Anyone in any doubt about the pulling power of football need look no further than a new report which finds that 60% of Brits are set to follow the Fifa World Cup, with advertisers having a potential audience of more than 40 million people.
The research, carried out for The Trade Desk by Appinio, highlights the huge commercial opportunity this year’s tournament presents for brands and advertisers to capture the most engaged and attentive fans before, during and long after a game takes place.
With the tournament hosted in North America, time differences will push many matches into unsociable slots for UK viewers. Fans will not stay in front of one screen but will move between live viewing, catch-up TV, YouTube, streaming apps and social media to keep up.
The Trade Desk’s data reflects this: 88% of sports fans say they watch live sports on connected channels, including CTV, and 81% of fans report using open Internet sources, such as Sky Sports’ own website and BBC Sport’s news page, when they cannot watch a sporting event live.
The research found sports fans are 1.4 times more likely to use an open Internet channel than a walled garden to watch live sport – and connected channels are 1.3 times more likely to make big sports moments more memorable than the walled gardens.
The report maintains that ad campaigns should be activated across the open Internet, where the majority of UK sports fans will be watching live sports including the World Cup, if they want to reach the most engaged and attentive audiences.
The commercial opportunity will also be significant. Among those following the World Cup, 57% will buy food or drink for matches, 53% will stock up on alcohol, 30% will order a delivery and 22% plan a bigger supermarket shop than usual.
The Trade Desk VP Northern Europe Phil Duffield said: “Live sports is powerful precisely because it’s unpredictable. A single moment can change the mood of an entire nation in seconds. The brands that can benefit are those built to respond in real-time, on the screens where fans are actually watching.
“Our data shows audiences are increasingly consuming live sport across the open Internet and connected channels. Campaigns designed for flexibility, seamlessly activated across every screen, are best placed to turn those cultural moments into real commercial impact. Rigid strategies risk missing the moments that matter most.”
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