Such is the wealth of information available to sports fans these days that fanatical supporters of pro teams and players can delve into many aspects of training routines, game day preparations and even business dealings.
In turn, this has led to many sports fans becoming intrigued by the business dealings that underpin all professional sport.
In places like the UK this has manifested itself in groups of people clubbing together to form a consortium, with some owning racehorses and others even taking control of their beloved hometown football clubs.
Now more than ever, social media and online activism is encouraging normal sports fans to dig deeper into exactly what makes their sports tick.
In this article we take a look at the different ways in which this is taking place in the US and around the globe, as supporters of the NFL, NHL, Premier League, and NBA all start to open their eyes to how they can become intrinsically involved in the business of sport.
Sportsbooks Let People Financially Back Their Favourite Franchises
One of the main drivers of fans getting more interested in the various financial implications of sports is that in some states around the US it has been made possible to give any match or game a meaningful financial edge.
This is because in states like Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Colorado, online sports betting legislation has opened up so that fans can wager to their heart’s content on sports as far ranging as MMA to basketball, whether they take place on US soil or elsewhere around the world. So far, FanDuel Sportsbook reviews have been very positive as have others that can be found via online comparison websites, so the future looks bright for fans who like to back their teams with bets rather than just the usual bluster found in chat rooms or in the bleachers.
As more states begin to open their doors to online sportsbooks, expect an increasing number of fans to take a serious interest in the business decisions made by franchise CEOs, as they have a direct impact on matchday and betting outcomes.
Some NFL players have been at the forefront of devising such financial tools as crypto investment vehicles, so they can directly profit from their prominence in the sport
Investing in Player Careers Is In Vogue
Another trend that is really taking off in the world of US sport is that of sports personalities and stars taking ownership of their personal brands, so that they can profit directly from their image and online profile rather than NFL or NBA bigwigs doing so.
Battle lines have already been drawn by players like Spencer Dinwiddie of Brooklyn Nets fame, who has created his very own crypto investment vehicle.
This means that fans of the Nets, or indeed anyone who thinks it could be a good idea, can invest in Dinwiddie’s career. Those folks invested in the young point guard will live every dunk, injury, and trade that Dinwiddie experiences during his career.
Of course, the NBA will eventually want a say in all this, because they will claim that it was their organisation’s brand and reach that allowed Dinwiddie’s online stock to rise as much as it has.
Other players are now following Dinwiddie’s footsteps and plenty more are sure to follow, especially if the investment vehicle pays serious dividends for all involved, although just at the minute that seems a long way off happening.
Online Collectables a New Form of Sports Currency
Another seismic movement in the realms of sports business is the new craze for what are known as crypto collectables, where investors purchase things like special video clips or photos which can then increase or decrease in value just as though they were any other stock or share.
The difference here is that it is hard to know exactly what investors are buying into, but that is not stopping NBA players and their fans diving feet first into the collectibles fray. Hopefully the large swings that happen in the crypto markets don’t leave them all on the financial side lines.
Ultimately it was fan power that drove F1 teams to shift their businesses into the online sphere and they have not looked back since, often recruiting new drivers from Esports
Fans Driving Sports Leagues and Teams to Be More Tech Savvy
As well as buying into investment forays that teams and players are undertaking, sports fans are also increasingly dictating to sports organisations the directions that their online businesses should be headed in.
Nowhere is this more in evidence than with motor racing organisations like F1, as fans have taken their love for the sport to online games like F1 2020 from Codemasters, flocking to the game in such numbers that F1 bosses were persuaded to start their very own F1 Esports Series.
This in turn has meant that many aspiring racing drivers, who never had the financial backing to make it into an F1 team setup, can now do so instead by impressing on virtual tracks that ape the ones found on the real life F1 circuit.
Fans Becoming Official Mouthpieces for Franchises and Teams
While we are on the subject of fans harnessing online platforms to manipulate the business trends that big sports organisations follow, it is worth mentioning how some fans are actively taking ownership of the communication channels of many pro teams, sometimes whether the teams like it or not.
Nowhere is this more apparent than at Premier League football team Arsenal, where a once lowly fan-made YouTube channel called AFTV amassed more than a million followers to completely eclipse any official media channel the club itself had set up.
The channel’s video content now regularly features players and other members of the Arsenal hierarchy and even has some sway in the business decisions that are made at the club, as the YouTube channel’s following pushes their weight around on everything from player signings to contract renewals.
