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Track and Field Could Be the Next Driver of Sportswear | Part 1
Professors have had to adjust how they instruct the next generation of leaders and thinkers due to Digital Chunks. Because of a constant connection to the phone and an array of media options, students are distracted. The process of learning arrives in what has been labeled “Digital Chunks”. Education happens between streaming, app and phone usage. This fractured learning and behavior applies to every aspect of life, including retail and media consumption. This post is focusing on sports as a way to establish that how and where content is consumed in this digital era is an opportunity to develop stronger business strategies for sneaker companies.
At one point sports viewership appeared to be dwindling. The reality was Digital Chunks led to sports content being consumed in an entirely different manner. Consider Amazon Prime’s purchase of the rights to air high school aged basketball games with Overtime Elite. OTE Joined YouTube on Oct 29, 2021. Since that time the channel has racked up 83,123,952 views. This quick channel growth and the professional basketball aspect of high school aged athletes moved Amazon to air the games on Prime. Neither young people or adults are watching full NBA games, or any full games of any league, but they are watching sports in digital chunks. Fanaticism isn’t as intense as it once was. That’s impossible with so many options for entertainment in a handheld device. This doesn’t mean that sports aren’t capable of delivering marketing opportunities. Sports remain the last haven of connecting to consumers during live events and in the digital arena (this is changing as Live concerts are increasing on streaming companies). Last year saw YouTube at the forefront of the digital sports viewership shift, and that audience continues to grow. The number of digital viewers of live sports in the U.S. will reach 57.5 million this year and is expected to exceed 90 million in 2025, a 26% projected increase. –Sports viewership and the future of content – Think with Google.
Performance basketball shoe sales had fallen over the years to the point that a brand like Nike stopped producing both Christmas and All-Star Weekend collections. YouTube channels like OTE along with social media hoopers like In the Lab, have reignited interest in basketball (In the Lab is now being featured on NBA on TNT Staple Inside the NBA). With the rise of OTE and YouTube hoopers, performance basketball has had a resurgence in sales with models like the non-signature athlete connected Nike GT Cut hitting resale numbers and an array of Nike Basketball signature models selling well at retail. While this post has been primarily about basketball, performance running is really on track and doesn’t really require an angle as the shoes are worn more casually than basketball sneakers are. However, in a business that is always looking to grow, in a segment of sneakers that that has yet to tap into youth and sneaker culture, Track and Field has been seriously underutilized as a driver of potential sales. Distance running is a proven tool, but sprint and high jump track and field events are only looked at as viable every four years. The market has seen how a distance running athlete can lift a brand (Skechers and the GoMeb is an example). Brooks Running’s focus on teaching athletes about the benefits of jogging helped the brand hit annual revenue of 1 billion for the first time, so it seems logical that the more explosive track and field athletes could and should be the next in line. Sprint is becoming an important aspect of physical training and weight loss. Sprinting and plyometrics are just as accessible. Running in every form is a long-term sport with the ability for athletes from 8 to 80 able to participate in events.
Brands have long relied on marathon and distance to drive engagement with consumers, but no brand appears to be aware of how digital viewership is shaping media and a serious opportunity lies with the fastest men and women in the world. With the growth of apps as a source of sport content consumption, there is an opportunity for track and field to finally become as relevant in the U.S. as it is in the international space. At this time there is a disconnect between brand and endorser in the sport. Athletes don’t control their narrative and brands don’t gain any following from the content created by their endorsed athletes. What’s more striking is Nike, who has longed owned track and field, doesn’t seem to be working at retaining athletes, this is a serious crack in the armor of the Swoosh. Nike is no longer the unequivocal king of track. Yes, Nike is still the leader in medal counts if last year’s World Championships are checked, but where Nike was once the king of speed, the most viewed aspect of track and field, athletes have left the Swoosh to represent other brands. This should be problematic for Nike, but as the company has aged and is no longer led by “The Men of Oregon” it seems that there is a lack of interest in owning a sport that doesn’t seem to be as popular in the U.S. The 80s and 90s were full of Nike moments in track and field. From Flo-Jo’s amazing world records and Carl Lewis’ multiple disciplined medals to Michael Johnson’s golden Nike spikes, Nike was synonymous with track and field. The 2000s saw a hard shift and the most amazing track and field moments were owned by Puma and Usain Bolt. Unfortunately for Puma there appeared to be a lack of synergy as the brand never utilized Bolt’s charisma and presence to ramp up interest in their run division. Puma has corrected this error with a recent addition of their NitroLab.
Capitalizing on track and field is difficult and it’s understandable. Track and Field is a four-to-five-hour event in many instances which makes viewership on traditional media difficult. This makes the sport almost unwatchable. However, with the rise in digital chunks and digital viewership, track and field athletes are becoming more important than they’ve ever been. Between TikTok, YouTube and Instagram track athletes have begun to understand their earning potential. The athletes are taking their own steps, but the lack of partnership between endorser and endorsee is a serious missed opportunity in the digital sports environment. Neither Olympics or college has yet to realize how to approach YouTube or social media as a tool and neither have the sports brands, although there have been opportunities for growth by the brands like Nike’s Breaking2 event, but that was distance focused. Olympic viewership is down lower than it’s been according to Sports Media Watch. It’s unclear if viewership includes social media channels.
Brands have failed at executing a strategy in conjunction with track and field athletes who unlike NFL or NBA athletes are normal in appearance and therefore easier to identify with. By failing to target these athletes in a consistent and focused manner every brand is leaving the majority of the dinner on the table like actors in tv shows. (Watch any show and when the actors are sitting at a dinner table almost every scene shows the dinner going untouched, lol.) Brands and athletes are leaving an additional stream of revenue in the YouTube partner program. Track and field training and events can be monetized on the platform for both brand and athlete. Becoming media companies is a powerful aspect of business. Introduction, education and integration of the stars of sprint and high jump could be the tide that lifts running higher into the market than it’s ever been, but a quick look at the stars of track and field and you’ll find that of the athletes listed below only four of them have YouTube channels and of the 4 only two are active, Noah Lyles and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
Trayvon Bromell TV – YouTube New Balance
Christian Coleman – YouTube Nike
Noah Lyles, Olympian – YouTube adidas
Fred Kerley – ASICS
Marcell Jacobs – PUMA
Joseph Fahnbulleh – ASICS
Sydney McLaughlin – YouTube New Balance
Abby Steiner – PUMA
Elaine Thompson Herah – PUMA
Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce – Nike
Femke Bol – New Balance
Mutaz Essa Barshim – PUMA
Gianmarco Tamberi – PUMA
JuVaughn Harrison – PUMA
Shericka Jackson – PUMA
Athing Mu – Nike
Gabby Thomas – New Balance
Stating that Nike has fallen behind implies that they aren’t working with the athletes they have, but that would be wrong. Nike recently ran a video for training with Athing Mu 4 months ago as of 3-25-2023. The video has 13,000 views and over 400 likes. The crack that Nike has left in sprint isn’t going to stay there for long. The brand is working on their What Are You Working On series and featuring distance athletes like Eliud Kipchoge, which aired 10 months ago and has racked up 10 million views, but maybe Nike understands that rolling out and introducing athletes in a niche sport is a long process. The athletes themselves are obviously not as interested in becoming content creators. Which makes my suggestion that Track and Field as the next driver of sneaker growth less likely.
Looking back at the list above at Noah Lyles’s YouTube, however, shows that a concept for content can increase fan engagement quickly on the platform and could enhance adidas’ presence in the marketplace. Noah launched his YouTube in 2016, but only began to post content a few months ago. Since developing a plan of action for his YouTube channel four months ago, when the first video was posted, he’s nabbed almost 37,000 subscribers and 910,276 views. While adidas does have other elite athletes on its sprint roster, especially on the women’s side with Aleia Hobbs and Keni Harrison, when Noah showed his workout routine in his Grassroots video, it earned over 100,000 views and over 3,000 likes with adidas logos up front and center. Now imagine had other adidas athletes created content in a similar manner. The viewership might not replace an entertainer like Kanye, but it would most definitely be less controversial and more consistent with the brand’s message. Track and Field is definitely a niche sport, but in today’s digital viewership age, every sport is niche and consumed in chunks allowing for brand engagement in a more authentic manner.