How Social Media Affects Sports in Present Times

Social media services are permeating every aspect of our lives and becoming an increasingly bigger part of daily reality. Sports have not managed to escape their influence either, so today we can see that the two are interconnected in numerous ways.

The detailed infographic below by BettingSites shows that sports are one of the main topics on the most popular social media websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and many others.

TV Broadcasters Losing Against Social Media

Moreover, there is a growing trend of sports transitioning from traditional TV channels to social media outlets. This includes not only promotion and communication but streaming as well. That does not surprise when you consider the fact that at least 61% of sports viewers follow sports online.

The reason is probably the fact that almost everyone today has a smartphone or a tablet, which makes it very practical to stay up to date with all relevant information. The infographic has data that supports this claim. Namely, the number of fans choosing to watch sports on smart devices almost doubled from 21% to 39% between 2013 and 2016.

This trend is not slowing down, so more and more fans are making the transition each year.

Sports Broadcasting Companies Taking New Measures

Some of the biggest sports broadcasting companies in the world, such as ESPN and Sky Sports, are facing a significant loss of subscribers. This decrease in subscribers translates to a huge loss in revenue as well.

Because of that, more and more sports matches are broadcasted on social media, using live streaming features.

For example, Twitter paid $10 million to NFL to obtain the rights to broadcast 10 live games. Facebook, on the other hand, streamed 46 matches from Mexico’s Liga MX soccer league in 2017.

Moreover, in 2018, BT Sport chose to stream the Champions League final on YouTube, reaching many viewers. To advertise this simulcast, it chose popular social media services, such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter.

BT Sport is not a unique example as others around the world are following suit. Indian’s Cricket Premier League streamed games online on YouTube as early as 2010-2012.

There’s no doubt that we will see even more such examples in the future. Who knows, perhaps in the near future all sports broadcasting will be done via online streams. It makes a lot of sense for such a thing to happen.

However, this is just the tip of the iceberg as there are many other ways in which popular sports are present on social media. Players are also an important part of this equation.

If you wish to find out more about it, take a look at the fantastic infographic below.

 

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