Why the programmatic play is revolutionizing sports marketing

Over the last decade, programmatic advertising has emerged as a cornerstone of digital advertising innovation. The continuous advancements and introductions of new technologies have enabled advertisers to operate with unprecedented precision, efficiency and creativity. Throughout my career, I’ve championed the value of programmatic, competing for space alongside paid social, search and influencer marketing, by showing advertisers the distinct value it brings to the table.

Still, as a media buyer within an agency catering to sports brands, I’ve encountered countless questions from clients regarding where and how programmatic fits into their media plans.

The answer is simple: Programmatic offers sports brands powerful tools to connect with their audiences — fiercely loyal fans — in a deeply engaging way. 

As technology continues to evolve, traditional advertising methods alone are no longer sufficient in an era when both brands and fans alike demand personalized and targeted experiences. From what I have observed, traditional mediums such as linear TV are still cornerstones for many clients. Though when substituting ads served on linear TV for connected TV at the right time, the results have been impressive.

Especially when it comes to incremental reach, whereby brands are able to utilize automatic content recognition technology to target viewers who have not seen their initial linear TV ad. And these ads can be unique to the time, location and environment in which they are being served. 

Because of these developments, to suggest that programmatic is merely thriving in sports advertising is an understatement — it is revolutionizing it. Precision targeting and real-time optimizations are two core advantages that make programmatic uniquely valuable to those in the sports industry.

Leveraging data-driven insights, marketers can reach highly specific audience segments and optimize performance on the fly, ensuring ads reach the right sports enthusiasts and making every dollar work harder. In addition, having a curated approach to data targeting and thoughtfully selecting inventory sources creates a season-winning strategy. Building tailored inventory packages and enhancing audience targeting empower advertisers to achieve optimal results from their digital investments.

As a result of this necessity to access both inventory and data, those who own premium sports content have quickly recognized its value to advertisers. The NBA’s recent 11-year media partnership with Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video, valued at approximately $77 billion, is indicative of this trend. Other significant high-value partnerships made by the NFL and the Premier League aim to extend the reach of sports advertising to vast audiences, tapping in to both traditional viewership and younger, tech-savvy fans who favor streaming.

With this broader reach, sports brands gain exciting opportunities to connect with audiences in dynamic, interactive ways.

A crucial next step for advertisers after finding their consumers is to capture their attention in the most effective manner possible. Creative messaging is a star player in the success of an ad and is an aspect that sports brands can actively leverage to their benefit. Programmatic offers advertisers the potential to enhance creativity, boost engagement and strengthen brand loyalty.

With dynamic creative optimization, for instance, brands can tailor ads to individual viewer preferences, such as teams or players, increasing relevance and impact.

Having led the programmatic strategy at an online sportsbook in a previous role, our team took on the challenge of creating a best-in-class workflow for creative output. We had to analyze our creative messaging, IP, images, product offers, game scheduling and more to gain a full understanding of what worked and what didn’t. We found that campaigns combining static and dynamic creative executions significantly improved conversion rates, underscoring the value of a test-and-learn approach.

Looking to the future, I believe that programmatic advertising will continue to transform sports marketing and provide more unique opportunities to engage with fans. We can expect hyper-personalized ad experiences powered by premium, brand-safe inventory, advanced data and predictive analytics.

Enhanced cross-channel integration and omnichannel strategies will enable seamless brand experiences across platforms.

New ad formats — interactive, augmented reality, virtual reality and shoppable ads — will engage audiences in ways that were once unthinkable, providing brands with fresh opportunities to connect and convert.

Programmatic has its place on media plans, but don’t miss the chance to leverage it as a star player to a championship-winning strategy.

This op-ed represents the views and opinions of the author and not of The Current, a division of The Trade Desk, or The Trade Desk. The appearance of the op-ed on The Current does not constitute an endorsement by The Current or The Trade Desk.