Why aren’t you a sports fan? This is precisely the question that pops in any viewer’s head while watching a fantasy sports ad. Sports is everywhere because thanks to gamification, we are always playing some game or the other. Fantasy sports, therefore, cater to our ever-growing need of gamifying things around us. Here’s what Gartner says about gamification:

“Gamification motivates a target audience—whether that’s your employees or your customers—"to higher and more meaningful levels of engagement. Humans are ‘hard-wired’ to enjoy games and have a natural tendency to interact more deeply in activities that are framed in a game construct."

Gamification has changed advertising. A great advertisement triggers emotions that lead to action. But gamified environments such as fantasy sports platforms do this without infusing any extra dose of creativity. How? Because users engage with fantasy sports apps voluntarily. Brands have now moved on from sports sponsorships and have embraced gamification for deeper audience engagement. The mobile gaming industry alone is predicted to be $50 billion.

Advertisement industry did take away two crucial lessons to give their clients a better ROI –
/ advertise through and like gamified mobile apps
/ fantasy sports are the next celebrity endorsement

#DFS is the new dark horse in sports advertising

Daily fantasy sports (DFS) has been largely responsible for making fantasy sports a household term. That’s because it made winning cash online a legal business. It has been predicted that DFS alone would be a billion dollar industry in the next few years. The two leading DFS websites in the world – FanDuel and DraftFight – have also been leading in advertising, reaching out to celebrities to endorse their products. This new breed of DFS startups have partnered with major leagues such as British Premier League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association etc for promoting their products. This has opened newer avenues of advertising in the sports industry. Quite a few local sports events in American and European countries are engaging with DFS websites for cross promotion and cross advertising.

#Sports media houses are in too

ESPN, Yahoo Sports, CBS sports are some of the early adopters of both fantasy sports and DFS advertising. These media houses have not only seen and experienced the potential of fantasy sports advertising but have also successfully engaged fans on to their own fantasy platforms. In addition, these media houses are joining hands with leading DFS platforms for expanding their own reach. For instance, FanDuel has partnerships with ET and CBS. Similarly, ESPN’s fantasy platform has 12 million players and it has integrated DraftKing’s DFS platform.

These are some reasons why sports media houses benefit through fantasy sports content:
/ User-generated quality content gives them valuable insights about audience
/ Daily live video programming enables better ratings and viewership
/ DFS and season-long fantasy platforms multiply their chance of advertising revenue

# Sports leagues want a share of this advertising

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and British Premier League (BPL) have their own fantasy sports platforms. NBA launched its fantasy sports offering recently in India in association with Dream11, in order to cater to the Asian demographic. Sports leagues are now realizing that if there’s a way they can instantly get recognition in a new region or country, it is through offering fantasy sports. This is significant considering that the worldwide user base of fantasy sports would reach 100 million by 2020. Earlier, leagues such as NBA, NHL, and NBL have had sponsorship deals with FanDuel and DraftKings. However, these leagues now intend to drive all of this attention and traffic only to themselves. And the only way to do that is create their own fantasy leagues.

These are some of the benefits that sports leagues and teams get in advertising through DFS sites:
/ Increased fan engagement that helps them endorse brand products and merchandise
/ Fantasy games create newer streams of advertising and cross promotions throughout the year
/ They can earn through fantasy sports websites and endorse brands long after the seasons are over
/ They have better chances of increased ROI through advertising on their own fantasy platforms

#A new kind of advertising for millennials and Gen-Z users

As Internet keeps expanding, users also increase their time spent on it. In this sense, it is a self-expanding universe. Millennials spend around 33% of their personal time in front of screens, compared to 41% spent by people aged 35+. Out of the 33%, millennials report spending most of this time(about 20% in all) online, compared to 9% spend by people older than 35 years. It is clear that if you want to reach the younger audience, internet is the way to go, not television. Fantasy sports therefore offer a way to pitch ads to such a user base while being part of their lives. This makes more sense for the advertising world that struggles to justify heavy investment of their clients. This user base is already smart and evolved and is ready to spend money on instant gratification. Advertisers around the world can be assured that if they pitch their ads to this base, they will get their ROI because this base is affluent and doesn’t take much time in financial decisions.

#Brands save their remarketing costs

The placement of ads is a crucial decision for both the advertising agencies as well as companies. You have may have spent thousands of dollars on creating the perfect ad but it’s the placement of such an ad that would finally decide the ROI. If companies decide to either advertise on fantasy sports platforms, join hands with fantasy sports startups or create their own fantasy sports apps, their need for remarketing is almost eliminated. Here’s an already segregated audience with better spending habits and a population that’s mostly found online. Instead of re-marketing, the advertisers have the option of re-targeting ads that fetch better returns.

Better brand activation

The reason why advertising through and on fantasy sports platforms works phenomenally is because these platforms have insightful user data. It works like influencer marketing and celebrity endorsement, together at the same time. A report stated that Lenovo earned 30% more by using fantasy football as an alternative for engagement marketing. Data capturing through fantasy sports platforms is not an extra marketing cost but becomes a part of its admin. As a result, brand are able to elicit deeper understanding of their target audience to pitch their own products or services better.

# Creative advertising to a niche base

Another advantage of advertising through fantasy sports platforms is the way ads are created and pitched. These platforms inspire a more creative approach to producing high-quality ads that evoke the right emotions and result in sales. Just like how the ads shown on Youtube have so evolved that users find it tempting to watch these ads despite the option to skip them. Similarly, advertising industry can attempt more creative challenges while advertising through and on fantasy platforms. Thoughtfully produced ads created for a niche base often have a lasting impact on the minds of consumers and can fetch better ROI than those produced for mass audience.

Fantasy sports are going to be anywhere and everywhere as far as sports advertising goes. Daily fantasy sports have now forced advertisers to re-think their process of positioning. DFS in a way represents the language of today’s buyers. There’s no better brand ambassador for your advertisement than daily fantasy sports today.

Vinfotech understands DFS deeply because being a world leader, we have helped several brands find their voice through fantasy sports website & mobile applications. We strongly believe that the potential of DFS in brand advertising is still at its nascent and there are endless possibilities. If you are someone who’s looking out to find better ways of advertising your product, do check out our fantasy sports app development services and give us a call.