Roundup
NASCAR has many new marketing initiatives
Credit:
FEVO
A Record-Setting NBA Season, South Korea’s Surprising Sports Demographics and the “New” NASCAR
February 23, 2024
Each week, we sift through a ton of content and then debate it ad nauseam at FEVO HQ. And since good content, like the mind, is a terrible thing to waste, we are also sharing it here with you, our fans, in the form of this weekly blog post on e-commerce, media and life on the internet.
NYT: Women outnumber men in South Korea’s sports stadiums
This information is worthy of an article because it is such a rare occurrence. Anyone who has ever attended a sporting event and looked around (or tried to use the men’s facilities) can attest that most sporting events have a dearth of female fans. So what makes South Korea different? A few theories persist. One major factor is that the stadiums are generally safer and cleaner, with family-friendly features like childcare. According to this article, in South Korea “people don’t think of the players as athletes, but as celebrities. It’s not much different from the way K-pop fans follow their idols.” This has a compounding effect: as female fans engage with a team because of their devotion to a player, they eventually develop an appreciation for the sport and team itself, and continue following it even after the player is gone. The article delves into a good bit more detail as to how South Korean stadiums have become so full of female fandom. And while some of it is cultural and can’t be translated, some of the ideas discussed within the piece may just spark some ideas on how to bring out a more gender-diverse crowd at your own events.
Front Office Sports: Welcome to the new NASCAR
With a fresh $7.7B media rights deal and a new Netflix show in the vein of Drive to Survive, NASCAR is poised to take their reach and marketing to a new level. They’ve also got Michael Jordan involved as a team owner, which always helps. NASCAR also ran their most watched race since 2017 through the streets of Chicago last year and plan to expand to new locations in the near future. All three of these factors will serve to further the reach of the racing brand in new and creative ways.
Sportico: NBA Attendance on track for record year
According to this article, fan attendance is up 2% from last year, a season that set records. A few factors are at play here. The league is about as competitive as it has ever been, meaning every game counts more than ever, especially with the play-in tournament meaning fewer teams tank early. There is also a ton of must-see young talent in the league, led by the likes of Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Edwards. On top of that, the In-Season Tournament proved to be a huge success, with November drawing that month’s highest attendance ever. As games sell out more and more, it will be interesting to see how teams get creative with their inventory to squeeze more revenue out of limited inventory.
And a few more nuggets of assorted internet wisdom …
The wacky true story of the hockey team that inspired ‘Slap Shot’ (The Athletic)
Most valuable sports teams 2024 (Sportico)
The coolest gadgets of CES 2024 (CNET)
Employers are using scent to boost moods and get workers to come in (WSJ)
Apple is ramping up on live sports with a dedicated app (Quartz)
How the Detroit Pistons made Wingstop lots of money (Clutch Points)
