Social Media and Sport – Thematic Research

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Approximately 4.7 billion people worldwide use the internet, and 4.2 billion people use social media. This means social media platforms are used by more than half of the world’s population and around 90% of all internet users. The number of worldwide social media users is expected to grow to approximately 4.4 billion by 2025. In the world of sports, social media is widely used by some of the world’s most popular teams and athletes, with social media platforms allowing direct engagement with fans. While social media has had benefits in terms of increasing fan engagement and promoting social causes, the anonymity of these platforms has meant that there have been regular examples of abuse directed towards athletes.

What are the market dynamics of social media and sport?

The concept of social media has blurred boundaries between video-sharing services, blogging sites, messaging apps, and online forums. The most prominent social media companies typically make money by targeting ads at individuals using detailed behavioral information. Targeted advertising creates value for both advertisers and consumers.

The increased exposure that social media brings means that sports teams have become a daily part of many people’s user habits on platforms. Many athletes have used the platform to promote their own social initiatives and programs, and this was particularly true after the onset of COVID-19. While social media has proven to be an extremely useful tool in increasing fan engagement, it has also caused a variety of problems in the sporting world. Social media has granted athletes the ability to establish their own brand and platform, and many athlete’s endorsement deals are promoted heavily on their social media accounts, due to the sheer number of interactions some of the world’s best-known athletes can accumulate.

What are the key sports industry trends impacting the social media theme?

Social media has allowed for greater engagement between fans and athletes, with some of the latter becoming well known for their exchanges. Social media has become a way for athletes to express their support for different causes, and this has become especially prevalent in the last 18 months, with stories of racial injustice often dominating the news.

Despite the positives, there is a flipside to the ease with which social media users can interact with athletes. At the forefront is the increasing amount of abuse many athletes endure after a subpar performance or result. Many athletes have felt the negative effects of expressing their controversial opinions, with some having been ‘cancelled’ by social media.

What are the social media value chain segmentation?

As per Globaldata’s report, the social media value chain has five layers: content layer, distribution layer, data layer, services layer, and customer layer.

  • Content layer: this is the layer where content is produced, both by users and third parties. This content is then shared on social media platforms.
  • Distribution layer: in this layer, content is distributed across social media platforms enabling users to connect with friends and family worldwide, make new friends, keep up with news, and share content. These services, funded by digital advertising, are all highly valued by consumers.
  • Data layer: like most data, social media data is unstructured, as it encompasses all the raw insights and information collected from individuals’ social media activity. The objective of data management is to secure the data (using data governance and security technology), gather insights from the data (using data analysis and BI tools), and manage the data (by applying storage, processing, aggregation, and integration techniques).
  • Services layer encompasses all services generating revenue in the social media value chain. While social media companies are, first and foremost, ad-funded platforms, they regularly diversify and embrace new services within their platforms.
  • Customer layer: incorporates the interaction of consumers and businesses with social media sites.

Which are the companies mentioned in the report?

Alphabet (parent company of Google), Amazon, ByteDance, Facebook, Reddit, Roblox, Signal, Snap, Telegram, and Tencent are some of the companies mentioned in the report.

Social media and sport, key companies

Social media and sport, key companies

To know more about key players, download a free report sample

Market report scope

Key Companies Alphabet (parent company of Google), Amazon, ByteDance, Facebook, Reddit, Roblox, Signal, Snap, Telegram and Tencent
Key Value Chain segments Content Layer, Distribution Layer, Data Layer, Services Layer, and Customer Layer

This report is a thematic analysis of Social Media and Sport. It provides:

  • An overview of social media and its uses, as well as how sports has begun to delve into the world in the last decade
  • The current trends dominating social media, as well as the trendsetters leading the industry, and identifying those attempting to catch up
  • A detailed analysis of the potential future development of the social media world, and what challenges face it in its immediate future
  • An in-depth look at the value chain for social media, and what generates revenue for the biggest platforms in the sector

Key Highlights

Big Tech companies dominate the social media space. Facebook has around 2.9 billion monthly users, accounting for 61% of the global online population, while YouTube has more than 2 billion monthly users. In most segments, big platforms benefit from network effects, and, thanks to their larger number of users, they are the most attractive to both consumers and advertisers. Few players offer a comparable portfolio of services to Facebook, preferring instead to offer more specialized services. For example, LinkedIn positions itself as a social media platform for consumers’ professional networks.

According to the Global Digital Report 2021 – published by online reference library DataReportal in partnership with We Are Social and Hootsuite – approximately 4.7 billion people worldwide use the internet, and 4.2 billion people use social media. This means social media platforms are used by more than half of the world’s population and around 90% of all internet users. The number of worldwide social media users is expected to grow to approximately 4.4 billion by 2025.

Companies such as Facebook and YouTube have attempted to tackle the problem of online abuse using AI to moderate content on their platforms. Facebook has used automated moderation to remove nudity from the website to great success, but AI has proved less successful in removing hate speech and slurs. During a three-month period in 2020, over three million videos were removed via the platform’s AI filters, many of which were incorrectly classified. YouTube were forced to bring back their human moderators in response, who had been sent home earlier in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While AI has plenty of room to develop and grow in the coming years, it might be impossible for AI to ever reach a human standard of being able to identify and then remove hateful content.

Houston Rockets’ general manager Daryl Morey posted a pro Hong Kong tweet, which criticized China’s imposing a law on the region that would ensure the extradition of criminal suspects to China, where the vast majority of trials end in a conviction. The introduction of the law sparked major anti-government protests in the region, some of which resulted in casualties. Morey’s expression of support for the protests were quickly responded to by Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, who immediately distanced the organization from Morey’s comments, while star player James Harden also apologized to China. Morey later issued an apology, but not before Houston Rockets games were removed from NBA broadcasts in China. ESPN analyst Kevin Arnovitz estimated that the NBA’s total losses stemming from the incident during the following season were around $200m, highlighting the sizable impact that the country’s market has had on the growth of the NBA.

Social media has played a vital role during the pandemic, allowing people to stay connected with friends and family and providing entertainment. According to the Digital 2021: Global Overview Report published by DataReportal, social media user numbers increased by more than 13% in 2020, equivalent to nearly half a billion new users. The pandemic also brought with it a flood of misinformation, ranging from conspiracy theories attributing the virus to 5G radiation to miracle cures such as drinking or injecting bleach. COVID-19 is likely to be a point of no return for big social media companies on misinformation. During the pandemic, these companies have actively tackled the dissemination of fake news. This shift to a more proactive stance on misinformation will likely be permanent, as, after the pandemic, they will be expected to keep policing harmful content.

Reasons to Buy

  • Access to in-depth analysis of the current landscape of social media, and how the sports world has begun to utilize social media in the modern era
  • Details of the current performance of many of the dominant social media platforms, and the difficulties and controversies they are currently facing to crack down on abuse on their respective platforms

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YouTube
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LinkedIn
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Premier League
NBA
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Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary

2. Players

3. Thematic briefing

4. Trends

5. Mergers and acquisitions

6. Timeline

7. Value chain

8. Companies

9. Glossary

10. Further reading

11. About GlobalData

12. Contact us

Frequently asked questions

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