All over the world, sports events have been canceled and stadiums shuttered. The sports industry is, like many industries, experiencing a generational challenge and they seem ill-equipped to address it.
In a 2018 whitepaper, “A Whole New Ball Game: Navigating Digital Transformation in the Sports Industry”, Deloitte foresaw the need for change in an industry struggling to adapt to the pace of technical change:
“Sports organizations need to strategically leverage digital media to build direct connections with fans. “Doing digital” is not enough: they will have to embed digital in every aspect of the business, transforming people, processes, and technology.”
They added: “Sports organizations need to strategically leverage digital media to build direct connections with fans.”
“The shutdown leaves inevitable gaps in programming — and sports fans looking to scratch that competitive itch has lost their favorite pastimes as they spend weeks self-isolating.”
To download the entire Deloitte report, click here. And make sure to also log into follr.com, find your official supporter club and get comfortable. There’s lots to see.
– This is the ninth consecutive quarter of record growth for the company
– The growth is attributed, in part, to COVID-19 and sports fans continued migration online to consume and create sports content.
Wappingers Falls, NY (Thursday, April 9th, 2020) Follr, Inc., a sports and fan-based SaaS (Software as a Service) company, today announced record new user growth for the ninth consecutive quarter.
Numbers, when compared to 2019, showed:
January total new users increased by more than 82%
February total new users increased by more than 85%
Quarterly total new users increased by more than 56%
February saw the highest single month number of new user registrations in the companies history.
Part of the growth is attributed to the Coronavirus pandemic. With sports events canceled globally, fans are increasingly going online to watch and read sports content which has driven increased usage of the Follr platform.
Follr founder, Stephen Fells states: “In providing a single solution that connects fans and sports properties by aggregating an enormous amount of content, we open up new revenue opportunities for the industry,” adding “This is clearly needed, evidenced by leading clubs like Barcelona, Juventus and Liverpool cutting player and staff wages to bridge this unexpected financial gap.”
The Follr platform provides highly customizable Websites enabling sports fans and official supporters clubs to create a community centered on a team, sport, person or shared interest and passion. Follr additionally provides franchises, brands, media companies and organizations in the sports and entertainment industries with a broad suite of services that improve fan engagement, protect brand and increase revenues.
“Technology is playing a larger role than ever in the lives of fans, opening the way for sports organizations to create new, innovative customer experiences.”
They add:
“Doing digital” is not enough: [sports organizations] will have to embed digital in every aspect of the business, transforming people, processes, and technology. Sports organizations need to strategically leverage digital media to build direct connections with fans”
New Sports Content
Follr community Websites now have access to over 100,000 sport related videos with content from the most heavily trafficked channels on YouTube and fan Podcasts. To see a list of all content partners click here. In the first quarter, Follr added new content sources including videos from:
Follr continues to add teams and leagues with sport-specific content added daily.
Focusing on sports, primarily soccer, and providing highly customized Websites for official supporters clubs detailing meeting points and serving as the richest single source of information about one team online, each community Website aggregates real-time social media content and includes:
Marketing and communication tools
Ecommerce services
The ability to automate content sharing
An extensive event management feature set
Aggregated real-time content from multiple online sources
Discussion groups
Follr Global, a white label version of the platform, is also available to brands and sports franchises providing a multi-layered account management tool that:
Protects their brand
Ensures ownership of fan data
Enables supporters clubs to reach a broader market and fan-base
Increases exposure and reach of marketing content and media
Makes administration and communication easier
Collects detailed fan demographics
Accesses currently latent revenue through paid subscriptions/membership options
About Follr, Inc.:
Follr, Inc. (www.follr.com) is a software company founded in 2011 located in California and New York. Follr is a SaaS platform centered on products that “Reinvent the Fan Experience”.
Follr Communities provide vibrant, social groups to engage fans around a franchise, brand, individual, team or organization.
Follr Profile Websites allow individuals, companies and brands to tell a story using a combination of personal or corporate information and real-time social media content. They are personally branded Websites used as an initial point of contact and represent an aggregation of all online and offline information. Accessed by an enduring, easy to remember URL they represent a more complete picture and story in an increasingly digital world.
The Follr network provides users with the ability to create, find and join Follr Communities, connect with like-minded fans and see content from other members.
