The English Football League has signed a deal to extend the benefits for clubs and fans of digital and social media across 86 soccer websites owned and controlled by its clubs.
What are the benefits that could accrue within Irish sport from adopting a similarly community based approach?
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[ismember]The deal with the Football League and Radium One covers 86 clubs that are or were at the time of the original deal to pool resources, playing in the second to fourth tiers of English football.
All their websites have similar structure, similar tools for enhanced fan engagement and similar increased opportunity to keep ahead of the curve in digital marketing without employing a vast team to manage your presence.
At the time it was argued that clubs would lose their own identity by having the same kind of service as their local rivals but the reality is that clubs or counties appeal almost exclusively to their own unique audience.
A fan of Doncaster Rovers is no more likely to spend time on a Rotherham United website, or indeed a Manchester United mobile site than they are to look at an analysis of chimpanzee’s hygiene habits. They are interested in one team and want to get and be given the best experience they can.
Digital advertising in Ireland reached €158 million in 2012, growing 12% year on year in an overall ad market that continued to decline in every other area.
Sport is the single largest driver of new technology. High Definition TV, Mobile Apps and many more are built originally for the one market that reaches across all social categories that of sport.
It is an expensive game to stay ahead of with developments taking place almost on an hourly never mind a monthly basis. You Tube is only eight years old but already dominates the internet yet how many sports club or county websites in Ireland have access to video content?
In the Football League all 86 clubs do, with elements of shared and original content depending on their size.
In the Airtricity League, all the clubs have their own sites, individually developed, managed and updated. This itself is a massive resource requirement and yet the results are patchy at best. Some are excellent and serve their purpose very well but others are a poor calling card for fans or sponsors and do little collectively to enhance the brand of domestic soccer.
A collective approach could see vast improvement, quickly implemented and deliver revenue as well as loyalty.
The same could apply across an individual province in GAA or Rugby giving sport a greater stake in the rapidly growing digital media market and catering for younger fans for whom digital is no longer the preferred but in many cases the only channel through which they will be exposed to the brand.[/ismember]
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