Guest Post: PESO, Reality TV and Why College Athletics Should Lean In, Not Away, From Deeper Storytelling…

Guest post by colleague Dave Siroty, who loves college sports but can’t understand why sometimes actions on storytelling are counter to what could work. And he is right. Read all his insights here.

Joe Favorito just wrote a blog explaining why we are addicted to sports and why the TV ratings continue to rise.

Sports are the ultimate reality show as one of the only live TV moments we have. If you follow a specific sport, you get night-after-night dramas. If you follow a particular team or player you might have to wait a few days for the next show, but you know it’s coming. Thus, the reality TV
comparison.

But when I spoke with Joe, one of the things I shared is that college sports is seemingly
missing the big picture of why reality TV is so addictive. It’s the people on the show who
we get to know and develop a rooting interest in. The all-time great shows understood
this. Survivor, Amazing Race and American Idol to name a few. The model even works
in “scripted” reality like The PITT.

The show is about the people who draw us in.

The Age of “Owned” and PESO

Before we hit on college sports, I want to go back in time. After years of working in
college sports, I ended up leading global communications for Coldwell Banker Real
Estate from 2004-2016. During that time, the rise of Facebook, Instagram and blogs led
to the emergence of “owned” media. I remember one of the socialmedia.org
conferences I attended with communications and social media leaders from some of the
biggest brands in the world. During one event, those from Coke changed the game!
They did a presentation and explained how they revamped their website with what
today we call “content.” They realized they could tell the Coke story better than anyone
and by focusing on the stories within the brand (employees, consumers, history, etc.),
the cocacola.com website would become a destination. They EVEN hired journalists
and unleashed them to help Coke become a living, breathing brand that connected with
their raving fans and brought in new ones.

It was unheard of at time!

That era led to the buzzword “PESO” – paid, earned, shared and owned – mix of
marketing that rose like a storm in 2014. Marketing teams realized that without “Geico-
like” advertising budgets, all facets of marketing needed to integrate and work together
to have any shot of breaking through the clutter.

The Golden Age in College Sports Marketing

What does this brief history lesson have to do with college sports? Everything!
This should be the Golden Age of college athletics storytelling! The communications
team should be fully integrated with the marketing team. Great content powers social
media, advertising, cause marketing, internal communications and promotions. It makes
the events (games) you run resonate. And since marketing supports sales –
sponsorship, ticket sales and fundraising – you are missing so many potential
opportunities without great “owned” media to engage your prospective audiences.
In an age where the word “revenue” is uttered incessantly, it’s time for athletic
departments to consider who “watches” their version of reality TV and why before
asking the ask.

All year we have seen college sports TV ratings rise. And while so many of us despise
the portal-tied-to-NIL-mess, we are still watching. We love our teams, our schools, and
the ups-and-downs of sports. But in large part, we are consuming despite ever
“connecting” with our players – especially those who just came to us after how many
years of being somewhere else.

To grow audiences, college athletic departments need to do more to reach more. A
school’s various audiences will welcome hearing from players. Let them share their love
of the game, why they decided on the school or major, what they hope to do with their
NIL money or anything that can connect us. We want to see them with their friends,
learning and enjoying college life. This type of content is critically important in the
consumer engagement game.

The added bonus is players gain opportunities to “grow their brand.” It should be a win-
win.

Chief Storytelling Department

This is why the history lesson from above is important. The communications team
MUST be integrated within all facets of marketing. And their role should be redefined as
the Chief Storytelling Department.

With basketball now over and the major revenue-driving driving fall and winter sports in
the rearview mirror, it’s time to create the roadmap to a revenue-strong 2026-27
calendar. What stories can athletic departments tell to engage the groups that truly
matter in the revenue game including:
·       Students, faculty and staff
·       Residents of your local communities

·       Alumni
·       Local business community
·       Already existing fans
·       Occasional fans

I know it’s hard to imagine, but graduation season is about a month away. That means
schools have about four months to identify the types of stories that will resonate with
each above group, which players can be utilized to tell them and then establish the plan
to share them appropriately.

A new season is coming soon!