The social media games: why sports teams and leagues aren’t just competing on the field

Not so long ago, sports and entertainment were separate: each had their own distinct place in our minds.

In the streaming era, that has become somewhat blurred. If anything, we now have to filter through all the types of content available to entertain us, rather than having to search from a limited range of offerings.

Sport is now a form of entertainment, competing against a broad range of direct and indirect competitors who are essentially fighting over their slice of the cake in this attention economy.

Sports and sports teams have had to adapt quickly to this changing era through different methods, such as how they use social media.

The four Es of great content

Broadly speaking, for any content to be effective with its intended market, it needs to have four basic elements: entertainment, engagement, experiential and emotions.

Sport, as a whole, ticks those four boxes quite well (but only when it is being played). Just look at the Matildas’ World Cup phenomenon in 2023.

Our need to be entertained is now constant, even hourly. Previously, this presented a challenge for sports: how to keep and maintain connection with audiences when sport wasn’t being played?

Content competitors, such as YouTube, have something for us to watch 24/7.

Sports and sporting teams then realised they had to start to provide content when games weren’t being played to keep relevance and resonance with their markets. And do so with the four E’s in mind.

Say hello to your brand new social media feed.

Early on this content was hit and miss. But in the past few years it has picked up to the point where the four Es are being ticked off by most teams.

This engagement can all draw in extra money via ticket sales, memberships, merchandise and experience packages, such as Hawthorn’s social media-fuelled financial boost last season.

There has also been assistance from successful fly-on-the-wall documentary series on everything from the Australian cricket team, to Formula 1, to cycling, which have deepened resonance between brand and consumer.

So how to judge success in this area? The ultimate compliment of social media content is the share. And some teams, such as Greater Western Sydney in the AFL, are getting more and more.

Success, right? Maybe, but there are other criteria to consider.

Brand personality and connection

Success in marketing is rarely binary. Another important dimension to why sports have started to have more fun with their social media feed relates to brand personality and brand connection.

These theories are the bedrock behind how we value brands, and how brands have been slowly moving away from formal to fun.

We connect with brands that fit our personalities. Have an outdoorsy identification? Say hello to SUVs like Ford Ranger, or clothing like Kathmandu. Sophistication? Apple. Beachy? Billabong.

Value means loyalty, and loyalty means less switching behaviour.

Walking the thin white line tightrope

However, sport has a treacherous path to walk on this.

Ultimately, the core content is the sporting contest. If it veers away from the on-field battles and results too much, it runs the risk of losing connection with the loyal supporters who become confused over what the brand stands for.

There are also risks through simple human error and poor decision-making by those who run the social media accounts – the Monty Panesar tweet by Cricket Australia in 2013 being one case in point.

More recently, after the 2024 AFL draft, St Kilda was left red-faced after sending a message to a wrong number instead of a player they had just drafted. The club at least had fun with their blunder, posting their mistake on social media.

And of course there are numerous examples on social media where individual athletes, via secondary association, such as Stephanie Rice’s tweet, can result in brand damage.

At the same time, silence in the digital era means losing connection, relevance, and eventually value.

And if sports truly want to say they represent all, and not just the core fans, they need to find ways to grow that connection.

The new AFL team Tasmania Devils – set to enter the league in 2028 – are a good example of a club that is doing that, maintaining a balance between functional offering and entertainment.

A whole new ball game

Content is here to stay and sporting clubs are still learning how to use this strategy effectively. If they stop now, they will become a secondary content provider in our minds rather than a primary one.

The next markets, like Gen Alpha – a generation born into technology from 2010-25 – already have stronger resonance with online content providers like Mr Beast than they do a sports team.

A decade or so ago, most sports and teams used social media primarily to relay match day updates and results, news and merchandise opportunities.

Now, social media is as integral as any other marketing strategy, and the digital environment is fought over just like teams do on the field, court or pitch.