As NFL kicks off 2nd pandemic season, sports marketers exercise cautious optimism
This is an excerpt from an article originally published in Marketing Dive.
NFL season kickoff last Thursday drew the highest ratings for the event in six years, with viewership up 20% versus 2020's opener. Strong tune-in for NBC's broadcast of the showdown between the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers accompanied a markedly more vibrant in-person presence as stadiums opened to capacity for the first time since the outset of the coronavirus pandemic.
The pro football league beating even some of its pre-pandemic figures could help quell concerns that the appetite for live sports isn't what it once was (the Olympics, which were held in Tokyo and also hosted by NBC, saw ratings down 42% compared to the last summer games). A renewed sense of positivity has extended to the sports marketing space as brands enter the fall period battle-scarred after more than a year of dealing with a pandemic, but also better equipped to handle road bumps from the virus — though the highly contagious delta variant poses a looming threat that will require nimbleness to navigate.
"The optimism right now is leaps and bounds ahead of last year," said Molly Arbogast, founder and chief executive of POV Sports Marketing.
Part of the resurgent confidence from sports marketers stems from ironing out kinks on the operational side of the business. Contract negotiations with rights holders and networks around incorporating COVID-19 clauses, value propositions and make-goods are less harried and complex than they were when the virus was a relatively new disruption prone to upending plans overnight.
"We're in a much better place because we're prepared for it," said Matthew Grandis, chief commercial officer at CSM Sport & Entertainment. "We've been forced to get better because of this and we're forced to think a bit differently, too."
On the fan engagement end, simply having people back in the stands is a game-changer. Packed stadiums and tailgates, while an upsetting spectacle for many, bring revitalized energy to viewing occasions and herald the return of experiential tactics waylaid last year. Ad spending has been on the mend in 2021, and that pent-up demand will collide with destination live events that draw millions of eyeballs and thousands of people in seats.
Read the full article on marketingdive.com.