a world without live events? More importantly, how can leagues and broadcasters keep fans engaged while sports get back on their feet?
Thinking Outside The Box
As a fan, the pause on sports has been a pretty big bummer. With leagues announcing their back-to-play strategies, there is a glimmer of hope, but we all know it will still be months (if not years) before stadiums are packed with screaming fans.
In-person games are one of the most enjoyable ways to show support, not to mention a regular pass time for many. In Germany, for example, watching your club soccer team is a fairly regular occurrence. Back in March, Ingo Müller, a Borussia Mönchengladbach fan, came up with a way to keep attending games.
Well, technically his wife ideated it, so credit where credit is due. She was sick of his sulking and reportedly told him, ‘If you’re really pissed about not going to the stadium, just take a photo and send it there.’”
I love to imagine her flippantly suggesting this to her her husband in the most “take a photo, it’ll last longer” way she could. But truthfully, she probably misses having him out of the house as much as he misses going to the games.
At any rate, Müller took the message to heart and did exactly that. After reaching out to a printer Müller contacted the local stadium to inquire about putting his image in the stands. They were so on board, that he actually built a portal for other fans to do the same. For just 21$ USD you can now "attend" your favourite Bundesliga match up as a 2D cardboard cutout. Today, the crowds at these matches look like the most haphazard game of "Guess Who" you've ever seen. Or, if you will, a literal house of cards.
The pure innovation of this idea has been bringing me joy since its inception, and I want there to be even more options. Let me "sit" on the Eiffel Tower just for fun. It's amazing what people will pay for novelty, and this bridges a new experience with a tried and true tradition of sports-viewing. What a fun and interesting way to stay involved even when you're forced apart.
Chasing Paper
For the leagues, ticket revenue is a huge chunk of their budgets. If you build it, they will come, and they will come with cold hard cash. The above graph outlines just how much money each sport rakes in with seating. That said, with COVID keeping local LCBO capacity below ten, it's not looking like leagues or teams will be able to capitalize on their stadiums for months to come.
Since Müller’s initial idea, 8 different Premier Leagues (soccer, for those who aren't sure) have jumped on board to offer seating to their cardboard supporters, and now companies across the world are now trying to get in on the action.
In Australia, Fan in the Stand sells space for National Rugby League games, My Fan Seats is kicking off in association with many US teams, and Japan just announced that J-League (also soccer) will follow suit independently.
It's hard to deny that Müller (and his wife) struck gold with this idea. The element of community building in this initiative is huge. Not only are people able to support their local teams, but they also get to feel like part of the action at a time where action is hard to come by. This is also a major opportunity for leagues to subsidize lost ticket revenue and make use of empty stadiums. Truly a double win.
Experience-wise, there is a new thrill for fans to find themselves within sports livestreams. It must be a pretty meta moment to catch a glimpse of your photo in the stands when you've been stuck staring at the same screen since March. I'd be remised to ignore the fact that this element is also driving more audiences to the streams, furthering the ability for leagues to generate cash through ads. The more people who watch your product, the more money you can garner from it. It's as simple as that.
Of course if you're looking hard enough you may also find some unexpected visitors. For example, Shaquille O’Neal, who is apparently a Northampton Town Cobblers (again, soccer - it's always soccer) fan. Shaq has the added bonus of being able to "attend" a game without travelling, being instantly recognized, or having to cram himself into a tiny seat.
Carte Blanche
As we know, the internet can turns things sour in an instant. It's part of the fun, but also a humbling reminder that people can be trash.
While many sweet images of dogs, families, and deceased relatives adorned the stands of Australian rugby games, so too did serial killers and mass murderers. Most notably, Harold Shipman, a famous angle of death from Britain, made his way into the crowd on May 31st.
What was meant to be a good time has now inevitably become a PR disaster. A spokesman from the National Rugby League assures news sources that the vetting process for future cutouts will be more intensive, but I have a feeling new pranksters will find their way into the folds. Maybe more discreetly, but who could pass up such a golden opportunity?
Of course America always finds a way to make it worse. Matty Johns, the host of Sunday Night with Matty Johns with Fox Sports, aired a sketch with photoshopped images of Hitler in the stands. Naturally, the Twitterverse went wild, and he has since issued an apology
Honesty - the sketch had the makings for a funny joke, but Hitler was probably not the right choice. Maybe an unflattering photo of Trump or Santa Claus on vacation would have done the trick instead. As a general rule, jumping to genocide jokes is often a step too far.
What these instances reveal though, is that fans have away of taking the community you built and turning it on its head. No one wants to be part of a highly moderated crew. They want to establish their own traditions, jokes, and culture without your guidance. Trial and error has to be involved, and you have to allow your audience creative liberties in how they interact with your brand. Sometimes that means you might find a murderer or dictator as your number 1 supporter.
All Dolled Up, Nowhere to Go
Organizers can make missteps too.
The whole cardboard cutout idea wasn’t sexy enough for a South Korean soccer team. Back in May, FC Seoul decided to fill their seats with sex dolls. To be fair, Müller hadn’t launched the cardboard cutouts yet, but this strikes me as something they might have gone ahead with anyway. It's also one of the most hilarious ways I could imagine filling a stadium.
Alas, Korea’s K League didn't agree, and the team was fined $100 million dollars for this inappropriate move. FC Seoul claims that they just wanted mannequins, and the sex dolls were a mistake. Personally mannequins seem creepier to me, but I wouldn't particularly want either watching me on the field.
Horn Ball
Hitler and sex dolls are at least quiet spectators. They may ruffle some feathers at home, but, compared to the noise pollution of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, they seem relatively harmless.
Vuvuzelas are long plastic horns used by South African soccer fans to make noise and show support. They became a subject of debate during the World Cup for being unbelievably loud and annoying.
That sounds like a hyperbole, but the sound of vuvuzelas was so disruptive that they actually negatively affected the broadcast of games, often drowning out announcers and leaving a constant humming in the feed. Moreover, the blasting horns went beyond the recommend levels of sound exposure, meaning that it’s entirely plausible you could have hearing damage from attending those game
For the players, this noise was even worse. The French team complained about not getting any sleep with tooting going late into the night, and on the field Messi claimed that it was "like being deaf." Absolute sexpot Cristiano Ronaldo, on the other hand, was a sentimental voice of reason. He said "people here like to blow it, so we need to respect it.”
You know I want to make a blowjob joke here, but I’ll swallow it down for now.
Ronaldo makes an excellent point. While these horns were frustrating, they are a long time tradition for South African fans. FIFA 2010 was a huge deal for them to show how their culture of fandom was different from other countries.
The takeaway here is that attending games in person allows for these traditions to develop. Fans create their own culture around a game, but, without live crowds, supporters will have to innovate new community traditions. Perhaps online noise makers are the way of the future.
Magic Fandom
The big news for the MLS, NBA, and WNBA leagues is the reveal of back-to-play strategies that encompass Disney World as a hub city. As strange as it seems, Disney is a perfect space to confine players and operate in a COVID-free bubble. Like the Vatican, Disney runs itself independently. They have municipal control over their district, their own citizens, and also a direct line to Mickey Mouse himself.
A godsend of a solution.
But what will this lead to for the future of fans? As Disney prepares to open its own doors, we have to speculate that at least one person has suggested making Disney a permanent home for sports beyond COVID. Imagine the one-stop-shop this could be for families. Come for the kids, stay for the sports. Of course each team already has a home stadium, and they won't want to lose out on ticket cashflow when live events restart in full. Until we have a vaccine, however, there's a good chance we won't be seeing non-paper crowds in any stands. We might have to get used to watching sports from Disney's facilities, and maybe start imagining leagues as a side attraction for high-paying park goers.
Even if I'm way off base with this theory, hosting sports is still a huge flex for Disney. Scott Galloway, Pivot podcast host, smartly notes that Disney is using sports to declare how much of a powerhouse they really are. They are able to take in and support the $200 billion dollar franchise without batting an eye. They have the infrastructure, systems, and brand to do it all seamlessly, and it's pretty damn impressive.
Beyond the physical space, Disney is known for radical mergers and acquisitions. They have our attention as a host, but what will they do next?
The new Disney CEO, Bob Chapek, hasn’t been shy about stating their interest in sports. He says, “…live sports remains incredibly valuable to us, and we continue to have an interest in live sports rights given the unique slate of assets that we own.” Though Disney already owns ESPN, we have to think bigger in terms of what could be on the horizon.
For example, what about actual teams? Will we see a resurgence of the Almighty Ducks? An NBA team with Space Jam jerseys? If Disney isn't able to keep sports inside their park longterm, it could be a worthwhile venture to have their own teams that would live there permanently. Again, as a municipality, they have every ability to do so.
Let's speculate even further. If they own teams, why wouldn’t they push for image and likeness rights? Maybe there's a future world where we'll see Lebron mascots or have Shaq pop up in the next Star Wars flick. It’s amazing what you can negotiate into a contract if you have access to LITERALLY EVERYTHING.
Again, Disney is known for monetizing everything under the sun. They have a hit movie? Well then the also have a hit clothing line, stuffed animals, a collector’s mug series (remember those?), a video game, a theme park ride… and the list goes on and on and on. If they could take even a small piece of sports, then a whole new money stream opens up. A fan could theoretically go from the live event at Epcot, to a simulation game, to a new NBA ride, to a player mascot photo op, to a gift shop filled with merch.
BOOM.
That’s a whole new park in the making. Sports Kingdom. Athletic Castle. Whatever the fuck they want.
On this note, WNBA players are already citing their favourite Disney characters in anticipation of the restart. These ladies are doing it because they're excited, but maybe future players will have to endorse Disney franchises as they're drafted. I'm getting a bit carried away, but Disney has the power to utilize any and everything in their brand to cross promote, and it would be strange to not use sports in the same way. For now though, we'll have to wait and see how it plays out.
Where My People At?
At any rate, the most important consideration in the future of sport is the fans. Without people cheering, you don't have a product. While cardboard cutouts are great, those are tailored to fans who will be loyal throughout this pause. There are always new audiences to leverage, and this is a unique time where we can focus on engaging the next wave of supporters.
For example, ESPN obtains it’s revenue predominantly from fees generated by pay-TV subscribers, but many of us are moving away from cable. To be precise “the number of pay-TV subscribers has declined by nearly 10 million since 2016 and is expected to continue plunging.” Sports is the last programming keeping a bunch of eyeballs on cable boxes, but more and more people want to watch games on a tablet, phone, or online, and many others are willing to switch their attention away from sports in general.
To keep generating revenue, sports broadcasters have to be creative. Offering streaming platforms is one way, another is to focus on the fan experience at home. Innovations like VR, sports betting, and customizable broadcasts are all ways to hold those eyeballs for longer.
There is also much to be said for generating a diversity of content. Not only with exclusive interviews, documentaries, and lifestyle pieces, but by offering programming with unconventional talent. Namely, eSports. One research study found that “that nearly 50% of fans below 35 feel that eSports have increased their engagement with traditional sports.” Think about it - how many gamers do you know that are also die-hard sports fans? There is definitely crossover, but there is also opportunity to collect new fans and engage with new audiences. A bigger avenue where I think this success could be found is with women. Sportsnet, for instance, is also the number one specialty Canadian brand for women, yet we’ve never seen Kotox sponsoring a game. Companies like The Gist exist to eliminate the barrier to fandom that is often so intimidating for female audiences, and more and more content is being created for women who are fans. That said, there are ways we can improve.
With sports coming back, for example, there is a huge opportunity to put more women’s leagues at the forefront and potentially gain new audiences. Lindsay Gibbs from Power Plays suggests just that - and it’s brilliant. Women's sports have always fought to have more screen time, so maybe when the green light comes to restart, ladies should go first. Think of how much of an impact it would have to only show women's leagues for the first month of broadcasting live sports. We know that representation is a powerful tool, and I firmly believe that more women on screens would lead to more young female fans. Although Disney princesses endorsing sports might do that as well....
I covered a lot of stuff this week, but the main point is this:
If leagues and broadcasters can focus on providing an experience for their fans, those fans will in turn create loyal communities that will follow brands through whatever pandemics we have on the horizon. Community is a powerful tool, and sports uniquely allows supporters to develop their own traditions and ways of interacting with their favourite teams. Fandom will keep evolving as sports does, and all the leagues have to do is support their existing communities and seek out new audiences where they can.
Clack those fans, hunty.
