Podcasts

Episode 289: Best Of The Podcast —College Sports, NBA, Athlete Marketing, LADbible, Creative Strategy, and More

Listen to episode 289 of the Digital and Social Media Sports podcast, a best of, featuring parts of conversations with:

Listen below or on Apple, Spotify and Stitcher.

109 minute duration. Listen on Apple, Spotify or YouTube.

Posted by Neil Horowitz Follow me on Twitter @njh287   Connect on LinkedIn

Podcast Snippets

The Smart Approach to Sponsorship Activation and Measurement in Sports

On episode 288 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, Neil chatted with Adam Grossman, Founder & former CEO of Block Six Analytics (now Excel Analytics, after Excel Sports Management acquisition, Northwestern’s Masters In Sports Administration program, and co-author of The Sports Strategist: Developing Leaders for a High-Performance Industry.

What follows are some snippets from the episode. Click Here to listen to the full episode or check it out and subscribe to the podcast via Apple or listen on Spotify or YouTube.

Podcasts

(Updated) Episode 288: Adam Grossman on Producing and Measuring Success in Sports Sponsorship

Listen to episode 288 of the Digital and Social Media Sports podcast, in which Neil chatted with Adam Grossman, Founder and former CEO of Block Six Analytics (now Excel Analytics, after Excel Sports Management acquisition, Northwestern’s Masters In Sports Administration program, and co-author of The Sports Strategist: Developing Leaders for a High-Performance Industry.

79 minute duration. Listen on Apple, Spotify and YouTube

Posted by Neil Horowitz Follow me on Twitter @njh287   Check out my LinkedIn articles

Content Strategy, Fan Development, Social Media

Know Your Fan, Know Your Market: Creating Social Strategy That Fits Your Team

There is no social media strategy that’ll please everybody. There is no social media strategy that’s perfect for every brand.

It’s easy to get lost in a sea of best practices, adopt tactics that’ll drive any engagement, and try to be everything to everyone. But especially in sports, where dozens of local (though concurrently regional/national/global) brands are all marketing very similar products. They have fans who fell in love with the brand before color TV existed and fans who weren’t alive in a world without Instagram. There are teams with rich histories and those just getting started, some are perennial winners while others seem to be perpetually rebuilding.

Zach Galia has navigated all parts of this challenging world across NASCAR, NFL, and now MLB, and, through it all he’s learned the importance of understanding audience, platforms, and creative, intentional strategy and execution.

It was — relatively — in the beginning. When Galia started his career at Michigan International Speedway, a track that hosts NASCAR races, their goal was to reach, well, demographics and psychographs that basically lined up with Galia himself. So if the content appealed to him personally, that was a good sign that it’d appeal to their target audience. It was largely similar when he started with the Pittsburgh Steelers, a team he’s been a fan of for life. But when he got to Arizona, to lead the Cardinals’ social media, he faced a new challenge.

“I think with the Steelers it was similar to NASCAR. I was marketing to me, like a Steelers fan. I knew the lingo. I knew what the Steelers stood for because I had a lifetime of following along and understanding and knowing the history and knowing the players,” said Galia who was the Steelers’ first full-time social media hire before moving to the Cardinals right after the NFL Draft.

“Going from there to the Cardinals, where I wasn’t a fan and I didn’t know the history, I didn’t know the fan base…I picked up what I was planning to do for the Steelers [during the offseason camps and training] and dropped it in Arizona and said, here’s what we’re going to do. And it didn’t work. It didn’t have the same impact. It wasn’t the same…

“That was the first kind of, Oh, I’m not marketing to me anymore. Like, I need to learn the fan that I am marketing to. Different markets, different teams, different fan bases, you had to learn and figure out what they wanted to see and who they were and what they cared about…”

Galia didn’t grow up a Cardinals fan and didn’t know the Arizona market, nor did he come in on day one with a deeply rooted understanding of the history and brand of the Cardinals. But he learned. And through the process Galia was able to grow his acumen in strategy and social, gaining thoughtful understanding of who they were trying to reach with what messaging and why.

“That was a great exercise to like how social is grown,” said Galia of balancing tactics to reach and engage various fan segments. “You obviously want to do right by those diehard fans, but the more people out there that are talking about the Arizona Cardinals, the better.

“So you want to find casual fans, you want to find Suns fans who are looking for something to do on a Sunday, you want to find NFL fans who are like, Oh, that’s a funny video by the Cardinals, maybe I’ll follow along. So it’s like you want to create content that’s kind of accessible across the board, but also doesn’t — not offend, but it doesn’t patronize your diehard fans. So it’s a much more wide range of content.”

Leaders like Galia can (and do) research and learn about fan bases and teams over time, just as any marketer does for their respective brand and industry. But in an increasingly diverse and fragmented cultural and media landscape, with trends, tactics, and platforms that evolve so rapidly, it sure helps to have a diverse team that can contribute perspectives and help keep up with it all. Galia is smart and humble enough to know that it’s more effective and efficient to help others help him than to dictate with omniscience and omnipotence. So as Millennials gave way to Gen Z for that ‘young’ demo, Galia worked to empower and entrust his team to keep up with the kids.

“It started with me marketing to me, but now I’m 38 years old and I need to make videos for 16-year-olds on TikTok to make them interested in the Pirates,” said Galia, recalling the difference in perspective as he progressed through his career and the years passed. “That’s clearly not marketing to me anymore.

“So how do you do that? How do you empower your team, the people on your team that are closer to that age group to do that?… You have to build that trust with the people on your team because [they’re] going to know so much more about who we should be talking to in that age group than I do…So it’s always great to have people like that, and I have them on my team now, where it’s like, tell me what’s cool, and if you think it’s right, let’s go with it and let’s see what happens.”

Understanding the platforms and cultural zeitgeist unique to fan segments and demographics is but a piece of the pie, however. The NFL has 32 teams with 32 distinct brands and fan bases. The shift from a historic organization like the Steelers, for which fans across generations can close their eyes and see NFL Films montages of 1970s glory, to the Cardinals, which has only been in Arizona since the late ’80s and lacks a similar legacy, is a good illustration of the diversity across the league. The same cross-team distinctiveness prevails in most sports leagues around the world. For every Hollywood LA Lakers, there’s a grit and grind Memphis Grizzlies — and a plethora of others. The way fans look at their teams, and experience the seasons, aren’t just for media-driven narratives and social media debates — it affects how teams present themselves and market to their fans. Galia articulated this insight and described how it played out for him at the teams where he worked.

“I think you go back to the Browns when they were just awful, like 0-17, but [former Browns Social Media Manager] Allie Raymond, one of the best in this business with the Chargers now, everything they did was amazing. They had this lovable loser persona, and it just took on a mind of its own,” said Galia, who has had experience with winning and losing teams alike. “Whether you like the [Browns] or not, you loved their content and who they were. That wouldn’t work with the Pirates or with the Steelers, because the fan base is not going to be humorous about losing and performance like that. So it’s knowing and understanding and learning that.

“Same with the Cardinals,” Galia continued. “Like, you couldn’t be the lovable losers with the Cardinals because if the team wasn’t good, people had other things going on [and] just didn’t care. They would go to Suns games, they would watch the D-backs; like, it wasn’t a big deal. Whereas Pittsburgh, for better or worse, our fans care like crazy and they will let you know when you’re not doing well or when you are doing well and you’re still not doing well enough. Like, Pittsburgh fans care. The Cardinals fans, when they weren’t good, it was like, Oh, just let us know when you’re good and we’ll follow along again. So there are little kind of things that you have to learn, and the only way to learn is to be a part of it…

“So you can’t just be tone-deaf and be like, Oh, well, here’s a bunch of memes and it’s really funny because we’re losing and other teams do it so our fans will like it too. I don’t know if that’s the case.”

After spending the first several years of his career in the NFL, Galia made the move to Major League Baseball, going back home to the Pittsburgh Pirates — and going from 16 or 17 regular-season games to about 10x as much in baseball. So while a big win or a big loss in the NFL can color an entire ensuing week, and represent ~ 6% of the entire season, an incredible victory or devastating loss in MLB is a paltry 0.6%, for better or worse. It was a stark change for Galia, who recognizes the condensed windows for celebrations in baseball means they have to capitalize quickly when moments hit.

“In football it’s like you win on Sunday, you have until next Sunday to tell the story of every single thing that happened in the entire history of that game, you can highlight it in every way you want,” said Galia, who is the Director of Social Media and Content Strategy for the 100+-year-old Pirates franchise. “In baseball it’s like, okay, well, how do we do this effectively and quickly because as soon as the lineup goes up for the next game, no one cares what happened the night before.

“So I think it’s not necessarily a blessing and a curse, but like that’s the good and the bad about the baseball schedule is you get to turn the page really quickly, but sometimes you wish you didn’t have to turn the page so quickly. It’s tough.”

The packed MLB season also ups the ante to keep fans engaged and interested game after game, with the specter of monotony looming each day. Fans will scroll right by when daily content starts to become predictable and blends together from one day to the next. It’s not feasible to produce some masterpiece every day, but Galia and his team know that even small tweaks and little surprises and flair can capture attention consistently and ensure fans don’t fly by or tune out while being ready for unexpected opportunities.

“One, you got to keep things fresh,” said Galia, who has been with the Pirates since 2022. “Our creative team does an amazing job. We talk and plan on every template that could possibly be imaginable, we try and make [them] before the season starts just so we have it just in case something happens, because making graphics from scratch is going to take a long time and we might not have enough time.

“Even a starting lineup graphic — if you see the same starting lineup graphic 162 times, by the fifth time, no one’s paying attention to it. So again, our creative team has done a great job, we have 5 or 6 different versions of that, and we’ll make special versions for special weekends. Visually, the information is the same, still the nine players plus our starting pitcher — it’s exactly the same information, the same experience, but it’s packaged differently that at least catches your eye for an extra second instead of just zipping right past it because you already know what it is…

“Don’t let consistency be the enemy of creativity, he said. “Just because you have a plan in place and your brand is set and you know what content is going out; like, celebrate wins in different ways, use content in different ways, post content in different places and make the experience unique and keep people guessing — because as soon as they know what to expect from you, you’re done.”

Galia and his team know the Pirates will have their opportunities to capitalize on during the season, so they have a balance of proactive planning and extemporaneous creativity to make the most of special moments. Any baseball fan, heck any sports fan, was well-aware of some special times for the Pirates during the 2024 season, as rookie starting pitcher sensation Paul Skenes made his much-hyped debut. Skenes is one of many prospects to have made anticipated debuts for Pittsburgh the last couple of years. Galia knows each has a story to tell and can move the needle in varying ways. These are thoughtful, strategic conversations and plans that come together — again, with a healthy combo of preactive and reactive, so that no opportunity gets missed.

“We had so many guys debut and it was like, Okay, well, when Paul debuts or when Jared [Jones] debuts, or when person X debuts, where do they fall into kind of the zeitgeist of our players and who have been called up in the past?” Galia explained. “So you then try and figure out like, well then do we need to crank it up a notch and do even more or do we crank it down a notch and do a little bit, like just keep it kind of normal?…

“You kind of talk about it and make sure that you have a general plan and then, you know, three months later when it finally happens, it’s like, Oh, well, I came up with three other things, let’s do these instead. So it kind of works in both ways…You plan for what you can and then you react to everything else.”

A lot of this is about storytelling and brand building, creative execution and insight. And while certain key principles remain the same over time, constant change and adaptation is just as consistent a part of the game. Just consider in Galia’s career how many platforms have come and gone, product features that have arisen, and new opportunities and challenges to evolve the definition of good, effective, successful content.

Defining success is paramount for those working in social media. The reports and rankings, perhaps too often, showcase overall stats like engagement, reach, and views. The reality is more nuanced — you can feed the feeds to prioritize engagement, and most pros keep a close eye on what each platform is pushing in their recommendation engines at any given time, but achieving success is less about engagement bait and more about adapting your great content and brand activations to favor the forms that the fans and apps expect and want.

“If your plan is to do the same thing on every platform, you’re going to be okay on one of those platforms, but you’re going to fail on the other ones. Like, when you’re creating content, you’re creating these strategies to engage with your fans, but you also want to create content that the platforms value as well,” said Galia.

He continued: “If you’re not bringing in what the platforms value into your strategy, you’re going to miss the mark in some form or fashion… it’s a battle for every four seconds. You want to give someone what they’re looking for on the platform that they’re on…

“Keep your business goals in mind and what you’re trying to achieve, but put it in the packages and in the places that people are going to see it more clearly. So no matter what the goal is, you’re still not necessarily leaning into, like, ‘whatever Instagram’s goal is, is now my goal.’ It’s like now I know what Instagram’s goal is, so I can kind of tweak our strategy to make sure that more people see what my goal and our goals as an organization are.”

Toward the end of the interview with Galia, he recounted some of the more ‘viral’ posts from his time behind social media accounts in Pittsburgh and Arizona, specifically some that came together quickly. To the casual observer, such spur-of-the-moment success may feel like dumb luck with a dash of creative artistry — and there can be elements of that, sure. But it’s kind of kike the anecdote about famed artist Pablo Picasso being asked to draw a quick sketch, which took him minutes, but the price he charged was $1M francs. “The lady was shocked: ‘How can you ask for so much? It took you five minutes to draw this!’ ‘No,’ Picasso replied, ‘It took me 40 years to draw this in five minutes.'”

Where Galia has arrived after over a decade in sports and social is not too different from Picasso, in a sense. He and his team make thousands of micro-decisions every week, but they’re not made in a vacuum. Galia is informed by thinking about audiences, markets, goals, platforms, mediums, markets, strategies — those executions and ideas that take form in seconds in the hyper-paced nature of sports and social media are only possible because of years of experience and robust preparation.

In MLB, where Galia currently works, every swing, every pitch, every game is an opportunity to learn and get better. The same is true for the pros off the field — get better and get smarter with every post, every day. That’s the foundation for a Hall-of-Fame career.

LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH ZACH GALIA

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Podcast Snippets

Developing Social and Content Strategies to Fit the Brand, Fans, Platforms, and Objectives

On episode 287 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, Neil chatted with Zach Galia, Director of Social Media and Content Strategy for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

What follows are some snippets from the episode. Click Here to listen to the full episode or check it out and subscribe to the podcast via Apple or listen on Spotify or YouTube.

Podcasts

Episode 287: The Pittsburgh Pirates’ Zach Galia on Knowing Your Audience, Your Brand, and Your Priorities

Listen to episode 287 of the Digital and Social Media Sports podcast, in which Neil chatted with Zach Galia, Director of Social Media and Content Strategy, Pittsburgh Pirates.

101 minute duration. Listen on Apple, Spotify and YouTube

Posted by Neil Horowitz Follow me on Twitter @njh287   Check out my LinkedIn articles

College, Content Strategy

From Websites to AI: The Evolution and Arms Race in Sports Creative

Look across a dozen creative departments in sports and you’ll find a dozen different organizational structures — no two teams or college programs approach it quite the same way.

There are varied levels of investment (and internal buy-in), some collaborate more or less frequently with external agencies and freelancers, and others boast massive teams of specialists. The creative talent in the sports world is more impressive than ever, rivaling any other industry. Even as the creative field gets disrupted by generative AI, the appreciation for the value of strong graphics, video production, social media branding, and digital experiences is stronger than ever.

Bob McKamey can remember a time when the digital presence for major sports organizations and athletes were relative afterthoughts. When he co-founded digital studio UnCommon Thinking, having a dynamic, polished website was a burgeoning opportunity to engage and develop fans online. Then came social media, and multimedia social media — it was mainly just text in the earliest days, kids, so the onslaught of photos and then video and all of the derivative formats and form factor-driven creativity brought us to the current day where creative execution is a key concern for any sports team or college program. In a recent interview, McKamey reflected on the evolution of internal creative teams and what he saw as some leaned into studios like UnCommon Thinking, while others built up in-house capabilities.

“As social media grew, all of a sudden we started seeing the teams that we worked with started hiring their own designers, their own photographers, their own video people,” said McKamey, who co-founded UnCommon Thinking in 2003. “In some cases, you’re exactly right, it completely pushed us out 100%. In other cases, it was maybe 50-50, and to be honest with you, right now, a lot of our clients and a lot of the work we do is behind-the-scenes recruiting work [such as recruiting in college athletics]…

“So, now it’s really more like just a straight partnership. A lot of times they’ll do the front end stuff, game day as an example, and they’ll farm out all of the extra recruiting stuff to us on the back end.”

It’s hard for the public to comprehend how much creative output some of these massive sports teams, and especially college programs produce. It’s that often unseen volume of work, still just as necessary in the NIL and transfer portal era, that separates the big budget programs from their smaller counterparts. It’s not uncommon to see incredible work from the smallest schools, creative talent is thriving all over. The difference is the bigger programs can produce more of it, whether that means availing themselves of a resource like UnCommon Thinking or from beefed-up in-house teams. McKamey described what he sees, as he has worked with college programs up and down the spectrum in terms of budgets ad resources.

“The big difference is,” he explained, “I think if you gave the lead designer at a big school and the lead designer at a small school, and you said, ‘Hey, you got two hours to come up with a great idea’, I think in today’s marketplace, the quality would actually look pretty close.

“The problem is when you need to come up with designs for 50 recruits, [you] need game day content, NIL content — that person that’s only got 1 or 2 people and no access to someone like me to help them out, they really can’t play in the same type of field. So the quality of the quantity of graphics doesn’t really match up to the bigger programs now.”

There’s an infinite demand for creative output in sports, even when time, resources, and budget are finite and often insufficient. The ability to activate and attract corporate partners (and the sponsorship revenue) has been one driver in recent years of increased buy-in and budgets. But especially in college athletics, the biggest needle movers remain the CEO of the college programs (aka head coach) and the student-athletes with their continually increased bargaining power. With creative leaders frequently seeking ways to get more buy-in and budget, McKamey said it’s those two parties that hold the cards more than any other factors.

“I think it has to be coach-driven, number one, they have to understand the value of it, the creative that they get and how it affects recruiting, how it affects the brand impression people have,” said McKamey whose studio has worked with major college athletics program for years. “If they get it, then I think the money comes.”

He continued: “And it’ll be interesting, the whole thing with NIL, one of the things we’re seeing now is, more than ever, the individual recruits are wanting more and more of a say in their own graphics. It’s like the graphics are no longer sent back to the program for approval, they’re sent to them and then sent to the kid and his parents for approval. [It’s like] they’re directing us on creative. You’re seeing more and more of that now.”

No matter who’s making the asks and giving the approvals, all creative teams are reckoning, for better or for worse, with the arrival of generative AI. Veterans will recognize that generative AI isn’t that new (content-aware fill has been around), but no one can deny the ever-improving capabilities of generative AI to produce and edit images, graphics, objects, and even video will transform the industry. McKamey is not running away from these new tools, which some perhaps naively see as a threat to livelihoods, instead recognizing what they can do to empower others, enhance communication, and allow creatives to work better. For McKamey, who concedes that actually producing the creative is not his area of expertise, he noted how tools like Midjourney helps him work better with clients and his team of creative producers.

“A lot of times what I try to do with our team — this is more on how our process works — like, if we get a new project, I’ll try to give the designers as much information as possible about what it is. So as many samples, as many ideas, as many adjectives and things that they can handle,” said McKamey, who commented that savvy gen AI prompters seem to be able to get good enough to pass as legit creators. “So for me, it’s helped; like, I’ll go in and I’ll do samples through Midjourney and then as part of the creative brief include that for the actual designers themselves to go off of.”

Even as these generative AI tools continue to get better and better, there is little for existential crises within the creative field. But the field is changing. Whether one is starting with a blank canvas in an Adobe application or a blank text field on Open AI’s platform — there remains a need for creativity, originality, and the ability to go from something in your head to speaking and producing it into reality. For those who don’t consider themselves professional creatives (this author included), generative AI tools force us to appreciate the details that go into creative production, the minuscule but meaningful elements that the pros hone over several years and projects. McKamey has produced creative briefs for years and he’s continuing to educate himself by practicing and watching the words that can lead to the foundations of creative masterpieces.

“A lot of times I’ll just sit there in Midjourney and I’ll watch all the other prompts that are coming through, and I’ll pick up ideas just based on that to see what they’re doing,” he said. “A lot of times it has nothing to do with sports, but it’s like you said, the right angle, the sizing, the lighting, whether you want it to be an illustration type of thing, a cartoon type of thing, a portrait. It’s opening a lot of windows, but I think if you just learn how to control it and use it in the proper way, it can really help out what you’re doing on the end result.”

The creative landscape in sports continues to evolve, presenting both challenges and opportunities for creative leaders. The pressure to serve multiple masters – from coaches and athletes to sponsors and fans – while maintaining creative excellence requires adaptability and strategic thinking. 

Successful creative leaders in sports will be those who can navigate this complex terrain, leveraging both internal talent and external resources to produce innovative, impactful content that drives engagement and supports organizational goals. As the industry moves forward, the ability to blend creativity with strategic vision and embrace new technologies will be crucial for those at the helm of sports creative teams.

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LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH BOB MCKAMEY

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Podcast Snippets

Adapting and Evolving Digital and Social Experiences and Design in Sports

On episode 286 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, Neil chatted with Bob McKamey, Co-Founder and Managing Director, UnCommon Thinking.

What follows are some snippets from the episode. Click Here to listen to the full episode or check it out and subscribe to the podcast via Apple or listen on Spotify or YouTube.

Athlete Social Media, Content Strategy, Digital, General Sports Business, Sports Media, Streaming and Video

Beyond the Playbook: Bold, Trend-Driven Considerations for Sports Business in 2025

There are a myriad of reasons that make social media in sports unique.

The schedule and routine nature of sports can create predictability — but well-laid plans can also go up in smoke in an instant due to sports’ inherent unpredictability. Customers are fanatical about your brand (‘fans’) but that emotion can also turn negative by factors outside your control. Sports are perhaps one of the last (potentially) monocultures left — sports teams and leagues, and the fans, can relate to nearly every rabbit hole and trend.

All this to say that while leaders in sport may be able to count on a certain routine part of their jobs, there’s a whole lot more nobody can see coming. The exciting uncertainty gets compounded for social and digital media, where just when you think the pace of change is slowing, new opportunities, features, and platforms arise; all the while the half-life of trends and fads is shorter than ever. And while teams and leagues remain influential brands and retain massive platforms, they’ll find their fans gravitating more and more to creators and individual athletes.

So as the calendar turns from 2024 to 2025, it’s time for our annual column on what to have in mind for the year to come. It’s a part behavioral analysis and part reading the tea leaves of where the platforms are going. We can rest assured that certain principles of fandom and human psychology remain the same, while also embracing the untapped potential of what may lie ahead.

Re-Imagining In-Game Social Strategies

There’s no doubt Twitter isn’t what it once was. The platform still has a sizable, engaged sports audience, to be sure, but its ebbing numbers and diminishing value cannot be denied.

Sports teams and leagues will not abandon Twitter in 2025, but should it remain a top priority during games, with one or more team staff dedicated to filling the feed?

Combined with the dilution of Twitter is the increased homogeneity in in-game coverage. It’s game highlights (sometimes with unique angles), a stream of templated graphics and GIFs, and attempts at clever copy—often culminating in a ‘savage’ post after a win.

Could we see teams start to lean into the formulaic nature of in-game tweeting, let a combination of AI and semi-automated processes feed the feed with clips and graphics, leaving manpower to focus on more original and higher-value content? What is the role of a social media manager if they’re not hovering over the keys for the whole game?

Supported by a consistent feed of clips, could the social media team focus on curating the best fan and journalist content? Will there be a focus to push fans into owned and operated channels for a superior in-game experience (and could fans be more willing to go as more abandon Twitter and find alternatives like Bluesky and Threads to be lacking)? Or should social media managers treat their role more like hosts, checking in from the game like your creator friend on site at the event?

I can’t imagine going anywhere but Twitter when a big game is on, but substantive change will eventually come and 2025 may be the start.

The Evolving Social Media Role: Community Management vs. Content Creation and Strategy

For years, and largely still today, ‘social media manager’ was a catch-all term. It’s actually a bit of a joke that the job title can encompass a plethora of responsibilities like content creation, graphic design, video production, paid social, project management, analytics, and this list could go on. Community management was just kind of a given and still is, at least in the sports world.

But in the year ahead could we see an appreciation for the role of community management, even a separate dedicated role that accounts for the importance and full-time nature of such a responsibility? Community is becoming increasingly important as social platforms fragment, and engagement shifts toward interactions between fans and friends rather than big brands or scaled broadcast feeds of traditional social. Community management is a specialized role — discovering, developing, participating, listening, moderating, and monitoring.

Communities exist everywhere, which require a deep understanding of the language, culture, interests, memes, influencers, and angles. How many different communities thrive on TikTok? How many different places could a team or league be a central or tangential part of conversation and engagement? In 2025, let’s give community the attention and importance it deserves. Which relates to the next topic…

Micro Communities 

The emergence of micro communities is not new, it has been happening across industries for years, but really picked up in 2024 and expect to continue growing in the year to come. Reddit has seen substantial engagement growth—highlighted by recent PR efforts focused on sports—and community-based strategies are becoming more prevalent across platforms and industries. With some exceptions, social media is becoming less, well, ‘social,’ with algorithms that favor engagement, regardless of who it’s from, and the interest graph leading the way.

Look at the way the platforms are evolving to serve this need, too. TikTok touts its micro communities, whether BookTok or RushTok or the like, Facebook Groups are keeping big blue relevant for younger users, and Instagram is encouraging its biggest brands to carve their audiences with broadcast channels.

What could micro community strategy look like for sports organizations? Thinking about fan cohorts became common several years ago, largely driven by socioeconomic, demographic, and avidity measures. And every year sees plenty of theme nights and promotions targeted to specific, sometimes very small communities. But what can this look like on digital and social media? How can teams and leagues seek out and serve (or learn from) existing micro communities, or perhaps even cultivate their own? As users (and fans) seek more authentic connections and genuine conversations, micro communities will continue to grow.

Even More Niche Content

This could’ve been addressed in the previous section, but there’s value in considering niche content, as well. Social media pros once lamented (and some still do) that organically reaching one’s followers was a thing of the past. But consider the possibilities that have opened up in the last few years, as more social media users stick on the For You feed over the Following alternative. There is so much good (and bad) content, it’s easier to let an algorithm surface the best content as it gets to know us better than we know ourselves.

So while your followers may not all see your content, the users that are likely to enjoy the content you put out will see it (if it’s good). Brands and teams can unleash their content and let the algorithm show it to the right audience (while avoiding the the wrong one). Instagram may even find that a certain tile in a carousel post is more attractive to a certain audience.

Embrace it and don’t be afraid to try content that’s specifically not meant to appeal to the masses, but will be welcomed (and engaged with) by an intended audience. The goal of every post and piece of content isn’t to reach millions—that’s the wrong way to think about it. Embrace the increasingly savvy algorithms and lean into niches that may make no sense to certain segments of your fans (and even yourself) but will be epic for others.

Platforms to Enhance Small Group Chats and Communities

Where does most of the sports dialogue take place? Actual back-and-forth conversations, with darn near 100% open and read rate? Dark social channels like DMs, group chats, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It’s old news now that Instagram acknowledged there’s a heck of a lot of engagement and sharing happening in the direct messages. WhatsApp continues to grow, particularly in the US, and even Snap remains strong among Gen Z for chatting.

Can teams and leagues create a platform so good that it can take those intimate direct communications away from texts and DMs to an owned platform? It’s tough to compete with your device’s built-in messenger or the ubiquity of WhatsApp, the convenience of IG, the fun and habit of Snap — but what could sports organizations try in order to capture all this valuable engagement and these users?

Leagues may provide a feed of clips from games to insert into a chat with one frictionless click. Perhaps fans can access photos and screenshots along with a simple meme-making tool. Or fans could earn points to redeem for merch simply by sending messages to each other during a game. Teams could even provide trained LLMs via chatbots who could discuss the game (with personalities and dispositions to choose from) and answer questions. Maybe there’s no solution—these platforms are too sticky—but as conversations keep becoming less public and sports dialogue continues on dark channels, the opportunity persists.

The Full Embrace of Creators

Sports leagues and teams have been working in some capacity with creators for years now. An increasing number even have job titles that include, and some are centered around, influencer/creator marketing or relations. But if the state of influencer x sports integration were measured on a scale of 1-10, what would ’10’ look like?

While not tens, the industry saw some 7’s or 8’s in the last few years. NBC Olympics and the IOC gave a select group of creators access to events (though with limitations on the content they could capture). The NFL gives some creators access to gameday clips and archival footage, while the NBA has a similar initiative that expanded this season.

In 2025, more teams, leagues, and media partners could not only welcome creators but also collaborate with them even further. Give them access to content AND have them co-create content (for organic and paid). Let them remix highlights or host their own highlights recap show during the week. Invite them to make shows or skits for their own channels at team practices and games. Invite more creators to put on their own ‘ManningCasts’ — as more games shift away from the cable bundle, providing an abundance of alternate streams becomes more feasible and viable. help them activate their communities or fans at games. (JohnWallStreet wrote about this earlier this year)

There’s a greater (and lucrative) opportunity to figure out what a partnership with sports and creators should look like in its most optimized state. Hopefully, we’ll see some swings in the year to come.

(Here’s a solid SBJ article discussing several leagues’ creator initiatives)

Athlete-led Multi-Channel Networks and Content Franchises

By the time you’re done reading this, another athlete will have started a podcast. Athletes (and their management teams) are increasingly realizing the relative ease and significant benefits going on the mic for an hour a week, give or take, can provide them. It’s a platform to build their brand, of course, and control their narrative. It’s an asset on which to activate partners or promote their own causes and businesses. And it’s a lightweight way to seed an engaging presence on YouTube, in particular, as well as TikTok (and Instagram).

Athletes entering the pro ranks now are even more invested, with some colleges even providing studios and training for their student-athletes. In the year ahead, the teams and leagues will begin to realize the opportunity in front of them — and the urgency.

We’ll see more teams provide studios and equipment for their players to produce podcasts. True collaboration could take place, with teams building something akin to a multi-channel network, activating diverse athletes with their unique interests. One athlete might focus on mental health, another on spirituality and religion, a third on interviewing comedians and actors, and yet another on re-watching famous games. The possibilities are endless and can align with players’ interests. Packaged together (or not), these could form a significant platform to attract new partners or extend existing ones. Some athletes are so big they’d rather do their own thing or work with a platform like Wave or Blue Wire. But plenty would jump at the chance to get this kind of access and audience (and revenue sharing) a team could provide.

With more teams closely tied, if not owning, their RSNs or DTC solution for games, such content can fill those coffers with new programming, in addition to the feeds of YouTube and TikTok. Which leads to…

The Team (or RSN) App as the AVOD or SVOD for Fans

While regional sports networks have survived longer than many expected, some teams are taking things over or working closely with a partner, and many teams are prioritizing first-party relationships with fans, often through apps. The productions that teams create rival anything fans will see on Netflix, Max, or Peacock. The training camp all-access content and game recap mini-movies are incredible. More colleges are building robust content-based DTC apps, with livestreams of coaches shows and extensive catalogs of content.

Many teams have impressive serialized series (and podcasts) on YouTube (and even TikTok) playlists, some are sitting on decades worth of content newly digitized (or some still sitting on old VHS tapes and DVDs). All of them boast impressive production teams. In the year to come, teams and leagues will envision their fans flipping to their app the same way they would Netflix to watch on-demand content. Not just for an hour a week, but consistently—even during the offseason.

The bigger opportunity may even be in licensing proven content and creators. Look at how ESPN licensed distribution rights to the Pat McAfee show as an example. Now, sports teams and leagues won’t lay out tens of millions of dollars like ESPN did for McAfee, but what’s to stop them from acquiring emerging talents and properties. Or perhaps they could go the route of Colin Cowherd’s The Volume or Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network and create mini media empires that can benefit from their distribution and advertiser relations.

Perhaps there will even be membership tiers, similar to those offered by major players, with options for ads or ad-free viewing/listening. It’s exciting to imagine, which coincides with…

+ Experiences for Fans

Over a decade ago, I learned that sports teams in Australia didn’t have season ticket holders—they had ‘members.’ Being a member was about more than having tickets to games, it was an identity and a connection to the team. Many American teams started calling their season ticket holders ‘members,’ but it was mostly an exercise in nomenclature. When tickets to games became moot during the worst days of the pandemic, there was more experimentation with what paid ‘memberships’ could mean, but nothing really took off beyond a few teams launching more inspired loyalty programs.

The + is now ubiquitous across consumer products and services, as are subscriptions in general. However, beyond ticket subscriptions (like season tickets or mini plans), there hasn’t been much of a membership model in sports. There is NFL+, which offers access to audio streams and archives and college athletics (including NIL collectives and booster clubs) are innovating in the space, but what could + programs look like for sports, in much the same way Amazon Prime feels for its millions of members?

In the coming year, teams and leagues around the world can continue to imagine memberships — premium memberships — for fans local and remote. There is more data being collected than ever, which can enable personalized benefits and partner co-promotions. Experiences are more valued, and more diverse and amenable to unbundling, whether in-person (separate entries) or remote (like early access to limited merch drops). As the previous section noted, too, with teams able to build ever-increasing catalogs of content, a + experience could also mean something akin to Prime Video — content…

Get Bold with Generative AI

It’s been over two years since ChatGPT launched to the public, and generative AI continues to improve (insert a cynical take about the rate of acceleration slowing). The arms race keeps going and tools like NotebookLM reset the goalposts on what can be created from source materials. And you know who’s sitting on decades’ worth of brand content? Yep, sports teams and leagues, who also have fans with insatiable appetites for content about their team, with nostalgia often irresistible.

Even as questions persist about how consumers will tolerate AI-generated content, these factors point to opportunity. Could the archives of thousands of interviews turn into binge-worthy podcasts and documentary-dramatizations or page-turning oral histories? Or how could terabytes of game notes and stats be put into action through diverse generative AI packages, from compelling content to endless games and trivia?

We’re just beginning to scratch the surface of generative AI, in all its multimodal forms. There’s a treasure trove of latent content (and sponsorable assets) just waiting to be mined for fans.

Leaning into Novelty and Micro Culture for Games and Live Events

For decades, ‘gimmicks’ were seen as beneath pro sports, novelty was the domain of minor league sports. Major pro sports are beginning to embrace fun, recognizing the value in ephemeral and sometimes esoteric online trends and cultures as lucrative opportunities.

There have been monoculture themes present in pro sports for years — Star Wars Nights are omnipresent across major and minor (and college) sports. But culture is now more fragmented and trends come and go quickly; few viral moments or movements resonate with the majority of fans in a packed stadium or arena.

In the year ahead, teams will embrace the countless microtrends and communities that form and proliferate across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. They’ll capitalize on trends within niches as much as, if not more than, the well-worn monocultural motifs. How can teams make every game an event and inspire FOMO for some cohort[s] of fans who want to be there for it? Gone are the years of forced formality and pompous self-importance — there will be more fun ahead in the future.

Strategy Around Condensed Games

Younger generations don’t watch full games. Some may say that narrative has become so widespread that it’s become overhyped — but it’s largely true. This trend coincides with the continued rise of condensed games. Go on the NBA YouTube page, for example, and you’ll find a playlist of ‘full game highlights’—10-minute videos that summarize the game and showcase key plays, often garnering hundreds of thousands or even millions of views. So while the dream of getting Gen Z and Gen Alpha to sit in front of a TV and give their mostly undivided attention for 2-3 hours seems naive, getting them to watch condensed games feels more plausible.

In the year to come, leagues and teams can operationalize condensed games, experimenting with formats and activations, and building them into valuable assets rather than YouTube afterthoughts. They could license condensed games to creators, allowing them to relive and recap games (while sharing in the revenue). Sponsors could help deliver condensed games to the masses, allowing fans and wannabe creators to remix and put their own spin on highlights and game stories. Broadcasters and leagues can experiment with unique angles and POVs for condensed games. For instance, iso-cams have already been part of the NBA on TNT’s strategy, as well as the ‘Caitlin Clark’ cam during her last season at Iowa.

There’s an interesting future to consider for condensed games, but even while the future remains uncertain for full games, nothing can truly replace live content…

More Live

2025 will mark ten years since Live entered the social media picture, when Meerkat and Periscope launched and allowed anyone anywhere with a mobile device and a decent connection to go live to the world. In my recent interview with World Wide Wob (Rob Perez), he remarked about the continued value of live, content where anything could happen and anything could go unexpectedly go wrong. Even mundane content becomes more compelling when it’s live. Many prognosticators assert that 2025 will be the year live shopping takes off in the US, with platforms like TikTok reimagining QVC for younger generations.

In the year ahead, sports teams and leagues will continue to innovate and try new things with live (and that includes games!). As more fans get on DTC and streaming apps to find their team’s content, that’ll compound the already ever-present platforms like YouTube to find fans who will tune in to see it live. For games, streaming parts of games live will be a key tactic to drive sign-ups and perhaps even open the opportunity for PPV or micro-transactions to watch an exciting finish (the NBA talked about this years ago, Buzzer had a strong go at it, too). But there’s even more.

There are plenty of narratives about the oncoming onslaught of AI slop filling feeds today and moving forward. But you can ‘t AI-ize ‘live.’ Stretching and warming up before practice is boring and monotonous — but what if it’s live? (I’d watch a livestream of an NHL team playing sewer ball before a game!) The dance team preparing a routine can be great live content. Who wouldn’t watch a live stream of a hockey equipment manager sharpening skates or an NFL clubhouse attendant setting up players’ lockers. Or how about a livestream of a producer editing a hype video?

We’re starting to see more games-based content, so perhaps there’s a future of livestreams featuring players competing in beer pong (with water — or some sponsors’ sports drink). Live trivia games with fans or players would fit in that mold, too. An always-on livestream of a stadium’s VIP entrance or an arena’s transformation from hockey to basketball could be content gold (time lapses are cool, but they’re not live!). And, yes, the drops culture has already come to sports, so live reveals of exclusive merch and collectibles would seem to work, too. (Including ‘breaks’ performed by a player/alum/mascot/broadcasters).

Short-form, long-form; Stories and Feed — live is one format that’ll always offer unique value and the creativity, originality, innovation, and value creation is just getting started.

Retail Media and Commerce-Driven Sponsorships

Over the last couple of years, it seems every major corporation with a sizable database of users, detailed information about them, and a steady flow of traffic has created retail media networks where advertisers can bid for inventory. Sports has forever been an industry built on brand partnerships, with some performance-driven marketing baked in (e.g., ‘the team won, so get a discounted pizza’). And while there is a step back to brand marketing, after an overcorrection, partnerships and advertising with trackable, countable results are still gaining priority.

Even the biggest leagues or college conferences may not be able to, nor does it make sense to, support actual retail networks. But this industry trend could creep its way into the sports world as organizations continue to collect more first-party data, have increasingly robust user profiles, and establish more connected touchpoints with fans. For the most part, teams and leagues have operationalized fan data to sell them more of the stuff they produce or license themselves — tickets, merchandise, collectibles, etc. — but how could they start to more effectively segment their fans so that the offers and products, and even the advertisers, are the right ones for each fan and in each context. And as the data infrastructure continues to mature, there could be valuable, increasingly smarter and high-converting ads (for b2c and even b2b businesses).

I’m not smart or informed enough to know how quickly or whether such a vision could materialize, but sports apps—especially those supported by content and live games—will likely remain among the few apps where users spend significant time, creating a world of opportunities.

Novelty Merch Drops and Collectibles: Beyond Game Giveaways

2024 was the year of the novelty popcorn bucket. Movie theaters capitalized on the surprisingly intense fan interest to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. The Carolina Hurricanes introduced a Zamboni popcorn bucket, while the Detroit Red Wings have gone viral the last couple of years around Thanksgiving for their Zamboni gravy boats (and even had a design contest for this year’s version).

Novelty items are not new to sports. Heck, some teams even produce giveaways teaser videos with the same excitement as schedule release videos (see this example from the San Diego Padres). But sponsored giveaways largely exist to a) Activate sponsorships (duh) and b) Boost attendance — you have to go to the game to get that exclusive bobblehead! But so many teams boast so many fans who cannot (or will not) go to games, they either too far away, can’t afford to go to many games or mainly express their fandom digitally. The importance of the remote fan grew during the pandemic, when in-person attendance was impossible.

So why are these sponsored giveaway items still positioned mostly as attendance boosters? Combine the novelty, the ‘drops’ culture, the surge of collectibles in recent years, the rise of live and creator-driven shopping — and creative, original novelty merch drops could be a big boon for teams, leagues, and their partners. Fwiw, we have seen more teams in recent years do apparel collabs, which seem to be successful. But take that to the nth degree with tchotchkes and collectibles that fans around the world can’t resist.

There could be millions in revenue on the table, whether through direct sales or through sponsor-driven models where fans ‘pay’ by purchasing a sponsor’s product, providing contact information, or completing a branded game—earning them these items shipped directly to their door. The gate still matters, ticket sales are still a very meaningful revenue stream — but instead of subsidizing gravy boats for 20,000 fans (or up to 60-70-80,000 fans), open up these valuable engagement (and earned media/display) opportunities to the millions of fans around the globe.

Mini Serialized Episodes

It was about a year ago that noted social media consultant and Link in Bio newsletter author Rachel Karten wrote that we should ‘treat your social video channels like you would a TV show’ (read the full piece here). And if you work in social media, you’ve no doubt come across the viral Mohawk Chevrolet content on TikTok. Meanwhile, in Japan (and China), short dramas, with ‘episodes’ typically lasting 1-3 minutes are becoming increasingly popular (read about it).

So, with all that, how can sports teams and leagues create entertainment for their fans that transcends the typical content related to their games, players, and training, and even the ‘lifestyle’ content becoming more prevalent? Could a team (with or without a team sponsor) bankroll an emerging creator to produce a short-form sitcom or sketch show featuring some storylines or ‘product placement’ involving the team? Could there be a meta (lowercase m) series that imagines days in the life of team staff? Perhaps a few characters find themselves in a rom-com that plays at or around games? Teams don’t have to collaborate with creators; they could instead build capabilities in-house or work with agencies and freelancers.

I’m no creator or creative producer, but the point is that even the biggest fans are still consuming a lot of media that is not content produced by their favorite teams (or media talking about the teams), a lot of pure entertainment, much of which is created by TikTokers and YouTubers. In the coming year, teams and leagues could leverage their expertise, channels, brand affinity, and credibility to engage fans in creative, original ways that transcend their sport.

All these topics are not meant to be predictions; the world changes far too rapidly to prognosticate—though plenty of prediction columns try each year. But the only certainty is change, innovation, and advancement. All we can do is watch user behavior change, see how the world around us evolves, and take calculated risks and audacious shots. The only failure is standing pat and leaning into only what works today. Eschew the comfort and complacency of the status quo and don’t be afraid to do what hasn’t yet been done. The only way to realize an exciting future is to create it ourselves.

Podcasts

Episode 286: Bob McKamey on the Modern Strategies and Operations of Digital and Social in Sports

Listen to episode 286 of the Digital and Social Media Sports podcast, in which Neil chatted with Bob McKamey, Co-Founder and Managing Director, UnCommon Thinking.

91 minute duration. Listen on Apple, Spotify and YouTube

Posted by Neil Horowitz Follow me on Twitter @njh287   Check out my LinkedIn articles