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In today’s interconnected world, the transformation of digital technology is changing the way fans view and consume major sports. Whether it’s radio commentary, live updates on social media, ball-by-ball updates, minute-by-minute stats on special sports programs, or interacting with other fans on apps and social media, the digitalization of sports has dramatically changed the fan experience.
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Sports fans prefer to hyper-inform their favorite players and teams with minute-by-minute details to learn more about their favorite sports, while the players themselves communicate directly with their fans via Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. Players, officials of popular teams and the community of sporting events also have to and enjoy direct correspondence with their fan base through various social media channels.
In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has acted as a catalyst to accelerate and promote digitalization in the sports industry. Events were held behind closed doors, press conferences went virtual, and many traditional sports media were affected by this new change.
Media houses like EssentiallySports, which were already using digital media technology before the pandemic began, seemed least affected by the disruption. We got a chance to chat with Suryansh Tibareval, Co-Founder of EssentiallySports as we dig deeper into their USP. In our conversation, he certainly provided some interesting insights into how one organization is using the internet and digital technology to change the way we consume sports and what sets them apart from others in the market.
In explaining what sets his company apart from the competition, he noted that “fans are looking for a connection outside of sports and want to share the experience with like-minded people.”
Suryansh elaborated: “EssentiallySports is a digital-first organization that strives to use the Internet to cross borders and engage diverse sports communities around the world. Thus, we want to provide a platform that allows fans to consume, share, and share high-quality original content on various social media platforms. learn their experiences and get a more personalized experience.”
We also briefly discussed how it differs from other sports news providers ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, Fox Sportsand Athletic. He noted that they not only provide up-to-the-minute updates and live reactions on the world’s biggest sporting events; more importantly, EssentiallySports strives to provide in-depth coverage of all trending topics in the world of sports. In his words, “We want to give fans a 360-degree view of their favorite events and players by leveraging data and online communities!”
While browsing their website, we came across the term “Fan’s Perspective”. Suryansh revealed that this is because of the team: people who are sports fans themselves. He discussed the genesis of their unique worldview and making the “Fan’s Perspective” the focal point of every activity in the organization.
“We started EssentiallySports as a blog in 2014 as college students and created active WhatsApp-first content creation communities to connect with sports fans around the world and thus adopt a fan’s perspective. Everything we do is in line with their behavior. A passionate fan and thus , the idea of our slogan “Fan’s Perspective” appeared.”
We’ve learned that the sports fan community has always been at the heart of EssentiallySports. A close-knit community with a passion for sports has helped the company assemble a team of passionate writers, editors and developers.
He added: “As a sports fan ourselves, we have always focused on delivering content with the goal of ‘what does a sports fan want to read?'” and aim to connect sports fans around the world with content at their fingertips. Covering sports from a fan’s perspective EssentiallySports has helped grow exponentially year after year, and today we have a monthly readership of over 100 million.”
It was very interesting to learn how the company performed during the COVID-19 lockdown. At that time, not only the world of sports, but the whole world stood at a standstill.
He said emphatically: “Business-wise, we saw 100 percent growth every month during that period. When the pandemic hit the world and sports events, there was a sense of panic in the industry. But as fans ourselves, we were convinced that fans are always about sports and their players. news, even if the event isn’t happening. I’m proud of our team for taking this as a challenge and turning it into an opportunity. Internet consumption has doubled, and we’ve doubled down on recruitment while competitors are cutting back. We’ve expanded into different sports and our monthly users have grown from 2020 to from 30 million in April 2020 to 60 million in May 2020. We’ve seen consistent month-on-month growth since then.”
Tech enthusiast Suryansh, who earned his first dollar online at the age of 14, feels that in today’s world, people are increasingly busy and modern fans may not spend long hours watching an entire sporting event.
He creates a very special image of the future of the sports world. He states that people want to be informed and connected to the world’s top news, but at their own convenience. And digital media will allow them to do that.
There is no doubt that the internet has changed and will continue to change with each passing day. This will be “new” for the media industry. It is known that digital technology opens up unprecedented opportunities for development in the sports industry. Esports is one such notable example, offering fans a whole new way to connect with others.
“Through innovation and personalized experiences, digital technology has the potential to bring sports fans closer together across the globe. This is evident in how we experience the growth of our audience as well, as our team of sports fans operating from India is able to serve the appetite of our American Audience with authentic and quality news.”
Suryansh reiterated the need to change the experience for sports fans. He believed the internet would continue to evolve in how players connect with sports fans and that the boundaries would continue to blur. Top athletes are starting their own podcasts and talking about everything on and off the field, including Hollywood. Sports entertainment has emerged as a new trend. Which the traditional media house is not yet ready.
According to him, the gap can be overcome with innovative technology solutions. He reiterates that fans need all this information to snap their fingers. With the help of technology and data analysis, they know as much as possible about the target audience and make sure that they deliver the most relevant content to the readers.
We also had a chance to get acquainted with the future plans of the company. And it looks like there are a few interesting developments in store. The company’s roadmap includes expansion into major US leagues such as MLB, NCAA, NHL and niche Olympic sports.
It’s clear that technology will definitely be at the forefront of the next media revolution. The data shows that these companies have continued to grow even in the post-Covid world. And it looks like digital sports media companies like EssentiallySports will become more and more popular.
It’s only time for mainstream media giants to join the digital bandwagon. It will be interesting to see how these digital-only sports media companies fare in the new era of the digital media revolution.