When Saul Canelo Alvarez and Daniel Jacobs enter the ring to go to battle on Saturday night in Las Vegas, all eyes in the sporting world will be on the largest global sports streaming platform DAZN to see who is going to leave the T-Mobile Arena as the king of the middleweight division.
A NEW WORLD
Everything about this particular fight week shows the paradigm shift that is taking place in the sport of boxing. Not only are fans able to watch a mega-fight as part of a $19.99 monthly subscription that would easily have cost them in the $79.95 range months ago, but they are now being treated to a variety of programming that they can watch at any time. The buzz in the media center and around the MGM Grand is a different type of buzz. It's not the typical hard sell. It's a different type of sell that's taking place. It's softer, less frantic and noticeably more confident because promoters such as Golden Boy Promotions that have partnered with DAZN, truly feel that they are providing value to the audience, and for good reason. They are. With the former pay-per-view model, it was a breakneck fight week pace of sell sell sell. In the end, if the fight doesn't deliver, it left a bad taste in fans mouths. This new model has actually taken the pressure off both the promoters and the fans and it actually allows everyone to enjoy the event. Don't get me wrong, there's still selling taking place, but it's a long game mentality.
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY? LITERALLY.
More than ever, in the digital age of social media, everything is about metrics and brands have measurable data at their fingertips in real time to assess the status of their sponsorship. It helps brands predict and optimize campaigns for critical outcomes. This has become a game changer for brand managers who can pivot during an activation whether it's changing the message or doubling down on a moment. According to social analytics platform ListenFirst, DAZN has been mentioned in 20,669 tweets or 15 percent of all of the tweets discussing the Canelo vs. Jacobs fight between April 1 and May 1. That includes 11,978 unique Twitter profiles with an average of 6,184 followers for a potential of 6.35 million impressions on tweets mentioning DAZN surrounding the fight.
BOLD STATEMENT
Another big winner this week is the Mexican beer brand, Tecate. Every element of this fight, Tecate's brand presence has been impossible to miss. Whether overt or strategically placed to capture a "moment", Tecate has already made an impact and the fight hasn't even taken place.
From the Grand arrival to the fight itself, one thing is unmistakable, the brands involved in this fight are getting their monies worth. The media center itself has a new vibe to it with a pool table, green screen photo booth, full-size boxing ring and Tecate Bold Punch, punching bag machine. It didn't take long for contenders Ryan Garcia and Devon Haney to have a contest.
Punchbag Challenge: @KingRyanG vs @Realdevinhaney
Who’s your on?pic.twitter.com/Bi2BtAPPhH
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) May 2, 2019
This is an example where Tecate simply knew it wouldn't be long before they would get their viral moment with a throng of media there to capture, upload and share. It's this type of marketing that foster brand loyalty with fans. According to ListenFirst, between April 1 and May 3, there were 135 tweets from 97 unique profiles that mentioned Tecate surrounding the Canelo vs. Jacobs fight. Those unique profiles had an average of 11,800 followers for a potential 1.37 million impressions on Twitter linking Tecate as the sponsor of this mega fight.
To reinforce Tecate's positioning, ahead of the fight, the Twitter audience discussing Canelo vs. Jacobs is primarily Millennial men, who are largely Hispanic. Between April 1-May 2, there have been 135,504 tweets mentioning the fight including 95,511 unique profiles which have an average 14,639 followers for a potential 50.6 million impressions on the subject matter. Momentum picked up significantly on April 28, with 35 percent of the tweets so far occurring between April 28-May 2. Based on those tweets, the audience for the fight is 82 percent Male and 18 percent Female; while by age the audience is 74 percent Millennials and 18 percent Generation X. 47 percent of the audience Tweeting about the fight is Hispanic.
Tracy David, Chief Marketing Officer at ListenFirst said,
For brands aligning themselves with event programming like Canelo vs. Jacobs; there's tremendous opportunity to connect with fans, but also risk if key messaging isn't reaching a relevant audience. For example, 46 percent of the audience tweeting about the Canelo vs. Jacobs fight are Hispanic indicates Tecate is on the right path in targeting that key demographic. By gathering deep insights around the social media performance of such partnerships, brands can better identify who their messaging is reaching and how to best optimize outreach around that sponsorship.
Tecate's approach is multi-pronged and doesn't miss the opportunity to take advantage of its increased traffic and fight week presence to ultimately sell its product.
For fans +21 not able to make it to Vegas for the fight, .@Tecate has your back with its Mail-in-Rebate program: get $20 back for $50 in-store purchases of Tecate or Tecate Light with party essentials.
— Tecate (@tecate) May 3, 2019
As the streaming universe is still uncharted territory and in its infancy, the marriage between Golden Boy Promotions, DAZN and Tecate illustrate the new direction the sport is moving. It's a true partnership where all three parties rely on each other to make these promotions a victory for everyone involved.
