The business of football, arguably world’s most popular sport with the sheer number of fans, is facing a major off-the-field competition, that is of ‘consumer attention’, who, in this case are the fans. The explosion of content consumption from the fans has led to the clubs, leagues, athletes producing content like never before. It is almost like a frenzy with the assumption that more content produced means more fan attention.
However, that is not entirely the case. Yes, while the content consumption has increased by multiple times, at the same time, consumers have gotten more selective with content over a period of time. They now have the option to choose which content to consume. And the interest differs vastly. From a simple group of fans who follow a team or athlete to multiple subsets of fans with selective likes and dislikes, the content consumption pattern changes with multiple parameters.
Thus, the challenges for the clubs or any property who produce these content lies in two fronts:
- Increasing competition for attention. Fans are exposed to multiple content options on a daily basis, be it sports or entertainment.
- Appropriate distribution. Producing content is not enough, it needs to be distributed to the appropriate consumer at the right time.
The business of sports content, including football, has evolved as a very strategic tool for the club. And this requires a clear content strategy. In this blog, we delve on the equation between content demand and supply along with the need of a sound content strategy.
Consumption Pattern
With rapid digitization, the equation between sports viewer category and viewership medium has altered with greater number of younger fans opting for non-live, alternative and ancillary content. A report from PwC titled Emerging Sports incorporates a survey conducted by them on sports viewership. In this report, two points are worth considering:
- While 73% of the respondents in the age group 18-35 prefers with a live match, it rises up to 82% in the age group 35-54 and 87% for 54 & above.
- 40% of respondents in the age group 18-35 watch online content outside of live matches, the number falls to 30% in the age group 35-54 and further to 20% for the age group 54 & above.
The above points reiterate the need to immediate and simultaneous content to keep the younger fans engaged. That is all the more important because in 10 year’s time, current under-45s (including those not yet born) will make up 77% of people.
Social Media’s Role
Today, social media is synonymous with every individual’s digital footprint. Quite naturally, for the football clubs, being the emotional fan-magnet as they are, social media is more than just a communication medium. It has changed the meaning of fan engagement for every fan, be it in the home region or anywhere in the world. For the Gen-Z, the digital-first generation, social media becomes the more important medium to connect and engage with their favourite club or player. The Emerging Sports report from PwC corroborates the sample of social media’s importance where the survey displays 59% of fans between 18-34 age group follow their club / athlete on social media while the number falls drastically to 23% in case of fans between ages 55-64.
A big factor for social media is the amount of content available for fans to consume. Multiply with the the wide range of active social media channels and fans having access to almost all of them, not only does the amount of content matter but the type of content as well as the type of viewer for each channel. The same (above mentioned report) shows most young fans like to view their content in short form, bit-sized pieces via social media.
For clubs, social media is not only restricted to fan engagement through content, but is also turning out to become a key revenue generating source for them in the same way.
Special Webinar on Content Strategy
It is clear now that developing content is a more consuming, structured and calculated process. Not only is creating the right content important but also the process of distributing it. It’s almost an equation, sports consumption drives content creation. How fans consume sport will define the nature, quantity and type of content being created.
The business of sports content, including football, is now a very strategic tool for the club. And this requires a clear content strategy. The club that builds content accordingly is leading the charge.
To understand this better, we bring you a special webinar at SBI, “How Football Clubs Build Content That Wins” with Simon Meehan, Digital Media, Communications & Strategy Specialist and a senior leader with 15+ years of experience in digital media, communications, and corporate affairs, specializing in the intersection of sport, storytelling, and strategy.
Webinar Details as follows:
“How Football Clubs Build Content That Wins”
- Date: April, 29. 2026
- Time: 7:00p.m. (CET) / 6:00p.m. (UK)
- Register here
In Conclusion
Good content strategy is not just being used for fan engagement but also as a string marketing tool. A dominant example of this is the way Wrexham AFC have used content as the center point for its global marketing. Using a strategic mix of short and long-form content (Welcome to Wrexham series), they have converted the club into a valuable commercial property.
It is no doubts that appropriate content strategy is becoming essential in today’s football business.
