Continuing with predictions on what the rest of 2014 will hold, I turn to Jon Podany, Chief Marketing Officer for the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), to get his thoughts.

The Way The Industry Sees It

2014 Predictions within the Sports Industry and How They Have the Potential to Affect Marketing and Advertising, with LPGA’s Chief Marketing Officer, Jon Podany.

 

What are your 2014 predictions within the sports industry and how do they have the potential to affect marketing and advertising?

1) Increasingly global – We are certainly seeing this with the LPGA (we have eight different countries represented in the top fifteen players in the world), but I see it continuing in other sports as well. More games among the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA), etc. are being played overseas, there are an increasing proportion of international players in sports, and the distribution of content continues to expand globally. The Sochi Winter Olympics and World Cup in Brazil will further highlight global sports this year.

2) Increasingly mobile – More and more sports content is consumed on mobile devices, whether it’s sports apps, social media or watching sports on mobile devices. Along with this, people are getting their information in shorter information bites (e.g., 140 characters on Twitter).

3) Increasingly user-generated content – Sports teams/leagues continue to seek new ways to tell their own story and produce their own content and are not relying solely on others. It started with NFL Network, MLB Network, and others, and has expanded to Big Ten Network, Pac 12 Network, Longhorn Network, social and digital media, etc. At the LPGA, we have hired a video producer – and may hire another in the coming year – to increase the amount of video content we distribute.

4) Increased focus on game day experiences – Ticket sales and full stadiums are very important to teams/leagues, and it has become increasingly difficult to fill stadiums due to HDTV and competition for people’s time. Sports teams/leagues have to continue to find ways to make game day an experience that is worth paying for (e.g., huge video boards, interactive seat experiences, other entertainment options, etc.).

What’s the coolest thing in your office?

As far as the coolest thing in my office, I would have to say it’s a tie between the pictures I have of my wife, and I with Byron Nelson and Arnold Palmer. Two the finest gentlemen I’ve ever met and greatest ambassadors the game of golf has ever seen.