Before the digital media explosion, most NFL teams used the off-season as a time to give their fans a mental break and re-charge emotionally over the summer.
It’s safe to say those days are long gone.
With the tremendous focus professional sports teams are putting into social media to engage fans, the fan engagement has become a 24/7/365 job with little to no down time at any point of the year. As a major sports brand, the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts are embracing this ideal. Not only are teams tasked with keeping their fans engaged during the season, it has now become a job that has to be year-round.
The Need For A 24/7/365 Experience
With fans everywhere in Indianapolis and beyond, the Colts represent more than just a sports team; being a Colts fan is an always-on experience, a 24/7/365 way of life. That type of passion demands the online experience to follow suit so fans can not only get all of Andrew Luck’s snaps on the field, but what he is doing year-round to help lead their favorite team get to the Super Bowl.
“Providing content is very important to us. We truly believe that this is a year round sport,” says Stephanie Pemberton, Sr. Director of Marketing. “We understand that the actual season happens within a span of a few months, but keeping our fans engaged year round is so important.” That’s why the Colts were one of the first NFL teams to push content across multiple platforms and engage fans anywhere, anytime.
The Need To Connect Across Multiple Devices
Whether spotlighting a player, a coach or a free agent signing, the Colts understood that live streaming was a new channel for premium content delivery. With the rise of multiple devices and screens, connecting to fans in real-time via live streaming was essential.
“We have a lot of great technologies at our disposal. One of them that we really utilize is our live streaming”, says Dan Plumlee, Colts’ Digital Director. “We find that the fans don’t want to wait for that to be videoed, taken to tape, and then served up five hours later. They want to consume that content in real time.”
This is where a company called EdgeCast comes in. Colts fans can watch live streams and interact on their device of choice, on their own terms. And when they do, their engagement and brand loyalty takes off.
As weekly competitors in the NFL, the Indianapolis Colts they have prioritized streaming premium content to its legions of dedicated fans. The move to EdgeCast Network shows this commitment.
“Leading sports franchises – especially leading sports marketers like the digital media team at the Colts – realize they can stay connected to their fans year-round by creating immerse online experiences that are not possible with traditional media, and we’re excited to help them deliver superior experiences”
The Colts’ digital media team talks about how they keep fans engaged in this new video.
EdgeCast’s live streaming capabilities have enabled the Colts to deliver premium content across multiple screens, regardless of device or location, with superior speed and performance. With this content, the Colts have seen an increase in website traffic, as viewers’ engagement and brand loyalty increase and they shift from third-party media outlets to Colts.com and other dedicated properties.
“Providing a steady stream of high quality content to fans is a key part of our engagement strategy. We truly believe that this is a year round sport,” said Stephanie Pemberton, the Colts’ senior director of marketing. “We understand that the actual season happens within a span of a few months, but keeping our fans engaged year round is so important.”
The Colts were one of the first NFL teams to push content across multiple platforms and devices to engage fans anywhere, anytime.
“Leading sports franchises – especially leading sports marketers like the digital media team at the Colts – realize they can stay connected to their fans year-round by creating immersive online experiences that are not possible with traditional media, and we’re excited to help them deliver superior experiences,” said Anthony Citrano, vice president of communications and marketing at EdgeCast Networks.
These days it is all about year-round engagement and the Colts are one of the pioneering NFL franchises to realize this. As NFL teams continue to push the envelope with off-season content it will likely lead to most franchises to look to companies like EdgeCast to get their content out to their fan-base quickly and on multiple platforms.
It will be interesting to track how many teams throughout the league begin to take on third party content providers.