One of the top priorities for any sports property is finding ways to lure the fans of tomorrow.
Fishermen go where the fish are. And for sports marketers fishing for kids? Well, that audience is glued to their phones…peering at screens increasingly showing content from TikTok and Snapchat.
Last week, UFC announced a multiyear partnership with TikTok, in which the mixed martial arts promotion will produce and stream live content, including live looks at weigh-ins and press conferences, athlete interviews, arena tours and fighter training segments, on the social media platform that claims 500 million global users. It’s been reported that videos on TikTok with the #UFC hashtag have been viewed more than 8 billion times since 2019.
While TikTok may be the hot platform du jour, a few sports are having great success on Snapchat, which claims to reach 90% of all 13-24 year olds globally.
Also within the Endeavor network, World’s Strongest Man launched World’s Strongest Man: Home Edition on Snapchat last May during lockdown. Strongmen competed in challenges from the comfort of their own homes, using everyday household items like couches, grills, and even family members. The series drew 7 million unique viewers and 141 million video views.
Following that show’s success, WSM – the brainchild of the legendary IMG executive Barry Frank – also launched a Snap series called Shredded, highlighting super-human strongmen pushing their bodies to the limit to set world records. That show garnered 7.3 million unique viewers, and 143 million video views. World Strongest Man’s demo is aged 25-34, so Snapchat was a great way to connect with an even younger audience!
PBR (Professional Bull Riders) which features on its CBS broadcasts a star bull named @PBR on TikTok is also turning its attention to Snapchat, to grab the attention of youth.
“Reaching and engaging young people is the Holy Grail for any professional sport, and Snapchat is a proving to be a very strong platform for PBR,” said Kosha Irby, CMO, PBR.
Earlier in February, the league launched the series Get Bucked, a fast-paced weekly highlights show. The debut episode reached over 1 million unique viewers and approximately 70% of the audience was between the ages of 13 and 24, Irby said.
This past weekend, PBR debuted a compelling new docu-series on Snap, called Life By The Horns, following Ezekiel Mitchell, one of PBR’s biggest and brightest stars, on his journey to elevate his family out of poverty and become the first Black cowboy to win a PBR title. Here is the high octane trailer.
The 10-episode series (each episode runs six to seven minutes) produced by 21st Street Creative & Beneficial Entertainment is candid and raw, charting the Texas native’s improbable rise to success – beginning with watching PBR on YouTube videos – as he tries to win one of the most punishing titles in individual sports.
Zeke dances around, sometimes shirtless or flashing his latest neon blazer, taking an occasional swig from a bottle of whiskey, and sometimes backing up the bravado in putting up electric 90-point rides on the toughest bulls in the sport.
But the specter of serious injury is always looming. In fact, the tragic in-arena death of rider Mason Lowe, who went out right before Mitchell on his final ride in early 2019, is covered.
“What if (Ezekiel) gets hurt? What if I lose him? He lost a little sister in 2000,” Ezekiel’s mother Janie, says.
“Bull riding is like being in a toxic relationship,” Mitchell says. “But you still love that person.”
Following Saturday’s premiere, Life By The Horns episodes are launching every other day on Snapchat’s Discover. The series will be available to more than 100 million Snapchat users in the U.S.
“Bull riding is jam packed, fast, and doesn’t take a huge attention span,” said Trevor Paperny, the show’s creator and director. “It really worked out for Snap’s platform.”
As sports aim to create virtual connections in a socially-distanced world prohibiting traditional meet-and-greets, PBR is working on cyber-extensions to the Snapchat series.
Fans can meet the stars of Life By The Horns, including riders Mitchell and Andrew Alvirez, in an exclusive virtual experience on March 1 at 8 p.m. EST. Details on how fans can register for a limited audience spot will be available on PBR’s social channels shortly.
“The pandemic has been awful in so many ways. But one silver lining has been to force sports to think more creatively about engaging fans and developing lines of revenue,” PBR CMO Irby said. “Using new channels and creating new experiences are developments we believe will continue and grow, as we work our way toward seeing packed houses again.”
