Monetize your production with Tagboard: In the sports world we’re used to a fair matchup, 1v1, 5v5, 11v11, so on and so on. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the people working behind the scenes around these live events. These days, the battle for eyeballs and attention is very much 1 vs. many. There are so many options for entertainment, teams and organizations are staring down formidable challenges when it comes to hitting revenue numbers and generating fan engagement. To overcome these challenges it’s critical to monetize your audience’s eyeballs and engage them on a year round basis. But how?
Recently, we got a front row seat to Bowl Season’s Annual Meeting in Orlando to discuss this exact dilemma. Through conversations with their Executive Director Nick Carparelli, and several members from the 44 college football bowl games, it’s clear the community isn’t shying away from the challenges they face. And why would they? Not only did they stare down and outlast a two-year global pandemic that presented cancellations and countless unpredictable hurdles, but they never flinched and got better in spite of it.
“There is a lot of competition for the entertainment dollar, but that is not unique to us. It’s a trend that all live events need to figure out a way to combat.”
Nick Carparelli – Bowl Season Executive Director
Today we offer up ways seasonal sports can outlast their competition for the entertainment dollar and use Tagboard to open new revenue streams for their partners to produce year round content, increase reach, and add sponsorships in every month of the year (yes, even the off-season).
Grow Your Sponsorship Opportunities
Building and monetizing off-season productions is not as difficult as it once was thanks to cloud graphics. The Detroit Lions saw incredible growth on this approach in their NFL Draft show where their presenting partner logo accumulated 3 Million impressions — a 76% increase from the year prior – simply by applying a cloud-based workflow.
This offseason production was pulled off with a lean production team, and launched a workflow that the Lions continue to leverage year round. Thanks to cloud graphics, creating new productions and streams on a year round basis is possible – with broadcast quality graphics at a fraction the cost of a standard production.
Expand Your Reach Through Community-Building Partnerships
“We have to find ways to do things. Being that most of us are non-profit organizations, so we have to find sponsorships, we have to find people who will help us”
Eddie Morelos – Sun Bowl Director of Media Relations
When it comes to Bowl Season, one thing that isn’t as well publicized is that most college bowl games operate as non-profit organizations bringing in a ton of money for causes in their communities (See: Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl or Fiesta & Guaranteed Rate Bowl). Over the years bowl games have given hundreds of millions of dollars to worthy causes which simultaneously helps bolster the local communities but also the bowl brands themselves .
Monetize Across Endless Displays
So how can this work in other sports? Find a partner who wants to attach their name to a worthy cause and then you can lead a social campaign to raise funds. Take a look at what T-Mobile did with their #CaptureKindness campaign. Over a three week period they watched 150,000 tweets result in 15 million meals donated to Feeding America. All of it produced and powered by Tagboard.
Partners looking to give back can see value in this with their branding front and center on your website and a dedicated hashtag picking up steam on social channels. And perhaps more importantly it brings a community feel to your website as everyone works together for a great cause while bolstering your sponsorships with tons of impressions and engagements or adding an additional partner community to promote your events. Learn more about the power of social media and how partners have leveraged Tagboard to lead successful philanthropic campaigns.
Build New Partnerships Through Off-Season Gamification
Who says brackets can only be used on the basketball side of things? During the month of March or April why not do a bracket challenge of your own? The Puppy Bowl, with their title sponsor Pedigree, has seen great success the past few years with a bracket style voting for dogs that grabs well over a million votes. It’s mega-easy to set up, garners tons of attention to your website, and gets those monetized eyeballs on your valuable partner logos.
Have fans vote on what they believe are the best plays in history, what wild concession item your fans would love to see at a game this year, or what substance should be dumped on the game winning coach (a moment we’ve seen garner great social media attention with the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Duke’s Mayo Bowl and Cheez-It Bowl). Not everything is predictable in sports, so having creative ideas that you can quickly execute on, can bring in eyeballs to your sport, even in the off season, and keep it top of mind year round.
Discover how interactive polling capabilities can open new revenue streams and drive meaningful engagement.
Engage Your Audience at Fundraising Events
“We are now the sports commission in San Diego, we are looking to bring in other events to augment everything else we do with the bowl game.”
Mark Neville – CEO, San Diego Credit Union Holiday Bowl
Community events are a big part of every sports organization. It’s a chance to connect with your community and in some cases raise money for worthy causes. As it relates to bowl season, Mark Neville, CEO of the San Diego Credit Union Holiday Bowl, spoke about building year round programming to fulfill their mission of generating tourism, visibility and economic impact for the San Diego region. As part of that programming, Mark and his team recently led an effort to bring the Transplant Games to San Diego. With these events happening, Tagboard can bring interactivity and a more engaging experience for those who attend these events. Highlighting real-time social content from your community, showcasing sponsor logos on any screen in your venue, and even generating QR codes that drive exclusive offers for those who are attending.
Analyze the results. Monetize the metrics.
We’ve seen all these ideas, and countless others, pulled off by teams of all sizes and all backgrounds. What they all have in common is that many have one tentpole event or season that is their focus, but they found ways to leverage Tagboard year round. In doing so they brought more value to their partners and ultimately saw Tagboard change from a cost center on their annual budget sheet into a profit center, bringing in revenue for their organizations 365 days a year.
Interested in learning more?
