Monetization of Sports Social Media Feeds

Detroit Red Wings

How many posts on each platform (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) were sponsored in one calendar week in March '19?

• Instagram-37

• Facebook-290

• Twitter-187

What type of posts are sponsored? (e.g. Game preview, #TBT)

Instagram posts were completely game previews and between period stats. Facebook had way more videos, especially those of longer length. Twitter included shorter videos, like post game comments, and mainly game day previews, line charts, and between period stat updates.

In your opinion, do these sponsored posts resonate with the target audience? Why?

Almost all of the posts were sponsored by local banks, I think they would resonate for getting brand recognition. I think there is also a positive brand image transfer in these posts and when young adults are looking to open bank accounts, they are likely turn somewhere they are familiar. Which if you are an avid Wings’ fan, would be Huntington Bank and Comerica.

Who in your opinion does the sponsorship benefit more (based on the post) The team or the sponsor? Why?

I think the team benefits more because having gameday and score graphics sponsored is such a minor distraction from the information on their graphics. If followers want to know the score, or game information, they’ll read it and the logos aren’t taking away from that. It’s no cost to the team to put the logo on their pages with so many followers!

If you were in charge of this team's social media feed, what do you think is the most valuable content to sponsors?

I think the MOST beneficial to sponsors would be special interest pieces and getting to know players off the ice. I think that those videos are still out of the norm and still out of the usual, which attracts viewers and are less likely to get scrolled through. I also think moving logos, like in GIFs and then at beginning and ends of videos, are beneficial because they draw attention.

What opportunities do you see for monetization of the social media feed that are not being utilized by this team?

I think you could very easily implement subtle sponsorships, especially media that includes players off the ice and products they use beyond the ice. An example I think of instantly (from class) is the Bose sponsored posts of just players wearing Bose headphones. I think the Red Wings could definitely use something like this as the could use more posts of their players off the ice.