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Soccer fans get a kick out of video for social media

Kaka was named MLS team captain for the All-Star Game after the league polled fans with a contest on Snapchat (inset).
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
Editor's note: This story is revised from the print edition.

Fans of professional soccer are more likely to use a video-based social media site to engage with the game than are fans of other properties and sports, according to the results of the sixth annual WME-IMG Sports Fan Engagement Study conducted on behalf of SportsBusiness Journal.

For the study, avid sports fans were asked a variety of questions regarding their use of social media. The soccer fans tracked were “avid” fans (self-defined as a “4” or “5” on a 5-point scale) of at least one of eight major international soccer leagues, including MLS and the English Premier League.

GAME-DAY USE: Which sites get used, and when?

Question: Thinking about a typical game/race day, which of the following, if any, do you use before, during and after the game/race? (Select all that apply.)

Facebook   2015 2014 2013 2012
Before 43% 50% 50% 39%
During 50% 56% 54% 45%
After 67% 69% 70% 55%
Twitter   2015 2014 2013 2012
Before 41% 45% 48% 38%
During 54% 60% 64% 53%
After 59% 60% 64% 46%
Instagram   2015 2014 2013 2012
Before 34% 37% 35% 22%
During 49% 49% 54% 33%
After 49% 54% 56% 26%
YouTube   2015 2014 2013 2012
Before 20% 24% 15% 23%
During 18% 17% 10% 26%
After 54% 60% 59% 52%
Vine   2015 2014 2013 2012
Before 19% 24% 17% NA
During 34% 30% 27% NA
After 38% 41% 38% NA
Snapchat   2015 2014 2013 2012
Before 34% NA NA NA
During 59% NA NA NA
After 42% NA NA NA

NA: Not available; was not measured in this year's study.


More than two-thirds of those soccer fans said they use YouTube, Vine and/or Snapchat to stay engaged with the sport (see Preferred Sites chart). NFL fans, by comparison, were the least likely set of fans surveyed to use one of those three streaming sites to follow that league, with a rate of 30 percent.

A look at MLS and some of the actions of its fans last year provides a glimpse of some of this soccer engagement. For the first time, MLS last year allowed fans to decide the captain for the MLS All-Star team — using Snapchat to do it. The league made available illustrations of three players nominated by MLS All-Star coach Pablo Mastroeni for the All-Star Game match against Tottenham Hotspur. Fans voted over a 24-hour period by taking screenshots of the player they wanted to be the captain, with one screenshot equaling one vote.

In the end, Orlando City SC’s Kaka was selected over Toronto’s Michael Bradley and Robbie Keane of the LA Galaxy.

Additionally, while MLS’s 250,000 Vine followers is a smaller group on that social media outlet than the number of fans who follow the NBA, NFL, NHL or MLB, the 155 million “loops” posted by those fans ranks ahead of the number of postings from NFL fans (144 million) and NHL fans (94 million). And Google-owned YouTube has rights to stream live all games played in the developmental United Soccer League, further connecting with soccer fans online and with video.

When comparing individual social media sites, Facebook, according to the survey, ranks as the most-used site among avid U.S. sports fans. Seventy-four percent of the survey’s more than 2,100 fans said they have a Facebook account and use it in relation to sports. The NFL scored highest among the leagues measured in this regard, with 82 percent of the NFL fans surveyed saying they use Facebook to engage with the league.

NFL fans topped the survey for Facebook use.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
The survey also looked at how fans engage socially throughout game day: before, during and after the game — and which sites they’re using. Facebook and Twitter are the preferred pregame engagement sites for fans, according to the survey, with more than 40 percent of the fans polled saying they use at least one of those sites (see Game-Day Use chart). Those marks, however, trail the response rates seen for the sites in 2014, and the same is true for other sites: Pregame numbers for Instagram, YouTube and Vine were down from 2014, as well.

Perhaps not surprisingly, engagement numbers increase during the game, with Snapchat (59 percent of respondents using it) and Twitter (54 percent) the dominant platforms during this window, according to the survey. That’s in line with what the report says is “a strategy for quick bursts of content.” In addition, the in-game numbers for Vine and YouTube were higher in the most recent survey compared with 2014, while Instagram held even at 49 percent. The numbers for Facebook and Twitter, while higher than those for the other sites measured, declined from 2014.

Postgame, Facebook scored as the leading site, with more than two-thirds of the fans surveyed saying they use Facebook after an event.

NASCAR fans were the most likely to have carried their social engagement with the sport to the point of interacting with its sponsors as well.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
The study also aimed to track the significance of fans’ engagement with leagues’ and sports’ corporate supporters. Specifically, fans were asked what actions they had taken after “liking” or “following” a brand on social media that had been associated with a sporting event (see Engaging Actions chart). NASCAR fans were the most likely to have purchased a touted product or service (44 percent of fans said they had), while NFL fans were the least likely to have done so (29 percent). Soccer fans, meanwhile, were the most likely (38 percent) to have posted or tweeted about a brand on social networking sites.

ABOUT THE RESEARCH

Repucom International, on behalf of WME-IMG, conducted an online survey last year that drew responses from 2,153 sports fans ages 16 to 64 in the United States, all of whom follow, discuss or engage with sports using digital media.

The surveys were conducted throughout the month of August. The results were subsequently compiled and made available for publication now.

Fans were able to participate in a survey for a maximum of two of the following leagues/sports: MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, NASCAR, professional soccer, college basketball and college football. The results here represent data from at least 500 respondents for each of those groups.

Fans were asked, “How big a fan are you of the following sports leagues? Please respond using a 1-5 scale, where 1 means you are not a fan and 5 means you are an avid fan of that sport.” Fans who selected a “4” or “5” qualified for the survey. As an additional qualifier, the fans were asked to indicate how many games for their favorite teams they watch or listen to during the course of a typical season. A response of less than 25 percent of games played in any respective sport terminated the survey for that respondent.

For the category of “professional soccer,” fans were self-defined as a “4” or “5” on a 5-point fan avidity scale for at least one of eight major international soccer leagues, including MLS and the English Premier League.

To be included in the final results, respondents also had to select at least one of 10 sites listed when asked, “Which of the following, if any, social media or location-based check-in services do you use to engage” for following their favorite teams. Those offerings included the sites and services featured in the survey’s results that are presented here.

The percentage responses listed have been rounded. The margin of error for each survey is +/- 3 percent.

PREFERRED SITES: Tracking fans of select sports/leagues

Question: Which of the following, if any, social media sites or apps do you use in relation to these sports? (Select all that apply)

  Soccer NBA NHL NASCAR College basketball MLB College football NFL
Facebook 63% 70% 75% 73% 73% 76% 78% 82%
YouTube 58% 51% 43% 46% 44% 29% 34% 28%
Twitter 39% 40% 42% 36% 39% 37% 31% 25%
Instagram 27% 27% 20% 19% 19% 18% 13% 11%
Snapchat 16% 12% 12% 9% 11% 6% 6% 4%
Vine 14% 10% 9% 8% 8% 4% 4% 2%
Total video (YouTube, Vine and/or Snapchat) 67% 58% 50% 53% 50% 34% 39% 30%

ENGAGING ACTIONS: What actions fans took after "liking" or "following" a brand associated with a specific sport/league (2015 vs. 2014 results)

  NASCAR Soccer NBA MLB NHL College basketball College football NFL
Bought the brand 44% (NA) 38% (+2 pct. points) 39% (+4) 35% (+2) 35% (-1) 32% (-7) 37% (-3) 29% (-2)
Talked about the brand with friends/family 55% (NA) 55% (+4) 52% (+2) 52% (+11) 52% (+2) 52% (+8) 52% (+6) 46% (+5)
Posted/tweeted about the brand on social networking sites 37% (NA) 38% (+1) 32% (-3) 30% (0) 32% (-3) 32% (0) 27% (-2) 22% (-5)
Shared a post/retweeted content from the brand 49% (NA) 40% (-1) 41% (-1) 38% (+1) 41% (+6) 41% (+4) 36% (-1) 39% (0)
Nothing in particular 13% (NA) 11% (-5) 19% (+4) 24% (+2) 18% (-2) 18% (-3) 22% (-1) 28% (+3)

NA: Not available; was not measured in 2014.

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