How to find new customers through sports without big sponsorships

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In summary:

• Nearly 90% of Australians are interested in at least one sport.
• 2 in 3 follow say they follow local and overseas sports.
• YouTube is the #1 platform for watching hard-to-find sports content.
• Chart of the week: Which overseas sports people in Australia look for the most.

Nearly 90% of Australians are interested in at least one sport

Google reported this month that 87% of Australians are interested in at least one sport - which if you're an Aussie you may be thinking 'sounds about right', but incredibly, and unique to Australia is that nearly 2 in 3 follow both domestic and international sports.

Many other nations, such as the UK and India have one dominant sport, soccer and cricket respectively.

This level of interest for sport in Australia is not only unique it's an incredible opportunity for marketers and business owners to reach sports lovers online. This cheap, easy and measurable reach is possible without the huge costs associated with sponsoring talent or events.

On average:

• Australians are interested in more than three sports,
• 45% say they watch a wider variety of sports than a few years ago,
• 1 in 2 say they watch sports they wouldn't normally watch during a big competition,
• Google also found that interest in sport in Australia isn't just broad, it is deep. Incredibly 41% of people watch live sport, and 61% watch content before and after the whistle blows as consumers look for analysis, predications, replays, player interviews and highlights.

Getting your brand in-front of sports lovers

So where online do people search for the sporting analysis, highlights, replays, analysis and players interviews they want? In a nutshell - YouTube.

YouTube is the #1 platform Australians turn to for sports, online for more before, after and behind the scenes sports action - and this is particularly true for newcommers to Australia and Gen Z.

But what if your brand isn't sporty? The good news is, it doesn't matter.
The good news for anyone trying to grow their business is that your brand doesn't need to be sporty, or even relevant to the sport you're advertising.

And Gen Z viewers in Australia agree they are the most open to ads in videos on YouTube 59% of sports fans reported feeling positive about brands that advertise around sport, even when the brand had little to nothing to do with that sport.

Even better for brands is that 1 in 2 survey respondants highlighted their preference for advertising around the sport itself, not one that interrupts watching the sport. Appearing first on pre-roll YouTube advertising for example or in advertising wrapped around the video are two great ways to acheive this.

The scale of the opportunity of for brands targeting sports lovers on platforms such as YouTube is immense, as so many more brands have the opportunity to appear alongside, and get bigger, clickable, branding alongside high profile coverage of events such as the US Open (Tennis and Golf), NBA and WNBA playoffs, WAFL, F1, NRL, AFL and more.

So which sports do Australians look for the most online?

Google doesn't say in its research but here at CXA we looked into it and found some pretty interesting trends of which local and overseas sports people in Australia are looking for.

And before you dive into the charts below, take a quick guess which overseas sport is now challenging the NRL for attention online? Can you guess? Read on to find out.

The NBA is Australia's most popular overseas sport

The NBA is by far Australia's most popular overseas sport according to Google Trends.

Australian online interest in the NBA nearly matches levels of interest for the NRL, and eclipses the NFL, NHL, MLB and various soccer brands including the EPL, Premier League and the FA Cup.