The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on professional sports across the globe. The pandemic led to the suspension or cancellation of numerous sports leagues, tournaments, and events worldwide. Major leagues like the NBA, NHL, MLB, and professional soccer leagues around the world were temporarily halted, while major tournaments such as the Olympics and Euro 2020 were postponed.

The suspension of sporting events resulted in significant financial challenges for sports organizations. Loss of ticket sales, sponsorship deals, and broadcasting revenue had a detrimental impact on the financial stability of clubs, leagues, and athletes. Many organizations had to implement cost-cutting measures and explore alternative revenue streams.

With the rollout of vaccines, professional sports gradually started returning to normalcy. Leagues implemented vaccination protocols and relaxed some restrictions, allowing for increased fan attendance and a return to regular schedules. However, the long term recession intensified by the COVID-19 and potential future disruptions remain uncertain.

Many professional sports organizations have taken creative and innovative approach to overcome the challenges. Following are some examples of best practices seen in the industries.

BEST PRACTICE 1. CHICAGO BEARS MILLER LITE HQ: WATCH PARTIES

In the years prior to the pandemic, the Bears partnered with Miller Lite to kick off the football season prior to the first game in a way inherently true to Chicago, a neighborhood Block Party. Fans gathered in Chicago neighborhood Logan Square, grabbed a bite with a cold Miller Lite, and were entertained by live bands, Staley Da Bear, their Drumline, Monster Squad (their street team), tailgate games, and photo opportunities. It was a great way to celebrate the return to football.

As they recapped the event in 2019, Hall of Fame Partner Molson Coors asked about opportunities to extend the energy and excitement that fans enjoyed at the Block Party to their distributor’s key on premise accounts (bars and restaurants) around the city and in surrounding Chicagoland suburbs. With this, the idea of bringing Bear’s game day elements to Miller Lite Headquarter Bars was born.

As the pandemic waned, the Bears tested Draft Day watch events at a small selection of these bars. They took learnings from those events to launch their Miller Lite Chicago Bears Headquarters Watch Party series for away games during the 2021 Season.

The primary objectives of the Miller Lite Chicago Bears Watch Parties were for Miller Lite to enhance their relationship with their beer distributors and for the distributors in turn to enhance their relationships with key accounts. The motto for 2021 was “getting cans in hands”. Nine beer distributors in the Chicagoland region were considered for this platform.

This year, eight in season away games were identified as opportunities for hosting a Bears Watch Party (they did not host a watch party on Thanksgiving Day). It was agreed that if the Bears made the Playoffs, the remaining distributor would be first in line to plan additional events. If the Bears did not make the Playoffs, then they would prioritize that distributor in the future.

The Bears created a reason for fans to select priority bars over other places to watch the game: to experience elements of a typical Soldier Field gameday at the bar.

Each Watch Party was promoted digitally via the ChicagoBears.com event page, banner ads, mobile app banners, dedicated email, and organic and paid social. The Tuesday before each away game, geotargeted emails and paid social notifications went out to fans within 5 10 miles of each bars’ zip codes. The bars also promoted on their house and social channels.

Each Watch Party brought the Soldier Field experience to life throughout the game. Fans at the bar for pregame enjoyed a performance and encounter with the Bears Drumline as well as photo opportunities with Staley Da Bear. Just before kickoff, Bear’s videoboard programing and curated music from their DJ electrified the crowd while the Monster Squad encouraged fans to wave gameday towels. During game breaks, the Monster Squad had trivia games with Bears and Miller Lite prizes.

When the Bears scored, the venue transitioned to a rousing rendition of Bear Down Chicago Bears, accompanied at times with a conga line type dance around the venue. The energy and activities from their DJ and the Monster Squad was key to keeping the event exciting and engaging for fans, no matter how the game itself was going. During halftime, fans enthusiastically participated in a variety of competitions ranging from touchdown celebration dances to (muscle) flexing, to line dancing. The size of the activation varied based on the size of bar with capacity’s ranging from 75 330 people. Food and drink specials also varied from bar to bar.

The Bears also executed two enter to win sweepstakes to deepen fan engagement and collect data. The first was the 2021 Chicago Bears Miller Lite Away Game Watch Party RSVP sweepstakes. Leading up to the event, fans were encouraged to RSVP for a chance to win a reserved table in a prime location, $100 food/beverage certificate, Bear’s and Miller swag.

The second sweepstakes gathered data on site via a QR code. The Monster Squad encouraged fans to sign up for the sweepstakes, offering Bears prizing as incentive. Results varied by game and venue, ranging from a low of 9% to a high of 80% of a bar or restaurant’s capacity participating in one or the other sweepstakes each week.

The events have been so successful that Miller Lite and their distributors want to continue the program in 2022. Feedback from fans at the venues has been positive as well, citing unexpected entertainment during timeouts and touchdowns as well as increased energy from the crowds. This helps fulfill their goal of deepening fan avidity.

The events immerse The Bears in the community to connect with remote areas of the city and surrounding suburbs who may not have the opportunity to attend live Bears games and events. The fans had a positive, fun experience and left the impression that the Bears are approachable and genuinely interested in celebrating with them in their neighborhoods. The data they captured at the events allow them to continue to engage these fans looking forward.

©CHICAGO BEARS

BEST PRACTICE 2. BUFFALO SABRES : TURKEYS FOR TICKETS

Sports organizations stepped up their community outreach efforts during the pandemic. Many teams and athletes donated funds, equipment, and resources to support healthcare workers, frontline workers, and vulnerable populations. The efforts continued and many teams developed community outreach programs tied to fan engagement.

The Buffalo Sabres are well engrained in their community and wanted to continue to do so during the holiday season. Annually, their Turkeys for Tickets initiative has been very successful in market. The Sabres work with local team partner, Wegmans, on setting up drop off locations where fans can donate a 20lb turkey for the chance to redeem two tickets to an upcoming Sabres game (10 total game options).

Local Wegmans’ stores are used as the drop off locations and Wegmans is helpful in promoting the program with lots of in store signage and an additional order of turkeys to meet the spike in demand. On top of the in-store promotion, local radio partner, Audacy, promotes the program on air ahead of the event and are on site during the drop off date to conduct live updates and interviews. Traditionally, the Turkeys for Tickets program collects 30,000 40,000 turkeys each year and are donated to local charities, Feedmore WNY and the Buffalo City Mission.

©BUFFALO SABRES

BEST PRACTICE 3. THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN : METAVERSE ACTIVATION

Additionally, the pandemic accelerated the adoption of innovative technologies in professional sports. Virtual fan experiences, remote broadcasting, and data-driven analysis gained prominence as ways to engage audiences and compensate for limited in-person attendance.

The Australian Open is not only the first major tennis tournament of 2022, it is the first Grand Slam tournament to enter the metaspace. The Australian Open (AO) has ventured into the metaverse by linking AO Art Ball Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) to live match data, in a new technique for engaging fans.

The launch gave global tennis followers the ability to own a piece of the AO. The project published 6,776 AO Art Ball NFTs minted for viewers who can then purchase a piece of the AO 2022, as each one’s metadata will be linked to a 19cmx19cm plot of the courts’ surface. Subsequently, if a winning shot lands on the selected plot, the NFT metadata will be updated in real time to highlight the match information, whilst the tokens will include limited edition wearables and AO merchandise.

The organization tried to boost fan engagement in the game, made possible by official match and ball tracking data from previous matches. Furthermore, when one of the 11 championship points lands on a plot, the NFT owner of that area will then receive the tennis ball in a handcrafted case. Each AO Art Ball includes one of over 160 NFTs from the AO Artist Series, using designs from local and international artists which have been specifically created for the 2022 edition of the competition. Participating NFT owners can, from home, discover the area, complete challenges, view historic AO content and interact with players and other fans.

Overall, long term recession intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic had a transformative impact on professional sports, forcing adaptations, and highlighting the fragility of the sports industry while demonstrating the resilience and determination of athletes and organizations to continue competing in unprecedented circumstances.

©AUSTRALIAN OPEN