How NBA Teams can Potentially Produce an Extra $241,000 per Season in Ad Revenue Through Branded Content
Difficulty 1.
With the potential of starting the 2020-21 NBA season with no or limited-capacity fans, combined with a shift in how NBA fans are consuming content during games, how can teams maximize their sponsored advertisements digitally?
Potential Solution
Start/increase the creation of branded content on social media through the use of non-invasive watermarks and short pre-roll sponsored advertisements.
Include non-invasive watermarks on live TV broadcasts and social media highlights. Similar to the ad patch on jerseys.
Include short pre-roll video ads, 3-5 seconds long in each video social media post.
Potential ROI
In using branded content through watermarks and pre-roll ads, I project a potential ROI of $216,000 in Ad Revenue for the entire season at a $15 CPM rate through social media video publishing. This potentially creates a new stream of revenue for your team by providing a practical way of getting sponsored advertisements in front of more fans digitally.
CPM (cost per mille) is a paid advertising metric where companies pay a price for every 1,000 impressions/views.
CPM rates can vary greatly and ultimately will be determined by the agreement between your organization and sponsorship partner. Industry averages can be anywhere between $5-$30 per 1,000 views (Monetizepros.com)
For the projection below, we’ll assume the CPM is $15.
The upcoming NBA season will feature 72 guaranteed games per team.
We’ll assume at least 50 pieces of video content can be created per game and posted to various social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, TikTok and Facebook). This can be in any form of video content including pre-game, in-game and post-game video highlights, previews and recaps.
Using that video content, we’ll assume that 200,000 Views can be achieved per game.
200,000 Ad Views/1,000 = 200 CPM Views
200 CPM Views x $15 Per CPM View = $3,000 per Game
$3,000 x 72 Games = $216,000
“41% of 18-25 year olds prefer social media over traditional TV, Satellite, Online Video Platforms and Free/Paid Mobile Apps for consuming video.”
Difficulty 2.
With so many different entrainment options for fans, NBA teams are constantly competing for fan’s attention, how do you increase and retain fan attention?
Potential Solution
Create a digital experience that engages and rewards fans for viewing a live game from start to finish and encourages them to return. This can be accomplished by:
Rewarding Engaged Fans With Tangible Prizes Digitally
Engage Fans Through Different Communication Verticals
Virtual T-Shirt Tosses
Announce during games on Social Media that fans can win a free t-shirt. To win, fans must be watching the game, they must follow the team’s social media account and share that specific post in a designated amount of time. Once the time has expired, pick which fans won and which ones you would like to send t-shirts to. Direct Message them notifying they won the t-shirt and ask for their address for where you can send the shirt or prize to.
Introduce a Live Broadcast Check-In Feature
Certain app development companies create in-venue check-in features. Many colleges use this feature to increase attendance at live games. Students that attend games and stay for the duration of the game win rewards. Could your development team develop an in-game check-in feature that shows during the live broadcasts at random times and gives fans a certain amount of time to check-in on their mobile device through your team app? Fans that complete a certain amount of check-ins could win rewards. This would encourage fans to stay and watch the entire broadcast and give them ways to participate.
Implement an In-House, Official Team Podcast and Blog Website
Although there are many podcasts and blog websites dedicated to teams already from fans and other media sources, having an official team podcast and blog website will allow you to reach fans through different communication verticals. This will also create new opportunities for ad revenue with sponsored partners.
“24% (68 million Americans) listen to podcasts weekly. 48% of monthly podcast users are between the ages of 12-34.”
Potential ROI
Increased Ad Revenue Through Fan Reward Program (T-shirt and prize giveaways through social media channels)
Increased Ad Revenue Through Podcasts and Blog Websites. I project a potential ROI of over $25,000 per season through Ad Revenue from podcasting. This is projected at an industry average $18 per CPM rate with a listener base of 20,000 listeners. (ListenNotes.com)
CPM (cost per mille) is a paid advertising metric where companies pay a price for every 1,000 impressions/views.
20,000 Listeners/1,000= 20 CPM’s
20 CPM’s x $18= $360 per Episode
$360 per Episode x 72 Games= $25,920
Not only would you potentially increase ad revenue but you would also have a new way of reaching your fan base and keep them engaged during games and beyond it.