How the Growth of Streaming Services Can Help Your Advertising
It’s no secret – people are moving from cable to streaming video services, even for live sporting events. But if you’re an outlet that relies on live broadcasts, where does that leave you? Professional sports leagues and advertisers are finding ways to pivot in response to changing consumer behavior.
Digital sports media provides you with the content you want, wherever you want it. Whether you watch on your phone, tablet, TV, whatever – it’s there for you.
Of course, TV will still be a large market, and it’s not going away for a very long time (if ever). Consumers will still want to go to a sports bar and watch games with their friends. But, imagine you’re one of those without cable trying to watch your team.
Professional Leagues Testing Streaming Services
Major League Baseball, after debuting its weekly Twitter game of the week and continuing the promotion in the 2018 season, will be offering five pregame shows during the 2018 playoffs with live streams from its @MLB Twitter handle.
The MLB also partnered with Facebook to air one game a week exclusively via Facebook Live during the season. Facebook hasn’t stopped there. The company will also broadcast 14 exclusive (32 total) NCAA Football games this season.
The National Basketball Association announced just days ago that fans can watch the fourth quarter of in-progress games through NBA League Pass for just $1.99. The league has also said it’s looking into other streaming options on social media platforms.
The National Football League dove into the trend as well. The league is offering streams of Thursday Night Football this season through Amazon and Twitch after renewing with Amazon for two additional years.
Amazon’s stream will offer the regular broadcast from Fox as well as options in Spanish, a female duo, and a British team. Features that include real-time stats, play history, player and team information, and shoppable ads. With Amazon’s ‘X-Ray’ menu, users can buy officially licensed merchandise.
Opportunities for Brands
Streaming options will continue to grow with time. What’s especially intriguing is Amazon selling merchandise in-stream. Amazon saw an opportunity of another marketing touchpoint and took advantage.
With these streams, the consumer is already interacting on desktop or mobile. It’s another place to advertise where you can send them directly to your product or landing page.
Brands should jump on this early and try to slide into what could be a very promising opportunity for awareness and conversions at a much lower cost compared to television ads.
Related Resources
Room 214's Guide to Livestream Video Marketing
The Great Facebook Engagement Drop of 2018
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