Sign in to view
member only content

Digital media has revolutionised the sports industry and helped to create new commercial opportunities. To take soccer as one example, an estimated 500 million Facebook users are ‘hardcore soccer fans’. Whilst those on the social media platform may represent only a tiny fraction of total fans of the sport, the community constitutes a real commercial opportunity for the sector. Sport organizations like soccer and basketball clubs have increasingly been using media platforms to create content that adds value for fans and now comes the drive to monetize this value. In 2012, we looked at social network that helps brands connect with runners for sponsorship opportunities. At development level, we’ve also seen fanbases used to fund college basketball players. Providing a more sophisticated solution is Brandtix which combines elite athletes’ social media appeal with their performance on pitch, to provide a real-time picture of their brand value.

Created by a team of experienced sports marketing professionals and technology experts, Brandtix allows players and clubs to capitalise on their social media presence, and brands to enter into sporting sponsorships with confidence. The platform conducts an exhaustive analysis of players, teams and fans and allows clubs’ marketing teams to simultaneously monitor a player’s real-time on-pitch performance, their social media activity and the resulting fan sentiment for both. Chief Executive Jon Rosenblatt emphasized the uniqueness of the innovation, explaining that because the data is provided in real-time, it “allows agencies, sponsors, clubs and agents to make more informed endorsement and sponsorship decisions than ever before”. The innovation demonstrates the power of social media to increase the popularity of players and make them more appealing to sponsors.

The platform also works with clubs to inform them which players are popular in a particular region to enable clubs to bring on board the most relevant sponsors. Could we see this kind of complex algorithm applied to other areas of potential investment?