Sports have always been a source of entertainment and joy for people around the world. However, in recent years, the sports industry has been facing a number of major issues that have been challenging its growth and development. From calls for racial equality, labor disputes and arguments to health and safety issues related to gambling in a pandemic, the sports industry is facing an uphill battle to find ways to attract millennials to actually attend games. The rise of technology has made it exponentially easier to watch sporting events from the comfort of your homes.
Not to mention that professional sports groups such as the NBA and the NFL have also facilitated it through mobile applications and their own television stations (NFL Network, for example). This has made it difficult for teams to compete for the same artist and find the necessary funding for in-game experiences. In addition, the sports industry faces the challenge of finding gameday experiences that simply can't be experienced at home. This includes pre-game shows, halftime entertainment, and post-game celebrations.
Not to mention that creating experiences in the game is just as important, whether it's the T-shirt gun, the kissing chamber, the chants, or anything else you can think of. One challenge that the sports industry will always face is focusing too much on the negative stories that surround athletes. For some reason, news reporters (such as TMZ) have become the first to report the most recent scandal. People are thirsty for these negative headlines.
For example, Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliot has recently been criticized for pulling down a women's jersey in public; this not only creates a negative image for the Cowboys, but also for the NFL. Similarly, the NFL is being heavily criticized for its lack of research on head injuries, specifically those caused by concussions. By shifting advertising investment to digital and social channels, teams can more effectively target fans who are already interested in their content. One team that is leading this trend is the Miami Dolphins, who over the past year have allocated a large part of their marketing budget to content development, using social participation as a mechanism to identify and increase their fan base. The article has raised all kinds of opinions about fatherhood, spoiled children, poor training, and ridiculous rules and regulations in youth sports leagues. While the diversity of head coaches at the HBCU hasn't created a path to reach the Power Five, the new momentum of women's sports has helped to take women's basketball to new heights. The long-term development framework has been developed to respond to the problems that have historically hindered the development of athletes in many Canadian sports.
However, as the world of sports intensifies its focus on the body, athletes demand better care, more freedom and greater flexibility in how they maintain and shape theirs. In order to overcome these major problems facing sports today, teams must focus on creating unique gameday experiences that cannot be experienced at home. They must also shift their advertising investment to digital and social channels in order to target fans who are already interested in their content. Finally, they must recognize that they can and should do more to support athletes and coaches who are their lifeblood.
