The way fans consume football has evolved drastically from the traditional distanced model of TV airtime to the engaged online video community, and there’s a big opportunity for brands to reach this exceptionally responsive audience.
The way fans consume football has evolved drastically from the traditional distanced model of TV airtime to the engaged online video community, and there’s a big opportunity for brands to reach this exceptionally responsive audience.
How popular are online football videos?
Very. According to video measuring platform Tubular, the UK’s most popular sport has generated nearly 83 billion views overall in online video, increasing a massive 72% year-on-year.
In terms of platform, YouTube reigns supreme for football-related content, having generated 22.7 billion views last year. Facebook takes second place with 11.3 billion, and interestingly, Vine only generated 2.3 billion views.
YouTube’s football content
Football uploaded videos perform highly on YouTube, in both views and engagement. Last year, the category generated 14 billion views. Here’s how that looks compared to other categories:
What’s much more valuable, though, is engagement – and YouTube’s football community are are heavily engaged. According to Tubular’s data, YouTube’s football content has a 4.62% engagement rate – a figure sitting just below gaming and the vlogger “how to” categories.
The sub category content breakdown of football views
The main YouTube influencers in football, as seen numerically below, are gamers, skills and freestylers, and episodic content creators. Brands gain an extremely high percentage of views in football compared to other categories, 22% higher than the YouTube category average. Football club “fan channels” are also beginning to garner increasing engagement and views.
What are football fans engaging with, other than football content?
Looking at Tubular’s figures, digital football fans seem to enjoy gaming, entertainment, sports and comedy videos on YouTube, which provides an opportunity for brands to reach these audiences consuming these genres.
Who exactly are YouTube’s football community?
Unsurprisingly, 93% of the football audience are male, and 92% are between the ages of 13 and 34:
Football videos are consumed globally, but the UK has the largest audience (15%), followed by the US (13%):
In the last year, the top five most viewed videos have included four adverts
Branded football videos perform exceptionally. The most viewed video in YouTube’s football category in the last year was “The Selfie Shootout” by Turkish Airlines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhFqSlvbKAM
It generated 142 million views, and an 0.6% engagement rate.
The most highly engaged videos make the football community laugh
The most highly engaged video within the last year was a comedy sketch penalty shoot out by Studio C.
It’s views total 31.4 million, and it’s still receiving over 25,000 views a day on average. In terms of engagement, it’s off the scale, at 2.7%. Aside from comedy, YouTube’s football community also appreciate behind the scenes content. It has a big pretty viewership on the platform. Here’s a good example of this:
Who is the most popular player, according to YouTube views?
There are 350,000 videos on YouTube titled with either “Messi” or “Ronaldo”.
….and Manchester City FC is the winner of the Premier League table, according to YouTube views in August:
Copa90: YouTube’s top football creator
If there is proof of how football communities are evolving the way they consume the game, it’s Copa90. The YouTube channel is the antithesis to football’s traditional model (of the 90 minute match and suited ex-professionals discussing the match in a studio setup during half time).
Obviously football communities are still watching the game (also, Copa90 doesn’t have the rights to stream it anyway), but what the channel proves is that the younger audience (primarily 18-34) want more than this, beyond the match itself – and they’re coming to YouTube to get it.
Unlike more traditional channels, Copa90 is good at telling stories, and creating a connection and dialogue with their audience. Almost 1,000 videos have been uploaded in the last three years, with an overall engagement rate of 4.4%, and the channel is the top creator in Tubular leaderboards for sports, soccer, top 10’s in entertainment, fitness fashion, Hyundai and Adidas videos.
Tom Thirlwell, CEO of BigBalls, is keen to relay that Copa90’s audience responds well to authenticity and inclusivity. “Many football fans are alienated by the packaging of football”, he tells us. “It’s a walled garden”, he continues, before listing the ways Copa90 isn’t (“we were on the beach in Rio, Lineker was in a suit in the studio. The fans felt like they were there!”).
Thirlwell is also enthusiastic about the way the channel has transformed the image of the global football community. “Football fans have had a bad rep, but look at the support the football community gave a project we backed to save Real Oviedo football club”, he says. “People care.”
What does this mean for brands?
There’s huge potential for reach for brands in this highly engaged, responsive space. “YouTube has enabled the rise of the connected supporter that watches and engages with football content outside of the confines of official scheduling”, Naomi Harston, head of sponsorships at Google UK tells us. “This audience shift, especially in the 18- to 34-year-olds segment of light TV users, is forcing brands to redefine their approach to sponsorship.”
How are brands able to do this? “The demand for great content marketing is greater than ever and it is up to brands to embrace this new opportunity to engage fans”.
She continues:
On YouTube, they can rethink creative (8 of top 10 most viewed adverts during World Cup were over four minutes long), play with technology like 360 videos, use real-time data to adjust their content and tap into the creativity of the fans or YouTube creators.
Unlike traditional sports and media badged properties, online video is not a saturated space. So the opportunity for marketers to drive cut through, establish ownership and grow likeability are genuinely there for the taking; the time is now.
