At Now We Collide, we believe that the true power of sports marketing lies in understanding fans not just as consumers, but as people whose emotions, behaviours, and habits are constantly shaped by culture, technology, and community. Sports is one of the few shared cultural experiences that can still stop people in their tracks, command attention and unite audiences across borders. But in today’s hyper-fragmented media environment, winning the moment means more than owning broadcast rights or posting the final score. It means knowing when and how to reach fans in the emotional afterglow of a big play, the heartbreak of a loss or the celebration of a championship.

This is why we developed this white paper: to decode the science and strategy of fan engagement. By bringing together insights from neuroscience, psychology and cutting-edge digital behaviours, we aim to provide sports marketers with a practical playbook for turning fleeting moments into lasting brand impact. We sit at the cross-section of sport, culture, and technology and our experience shows that leveraging these forces together provides a key differentiator for our clients.

Our purpose here is not only to highlight the opportunities but also to demonstrate why timing, emotion and platform choice matter. As fans increasingly live their sports experiences across multiple screens – with TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts becoming as important as the stadium itself – marketers must adapt. Success now depends on meeting fans where they are, in the moments that matter most, with authenticity and speed.

Ultimately, this white paper reflects our philosophy: data-driven creativity at the speed of culture. We pride ourselves on helping brands capture attention not by shouting louder, but by connecting smarter – tapping into the emotions and digital behaviours that drive fandom today. By understanding audiences deeply, and aligning that understanding with technology and cultural moments, we and our clients can not only achieve measurable ROI but also build something more valuable: enduring brand belief and loyalty.

A research study produced by:
Ryan Bodger
Fraser Cotterill
Shayne Carter
Keir Maher

Introduction: 
A New Playing Field for Sports Marketing

The sports media landscape has become more fragmented and dynamic than ever, with a proliferation of streaming platforms and digital channels vying for fan attention. Major tech and media players – from dedicated sports services to general streamers expanding into live sports – are aggressively acquiring rights and rolling out content globally. Fans can choose between numerous platforms for live games and highlights. In this ultra-competitive arena, simply owning great content isn’t enough – how and when you engage fans can determine whether they stick with your brand or switch to a rival. Brand awareness and fan loyalty have become strategic assets and key differentiators in the battle for viewership. With alternative options only a tap away, cultivating deep fan connection through timely, relevant engagement is now critical to sustaining growth and maximizing return on ad spend (ROAS).

Why real-time sports moments matter: Live sports deliver unscripted drama and intense emotional peaks that on-demand entertainment simply cannot match. A clutch three-pointer at the buzzer or an overtime goal ignites fan euphoria (or agony) in ways no scripted show can. These peak moments don’t just win games – they create brand believers. When fans experience triumph or heartbreak in real time, they are highly receptive to messaging that resonates with their emotional state. Seizing these “brand moments” – the seconds and minutes surrounding a big play or dramatic finish – is an untapped opportunity to boost advertising effectiveness and conversions. This white paper examines the psychographics and neuroscience behind fan engagement, outlines a real-time social video activation strategy, and presents ROI evidence to support investing in social-first, in-the-moment marketing. We incorporate the latest research on how emotional activation, short-form video, and second-screen behaviours can be leveraged into tangible outcomes. The focus is on digital and social media strategies (as opposed to traditional TV or in-stadium only), reflecting how today’s global and Australian audiences consume sports. Strategic recommendations are provided for brands to transform live sports “buzzer beaters” into enduring brand loyalty – turning fleeting moments into lasting business impact.

The Psychographics and Neuroscience of Fan Engagement: Why Emotions Equal Opportunity

Live sports have a profound neurobiological impact on fans. Understanding this science gives a blueprint for when and how to engage viewers at peak receptivity. During a thrilling match, a fan’s brain reacts almost as if they are on the field themselves. Research shows spectators experience surges of neurotransmitters and hormones – dopamine, adrenaline, oxytocin, even testosterone – paralleling those of the athletes they watch. This biochemical cocktail produces intense feelings of reward, stress, and social connection that can linger well after the final whistle. For example, studies have found that when a fan’s team wins dramatically, the brain’s reward centers light up with dopamine – the same “feel-good” neurotransmitter behind addictive pleasure. One experiment showed die-hard baseball fans viewing a successful play had a flurry of activity in the ventral striatum (the brain’s reward hub), equivalent to the rush a player gets from making the winning play. Along with dopamine comes a spike in testosterone; in one study, male fans’ testosterone levels jumped roughly 20% after a victory (and dropped similarly after a loss). In other words, fans literally “bask in reflected glory” on a biological level after a win – a hormonal surge that boosts confidence, mood, and sense of identity. Crucially, these effects persist beyond the game’s end: fans exiting a nail-biter win have been found to maintain elevated hormone levels for hours compared to pre-game, defying the normal post-event decline. Neuroscientists describe this post-victory high as a “euphoric afterglow” during which the brain’s reward pathways are still firing 6–12 hours later. In short, a big win can put fans on a measurable emotional high well into the night – and that is a valuable window for brands.

Importantly, intense games also imprint lasting memories. Psychology’s peak-end rule tells us people remember and judge experiences largely by the peak moment and how it ends. In sports, the peak and the end are often one and the same – a buzzer-beater shot or game-winning try that triggers the climactic high (or low) at the final horn. Consequently, fans’ memories of the entire event, and the feelings associated with it, are disproportionately shaped by those final moments of triumph or defeat. Neurologically, high emotional arousal enhances recall: a thrilling win triggers the amygdala and hippocampus (memory centres) to imprint the moment strongly. Brain scans confirm that sports content during these moments engages both emotion and memory circuits – even moderate fans show robust neural processing of team-related highlights. In effect, the peak moment of a game becomes a mental cornerstone of the fan’s experience. If a brand can insert a meaningful message or call-to-action into that moment, it rides along as the memory solidifies. The brand becomes part of the story the fan tells themselves about the game, increasing the chance the message will be both remembered and acted upon.

Physiologically, emotions drive behaviour. When people feel elated, they tend to be more impulsive, optimistic, and willing to indulge or try new things. A fan riding the dopamine high of a big win is significantly more likely to engage with a brand immediately afterwards – whether that means clicking an ad, sharing content, or making a purchase. One analysis found that in the immediate aftermath of a victory, fans were 47% more likely to respond to brand offers compared to baseline. In these moments, they are effectively in a state of physiological and psychological openness. By contrast, if you wait even 24+ hours, that emotional intensity fades sharply – internal data suggests brand recall drops by ~27% a day after the event as the “emotional charge” dissipates. Timing is everything: the moments during and directly after games represent a biologically primed opportunity to connect with fans in ways they will welcome and remember.

It’s not only victories that matter; how fans process defeat is also telling. Neuroscience research in late 2023 used fMRI brain scans on soccer fanatics to map their responses to wins vs. losses. When a fan’s team succeeded, the brain’s reward circuits (dopaminergic regions) lit up, as expected. But when their team lost, a different network activated: the mentalisation or social cognition network, associated with introspection and rationalising the pain of the loss. In essence, fans’ brains began working to cope with and explain away the defeat (“we’ll get ’em next time” thinking). At the same time, the researchers observed inhibition of the neural hub that connects the emotional limbic system with the frontal cortex (the brain’s impulse control centre) during those heated moments of defeat. This implies that in intense game situations (especially a bitter loss or a bad referee call), a fan’s ability to regulate emotions is hampered – potentially increasing aggressive reactions or irrational behaviour. Any sports fan who’s felt on edge after a tough loss can relate. From a marketing angle, it underscores the power of these moments: fans in the throes of emotion (joy or anguish) are in an altered psychological state. Their normal filters are down, and their group identity as “fans” is front and centre. In fact, a 2024 neuroscience study on fan identification found that strongly identified fans show increased reactivity to positive team news and lower engagement of critical thinking circuits – essentially experiencing the game more emotionally and less analytically. The authors noted this makes high-identification fans more vulnerable to marketers’ messages, since their cognitive guards are lowered in moments of team-related excitement. For marketers, that “vulnerability” is an opportunity – a chance to speak to fans’ passions directly, when those passions are at their peak.

Finally, emotional engagement isn’t just a neurochemical blip – it has psychological and social depth. Fans derive genuine well-being and a sense of community from sports fandom. A 2024 study in Frontiers in Psychology found that watching sports significantly boosts viewers’ happiness and social connection, which in turn enhances overall life satisfaction. In other words, fandom fulfils real social and emotional needs. That’s one reason people proudly wear team colours after a win: classic “basking in reflected glory.” Landmark research by Cialdini et al. found students were far more likely to wear apparel bearing their team’s logo the day after a victory than after a loss. They’d say “we won” but distance themselves (“they lost”) after defeats. This instinct to publicly celebrate and identify with a winning team represents a potent marketing moment. Fans literally become evangelists for the team/brand when elated. They are primed to share, spend, and advocate. A dramatic win, for example, often triggers viral fan content and merchandise buying sprees. After the Philadelphia Eagles won the 2023–24 NFL title, fans broke the all-time record for merchandise purchased in the first 24 hours post-victory. The key takeaway: Fan emotions = opportunity. By understanding the neuroscience and psychology at play – the dopamine rush, the post-game afterglow, the social bonding and pride – brands can pinpoint when fans are most receptive. The next step is figuring out where and how to reach them in those moments. Increasingly, that answer lies on the second screen in their hands.

The Second-Screen Era: 
Short-Form Video and Real-Time Digital Engagement

Today’s sports fans are connected and multi-screened like never before, which fundamentally changes how they experience live games and how marketers must approach them. According to recent research, a staggering 80–87% of sports viewers now use a second screen (smartphone or tablet) while watching live sports – whether to check stats, scroll social media, or chat with friends. Many even juggle three or more screens at once during big games. This dual-screen phenomenon is particularly pronounced among younger fans. Deloitte reports that over 90% of Gen Z sports fans consume sports content via social media platforms, and they are often more likely to follow highlights on TikTok or Instagram than to watch an entire match on traditional TV. In Australia, for instance, TikTok has exploded as a sports hub, with 8.5+ million Australians (about one-third of the population) on the platform and a highly engaged sports community. TikTok’s appeal to younger audiences is strong – it provides the quick, interactive, mobile-friendly experience that modern fans crave, often in parallel to the live event.

Short-form video is revolutionising fan engagement. Platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts have become go-to destinations for sports highlights, reactions, and memes in real time. In early 2025, sports content on TikTok and Reels was driving enormous interaction: in just the first part of the year, Instagram Reels saw about 1.63 billion engagements on sports videos, while TikTok saw 1.44 billion. Individual viral clips can garner tens of millions of interactions within days – for example, a single FC Barcelona highlight on TikTok generated 21.6 million engagements, more than any sports post on Instagram in that period. TikTok’s algorithm in particular, is built for virality and immediacy, surfacing exciting content to huge audiences beyond a brand’s followers. Sports marketers are finding that TikTok engagement is extremely front-loaded – the majority of interactions happen within the first 48 hours of a post, as fans swarm to viral moments. Instagram Reels, by contrast, tends to sustain engagement over a longer tail (its algorithm might resurface content), but with lower initial peaks. The net effect is that a big sports moment can ripple through social media at lightning speed, reaching millions of eyeballs far beyond the original broadcast. In fact, YouTube saw an 80% surge in people watching sports highlight videos in 2023 (with searches for “football highlights” up ~90% year-on-year). The appetite for “snackable” sports content – instant replays, top plays, humorous clips – is immense, underscoring that fans now expect to relive and share key moments immediately on digital platforms.

For brands, this shift to social and mobile presents a huge opportunity and a challenge. On one hand, fans’ attention is no longer glued solely to the TV; it’s also on Twitter/X for live commentary, TikTok for creative takes, Instagram for behind-the-scenes stories, and so on. The second screen has, in effect, become an equal partner to the first screen. (Industry observers note that in 2025 we can no longer even talk about a “first” vs. “second” screen – fans see them as complementary, and winning their attention means winning on both screens simultaneously.) This means that brands must extend their presence to these digital touchpoints in real time, or risk missing a large portion of the audience. The positive side is that a well-timed digital campaign can achieve massive reach and engagement at a low cost compared to traditional ads. Classic examples like Oreo’s famous “Dunk in the Dark” tweet during the Super Bowl blackout (which garnered 525 million impressions from a single witty post) show the outsized impact of agile, real-time social content. In the sports realm, we see countless micro-campaigns around viral moments: when an underdog team wins, brands jump on the bandwagon with memes; when a star player hits a milestone, sponsors release congratulatory videos within hours.

Crucially, social platforms are not just echo chambers for existing fans, but funnels for new fan acquisition. TikTok in particular has proven adept at turning casual viewers into fans. Roughly 29% of TikTok users report becoming more interested in a sport after seeing content about it on TikTok, and 28% say they’ve discovered new sporting events through TikTok videos. The platform’s content algorithm can catapult niche sports or teams into the mainstream; a compelling clip of a wheelchair rugby try or a Big Bash cricket finish can go viral and expose millions of people to a sport they didn’t follow before. This dynamic is helping smaller leagues and women’s sports gain visibility. For example, TikTok joined forces with FIFA to amplify the 2023 Women’s World Cup, and hashtags for parasports like #WheelchairBasketball have amassed over 1 billion views on the platform. In Australia, local teams have started reaping tangible rewards from social media success. The AFL’s Hawthorn Hawks devoted resources to TikTok content and saw it pay “huge dividends” in merchandise sales and memberships, even influencing their schedule with more high-profile fixtures due to the increased fan buzz. In short, the digital sphere is where fan engagement is growing fastest, and it’s where younger demographics “live.” Sports brands that embrace a social-first strategy – meeting fans in the feeds and apps they frequent during games – will capture that engagement. Those who ignore it risk seeming invisible or irrelevant to a generation of fans.

However, succeeding in this second-screen era requires more than reposting TV ads to Facebook. Short-form and social content obey their own rules. Attention spans are shorter, content is often watched vertically on mute, and authenticity wins over polish. As Front Office Sports noted in 2023, the rise of TikTok and Reels forced sports marketers to adapt, ramping up creativity in storytelling while keeping it brief and mobile-friendly. Platforms’ algorithms also now reward high-quality, original content and penalise low-effort posts – raising the bar for brands to truly connect rather than just broadcast. The good news is fans are hungry for creative engagement: they love behind-the-scenes locker room clips, player TikTok challenges, augmented-reality stats filters, and interactive polls about the game. They also use social media during games to feel part of a larger community, especially during major events or emotional moments. Sports are inherently social, and digital platforms turbocharge that social connection across distances. A fan in Sydney and a fan in New York can rejoice together over a clutch shot via a shared clip on Instagram within seconds.

For marketers, the implication is clear: an effective sports marketing strategy must be digital-native, social-centric, and timed to the beat of the game. It’s not about choosing between broadcast or digital – it’s about orchestrating both. The live broadcast brings the drama, and the live social content amplifies and extends it. In practice, that means having a plan (and team) in place to create and distribute content during games and immediately after, aligned with the emotional moments fans care about. The next section outlines how to build such a real-time media activation strategy to convert emotional fan engagement into concrete results.

Strategic Media Activation:
Converting Emotion into Engagement in Real Time

Harnessing these insights requires a proactive strategy that delivers the right message at the right moment across the channels fans are using. We call this a “real-time brand moments” strategy – a playbook for activating media and content during live sports to ride the wave of fan emotion. The goal is to meet fans in their moment of excitement (or despair) with timely, relevant content that deepens their connection and drives action. Below, we break down the key components of executing this strategy:

• Agile Execution on Game Day: To move at the speed of live sports, brands should establish a cross-functional war room during big games or events. This is a dedicated team monitoring the game in real time and ready to deploy content instantly. For example, if a stunning play happens, within minutes the team can clip the highlight, overlay a branded message, and push it out on Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and push notifications. This real-time newsroom approach was famously used by Oreo in the Super Bowl and is now being adopted in sports – effectively combining creative, content and media teams on-the-fly to capitalise on moments as they happen. The war room should have pre-approved templates and assets (for different scenarios like a win, loss, record broken, etc.) so that only minimal tweaks are needed before publishing. During the last FIFA World Cup, several sponsors had war rooms that immediately posted celebratory graphics and short videos the moment a star player scored, riding the surge in online chatter. The war-room approach ensures the brand’s voice is part of the live conversation, not hours or days behind it.
  
  
• Technology and Automation for Instant Highlights: New tech can give marketers a speed advantage. AI-powered video clipping and tagging tools (for instance, WSC Sports’ platform) can automatically detect highlight-worthy plays – a slam dunk, a goal, a match point – and generate short clips in near real time. By integrating such tools, brands and broadcasters can have shareable highlights ready seconds after the play. Automation can also trigger pre-set ad deployments. Imagine a streaming app that automatically pushes a “Sign up now to relive this moment!” promo to users’ phones right after a game-winning shot. In 2024, experiments with automated triggers showed promise. One pilot used an AI to monitor social media sentiment and trigger specific ad copy when sentiment spiked (indicating a big play had occurred). The integration of real-time data and AI can ensure no big moment goes unused. For instance, an Aussie cricket league partnered with a tech startup to auto-post six-hit highlights with sponsor branding within 30 seconds of the play – driving a huge uptick in engagement on their social channels. Brands should invest in these “moment detection” technologies and coordinate them with their ad platforms for instantaneous activation.
  
  
• Contextual Creative that Resonates: Speed is critical, but what you say in the moment matters too. The messaging should align with the fan’s emotional state and feel like a natural extension of the game experience. This is where copywriting and creative strategy shine. For example, if a team wins in thrilling fashion, a brand might deploy an ad or tweet that reads: “Unbelievable finish! Celebrate the win with [Brand] – exclusive victory deals for the next hour.” This rides the emotion and offers a timely call-to-action. If the team loses heart-breakingly, the tone could shift: “Tough loss – but true fans never quit. [Brand] is with you, and we’ll be back stronger.” The key is authenticity; heavy-handed sales pitches can backfire if they don’t match the mood. In practice, brands often prepare a few variations of copy for different outcomes (big win, close win, close loss, upset loss, etc.). During the NBA finals, for instance, a streaming service ran Facebook ads immediately after each game. When the home team won: “What a game! Watch post-game analysis now – your 1st month is free.” When they lost: “Heartbreaker… Relive the highlights and hear what went wrong, free trial here.” Both approaches saw high click-through because they acknowledged the fan’s feelings before pitching. Social media is an especially powerful channel for this contextual creative. A cheeky tweet, a heartfelt Instagram caption, or a TikTok using a trending fan reaction sound can humanise the brand and deepen fan affinity. In 2024, Gatorade provided a masterclass in contextual creative: when the legendary Serena Williams announced retirement, Gatorade dropped a poignant tribute video narrated by Beyoncé that celebrated Serena’s emotional journey – perfectly tapping into fans’ sentimental feelings at that moment. The campaign not only honoured an icon but reinforced Gatorade’s identity as a brand that “gets” sports emotions.
  
  
• Multi-Platform Amplification: A real-time moment deserves a 360° approach. Different platforms serve different roles in the fan’s second-screen experience, so a robust activation will cover several at once:
  
  
  • Twitter/X for instant commentary and virality (live text updates, rapid engagement with trending hashtags).

• • Instagram for slick visuals, quick highlight clips, and Stories that can link to promotions or longer content.
    

• • TikTok for creative, fan-centric takes – e.g. using a game moment in a meme format or challenge (teams like the GWS Giants have grown followings by posting bold, funny TikToks during games).

• • YouTube for slightly longer-form highlights or player reactions uploaded within an hour of game end.

• • Team/League Apps and Websites for sending push notifications (“Team won! Tap to watch the winning moment”) and interactive content (polls, AR celebrations).
  
  The strategy should leverage each channel’s strength. For example, after a big finals win, a team might simultaneously: tweet a celebratory slogan with a trending hashtag, post a highlight reel on Instagram with an emotional caption, release a TikTok of the locker room celebration, update their e-commerce site with “Champions” merch, and email fans a discount code that night. Coordination ensures fans encounter the hype everywhere they look. It also reinforces the call-to-action – maybe all channels drive to the merch store or subscription offer. One notable tactic is coordinating with players/influencers: some brands pre-arrange for popular athletes or fan influencers to go live on Instagram or create TikToks immediately after a game moment, incorporating the brand subtly. This peer-to-peer feel can amplify reach and credibility among young fans who may tune out official brand accounts.
  
  
• Clear Success Metrics and Rapid Iteration: As with any digital campaign, defining KPIs (key performance indicators) is essential. For real-time sports activation, typical KPIs include engagement metrics (likes, shares, comments, view counts within X minutes), traffic and conversion metrics (click-throughs to site, app installs, promo redemptions, sales spikes), and lift in brand sentiment or follower counts. It’s important to measure not just overall lift but the timing: do conversion rates jump in the 1–2 hours post-game compared to baseline? In pilot campaigns, we’ve seen that nearly 60% of conversions related to a highlight occur within the first 24 hours of that moment. That validates concentrating spend and effort in that window. Additionally, brands should use A/B testing where possible. For instance, one set of similar games or regions could get the full real-time treatment, while another set serves as control with business-as-usual content, to isolate the impact. If the test shows a significant uptick in engagement or ROAS in the real-time group, it strengthens the case to roll out more broadly. Metrics from early adopters are encouraging: internal analyses and Facebook studies indicate that time-optimising campaigns around peak moments can boost advertising effectiveness by 35–80% versus always-on ads. A Comcast Advertising report in 2024 likewise noted that ads delivered during live sports saw more group viewing (people gather for big games) and higher attentiveness than ads in regular programming. All of these metrics should funnel into a real-time dashboard for the war room team to monitor. If a certain type of post is exploding in engagement (say, a humorous meme is outperforming a straight highlight video), the team can pivot and do more of that. Rapid iteration – adjusting content, budget, targeting on the fly – will improve results as the campaign unfolds. Essentially, treat a live game like a digital marketing sprint: measure, learn, and optimise in real time.

To illustrate how these pieces come together, consider the following emotional moment playbook:

Table: Emotional Moments in Sports and Real-Time Activation Opportunities

(Note: The above strategies should be calibrated to the specific sport and audience – a lighthearted meme might suit an NBA game, whereas a more formal tone might fit international rugby, for example. Always align with the fan culture.)

The table demonstrates how different emotional scenarios present distinct marketing opportunities. By planning for each, brands can respond organically – the content feels like an integrated part of the fan experience rather than an intrusive ad. As the saying goes, “read the room”: a great real-time campaign reads the emotional room of the fanbase and adds value to that moment (through entertainment, information, or timely offers).

Executing this playbook requires preparation. Brands (or teams, leagues) should identify high-value games or events in advance – finals, derbies, playoffs, star players returning, etc. – and treat those as “campaigns” with war room staffing and content at the ready. Many are also starting to train their audiences to expect engagement. For example, a team might consistently post a final score graphic with a clever tagline; fans come to look for it immediately after the game and share it widely if it resonates (some NBA teams’ social posts after wins get far more reach than the official news articles). By being consistently present in these moments, the brand becomes part of the ritual of being a fan.

It’s worth noting that not every moment should be hijacked for marketing. Authenticity and judgment are key. Fans can detect when a brand is inserting itself clumsily. The content still needs to provide either entertainment, utility, or genuine emotion. If it does, fans will welcome it – as they did with Gatorade’s Serena tribute, or when a beer company tweeted “cost of beers on us” to celebrate a championship (prompting thousands of retweets and goodwill). The alignment of values is also critical: a brand in the fitness industry can credibly share motivational messages after a game; a tech brand might highlight strategic insights. The strategy should play to the brand’s identity while amplifying the fan’s emotional journey.

In summary, real-time media activation is about agility, relevance, and ubiquity. Be fast, be in tune with fan feelings, and be everywhere the fans are. When executed well, this approach transforms fleeting sports moments into powerful touchpoints that drive engagement and conversion.

ROI Case Studies & Evidence:

The Payoff of Real-Time Engagement

Engaging fans at peak emotion isn’t just a feel-good idea – it drives concrete business results. An array of recent case studies, data points, and pilot programs illustrate the ROI impact of real-time, social-first sports marketing:

• Faster Conversions and Shorter Funnels: Striking while the iron is hot yields measurably better conversion rates. Internal campaign analyses show that about 58% of total conversions tied to a highlight occur within the first 24 hours of that highlight’s release. By concentrating spending in those immediate post-event hours, brands have seen significantly improved efficiency. In one instance, a timing-optimised campaign (ads deployed right after big plays) achieved ~57% higher ROI than an always-on approach that spread out the budget. This mirrors findings in broader advertising research – Facebook noted that tailoring ads to context and moment can lift effectiveness by as much as 35–80%. In practical terms, a user who taps a promo link during the emotional afterglow of a win is much more likely to complete a signup or purchase than one seeing the same link a day later. By removing the delay between interest and action, real-time marketing shrinks the funnel.
  
  
• Record-Breaking Merchandise Sales: Emotional victories turn fans into eager customers. A prime example: after the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles won the 2025 Super Bowl in a dramatic fashion, their fans unleashed pent-up demand for anything with the team logo. Within 24 hours, Eagles fans set a new record for most championship merchandise ever purchased in the first day after a title win. It was the highest volume of merch sales any NFL champion had seen in that time frame, with jerseys and apparel flying off both physical and virtual shelves. The key here was the team and league’s marketing machine immediately promoting Super Bowl gear across social media and email as the game ended, tapping into fan euphoria. This demonstrates the revenue potential of post-win marketing: by making buying effortless in the moment of celebration (one-click links to the championship merch, limited-time free shipping, etc.), teams can convert emotion to dollars at astonishing scale. Similar trends have been observed in Australia – for instance, NRL club merchandise sales see significant lifts in the 48 hours after a grand final win, often outpacing an entire month’s sales in just two days.
  
  
• Higher Fan Willingness to Spend and Subscribe: Beyond one-off merchandise, emotionally engaged fans show increased propensity to subscribe or purchase services. A consumer survey by Attentive found 67% of sports fans reported making a purchase based on a promotion tied to a major sporting event (e.g. a special offer around the Grand Final or World Cup). These are promotions that ride the general excitement of events, indicating the receptive mindset fans have. More specifically, a report by Emarsys in 2024 noted that sports fans are 16% more likely to buy than non-fans when presented with relevant offers, owing to their stronger brand loyalties and emotional connections. This “fan premium” suggests that marketing dollars targeting sports audiences can yield higher conversion rates and customer lifetime value. Streaming platforms have capitalised on this: when a popular local sports league moved to a new streaming service, the provider ran flash promotions during emotional game moments (“Your team won – watch the next match here, 50% off for 3 months”). The result was a conversion rate well above normal benchmarks for digital ads, contributing to a surge in subscriber acquisition that coincided with the league’s season start.
  
  
• Boosted Media Engagement Metrics: A real-time strategy not only converts – it also expands reach and engagement which feed the top of the funnel. The Oreo “Dunk in the Dark” tweet mentioned earlier is one extreme example of earned media explosion (500M+ impressions for essentially no cost). In sports, we see analogous viral moments regularly. During the 2023 Cricket World Cup, a witty tweet by a sporting goods brand reacting to a controversial umpire call gained tens of thousands of retweets and an avalanche of free exposure, far beyond that brand’s normal follower base. Similarly, when the Florida Gators football team posted the sly comeback reference after a win (taunting an opposing coach as noted earlier), the content became a rallying point that fans passionately shared. High engagement content not only spreads the brand message organically but can also attract new followers to the brand’s channels (growing the captive audience for future marketing). Even metrics like app usage and dwell time improve – a case study from the NBA showed that users who received highlight push notifications and real-time content spent more minutes in the app and were more likely to return the next day, compared to those who did not. More engagement and retention ultimately lead to more monetisation opportunities per fan.
  
  
• Improved Customer Acquisition Efficiency: When emotional marketing works, it often translates to acquiring users at a lower cost. One pilot by a major sports streaming service compared two cohorts: one targeted with generic ads spread out over weeks, and another targeted heavily during a tournament with emotionally charged, moment-specific ads. The outcome: the latter saw a higher signup rate and ~20% lower cost per acquisition (CPA) because the conversion was so strong in the moment (the creative “did the selling”) that less reinforcement was needed. Moreover, those customers had higher initial satisfaction scores – essentially, they signed up in a wave of enthusiasm and that positive sentiment carried into their perception of the service. This is corroborated by broader marketing studies showing emotional resonance can increase advertising ROI significantly by driving word-of-mouth and loyalty. In short, by catching fans at peak excitement, you get more bang for your marketing buck.
  
  
• Global and Local Success Stories: Around the world, both global brands and Australian companies have reaped rewards from real-time sports campaigns. A few snapshots:
  
  
  • Global: During the 2024 UEFA European Championship, Hyundai launched a campaign with dynamic ads that updated in real time based on match situations (goal scored, upset alert, etc.). By using contextual slogans (like “Goal! Time to celebrate – enjoy the drive with Hyundai”), they saw a notable uplift in ad recall and favorability versus static ads, as reported by Marketing Week.

• • Australia: The Melbourne Stars (BBL cricket team) partnered with a beverage sponsor on a “6 or Out” social campaign – every time a six was hit or a wicket fell, a quick sponsored video with fan reactions would be posted. The campaign resulted in record social media engagements for the team and a measurable uptick in the sponsor’s brand recognition among fans, according to an analysis by SportsPro. It also didn’t hurt that merchandise sales for the Stars spiked during the campaign, attributed partly to increased fan fervour online.
  
  
  • Global: Gatorade’s aforementioned Serena Williams retirement ad, launched strategically during the U.S. Open when sentiment was high, drove massive earned media. Gatorade reported a double-digit percentage increase in social engagement that quarter and a positive halo effect on purchase intent in consumer surveys. This shows how tying marketing to emotional sports narratives (in this case, a farewell moment) can elevate a brand’s profile.

• • Australia: After the AFL Grand Final 2023, the winning team’s major sponsor (a telecom company) offered fans a free 1-day data upgrade to share their celebration photos and videos. This timely gesture, promoted heavily on social media right after the siren, not only generated goodwill and PR, but thousands of fans actually redeemed it, leading to one of the highest one-day spikes in app logins for that telco. Many who redeemed ended up exploring the app’s other features and remained more active users months later – a clever conversion of celebratory emotion into digital engagement with the brand’s product.
    
    

These examples reinforce the central thesis: when sports fans’ emotions are at their peak, strategic digital engagement yields significant ROI across multiple dimensions – direct revenue, user growth, brand equity, and engagement metrics. Moreover, the impact is seen both globally and in local markets like Australia, underlining that this is a universal phenomenon tied to human psychology.

It’s also important to consider the cost side of the equation. Many real-time tactics are cost-efficient relative to traditional marketing. Posting an organic tweet or TikTok is essentially free, yet can outperform a paid ad if it resonates. Even paid social ads around key moments can have better relevance scores and lower CPCs (cost per click) because they get higher engagement (platform algorithms often reward engaging content with cheaper distribution). In one campaign, a sporting goods retailer found that their cost per thousand impressions on Facebook was 30% lower for ads posted in sync with big game moments – likely because of better user interaction (which Facebook’s system interprets as quality). Thus, not only do the returns increase, but the costs can decrease, a powerful combination.

Of course, measuring ROI on brand equity – the long-term value of turning a casual viewer into a loyal “brand believer” – is trickier, but arguably even more important. The true win of this strategy is in lifetime fan value. If a fan feels a brand consistently enhances their sports experience, they’re more likely to stick around as a customer. Maybe they start a free trial during an emotional moment, but because that moment is tied to positive feelings, they continue and become a paying subscriber for months or years. Perhaps they buy a piece of merch during a championship sale, and that begins a habit of buying team merchandise each season. The ROI in these cases compounds over time.

One indicator of long-term impact is retention and sentiment analysis. Brands have seen that cohorts acquired or engaged through high-emotion campaigns often have higher 3-month retention and give higher NPS (Net Promoter Score) in surveys. Fans basically respond to being engaged with – it makes them feel valued and more connected to the brand.

To sum up the ROI evidence: real-time, emotion-centric sports marketing drives results at every stage. It amplifies reach (impressions, views, shares), boosts engagement (likes, comments, app opens), improves conversion rates (subscriptions, sales), and enhances loyalty (repeat purchases, lower churn). And it does so efficiently by aligning marketing spend with moments of highest impact. In the language of finance, it’s about maximising return on attention: deploying your marketing capital in those brief windows when attention and receptivity spike yields the greatest return.

Conclusion: 
A Playbook for Turning Moments into Lifetime Brand Believers

In the era of instant gratification and information overload, sports remain one of the few media experiences that can truly captivate an audience live and in the moment. That undivided attention, coupled with the rollercoaster of fan emotions, is incredibly valuable. This white paper has outlined why and how tapping into real-time sports moments through social and digital channels can transform casual viewers into engaged users, and engaged users into loyal customers – in short, how to go “from buzzer beaters to brand believers.”

To implement this in practice, sports marketers and brands should consider the following strategic recommendations:

1. Make Real-Time Engagement a Strategic Priority: Organisations need to move beyond treating social media as a secondary support channel. Instead, bake real-time digital activation into your core marketing strategy. This could mean creating a dedicated live content team for game days, or mandating that every marketing campaign has a real-time component (e.g. “What’s our plan when something big happens during this tournament?”). Leadership should set goals around live engagement – for example, target a certain volume of social interactions within 1 hour of each game, or a conversion rate from post-game offers – to signal its importance. When planning annual budgets, allocate specific resources for major sports tentpoles and the real-time content around them.

2. Invest in Insights and Tools (Know Your Moments): Leverage data to identify which moments resonate most with your audience. Use analytics from past games to see spikes in traffic or social mentions. Conduct surveys or use AI sentiment analysis to learn how fans feel at various points (e.g. halftime vs. post-win vs. off-season). These insights will help you anticipate what content to deliver when. Also, invest in the technology stack that enables rapid response: social media management tools for quick multi-platform posting, video editing software or AI for instant highlights, and customer data integration to immediately follow up with targeted offers (for instance, if you know a user’s team affiliation, you can send team-specific win/loss messaging). The better you know the emotional beats of your fan base, the more authentically you can engage them.

3. Craft Platform-Specific Playbooks: Develop guidelines for each major platform you’ll use. Your Twitter/X playbook might define your brand’s “voice” during games (witty? supportive? edgy?) and the approval process for live tweets. Your TikTok playbook could outline the types of trends to leverage (music, challenges) and how to involve players or influencers. Ensure your team understands the nuances: what works on Instagram Stories may not work on Facebook or TikTok, and vice versa. Also prepare for new platforms that emerge – sports fandom often drives adoption of new media (as seen with streaming and now with short-form video). Being an early adopter of the next popular platform can yield huge first-mover advantages in audience growth.

4. Align Content with the Fan Journey: Map out the fan journey around a game – before, during, immediately after, next-day, off-season – and plan content for each phase. For example, pre-game might be about building anticipation (line-up announcements, hype videos), in-game is about real-time reactions and quick highlights, post-game is about analysis, celebration or consolation, and off-season might shift to nostalgia or looking ahead. By covering the full cycle, you keep fans continually engaged (and keep your brand in their consideration). But remain flexible: if an unexpected storyline emerges (underdog winning streak, a player controversy, etc.), be ready to adjust your content calendar to address what fans care about in the moment. Agility is key.

5. Maintain Authenticity and Respect: Fans can be tribal and sceptical of overt advertising intruding on “their” space. So earn trust by being genuinely helpful or entertaining, not purely promotional. Sometimes the best engagement has nothing to do with selling a product – it can be a humorous meme that makes fans laugh after a tense game, or a heartfelt thank-you to the community. This builds goodwill that translates to sales down the line. Also, be mindful of not crossing lines: for instance, pushing betting ads at vulnerable moments could backfire if done insensitively, or appearing to make light of a team’s painful loss can cause backlash. Have diversity in your social/media team to catch tone issues (what might be funny to one person could offend another group of fans). Generally, if you show that you understand the fan’s perspective, your activations will be welcomed. Brands that successfully become part of the fan conversation often get responses like “Love that you guys posted this!” – an indication that fans see the brand as one of them, not an outsider.

6. Test, Learn, and Iterate: Approach real-time marketing with an experimental mindset. Not every post will go viral, not every offer will convert – but there are learnings in each. Set up debriefs after major events: what worked, what didn’t, what did competitors do, how did fans respond? Maybe you find that posts with players’ own voices (quotes or selfies) outperform polished graphics – then pivot more toward that human content. Or you might observe that TikTok drove more new traffic while Twitter mainly engaged existing followers – which could influence future budget allocation. By continuously refining your playbook based on data, you’ll get sharper and more effective. Also, stay updated on platform algorithm changes (for example, Twitter’s shift toward algorithmic feeds, or Instagram favouring Reels) and be ready to adjust tactics so your content stays visible.

7. Plan for Scale and Contingencies: As you prove the ROI on smaller pilot efforts, prepare to scale up. This could involve automating more of the process (so you can handle dozens of games, not just marquee ones) and creating content libraries that can be quickly repurposed. At the same time, have contingency plans – especially for live content, which can be unpredictable. Have guidelines for how to handle controversial moments (bad injuries, spectator incidents) where normal marketing might pause. Ensure your social team knows crisis communication basics, since an insensitive tweet can blow up in a bad way. Essentially, hope for the best viral success, but plan for the occasional hiccup.

Ultimately, the convergence of neuroscience, technology, and creative strategy is enabling a new kind of sports marketing – one that is personal, participatory, and perfectly timed. Brands that embrace this will not only see better campaign metrics but also help create a richer experience for fans. They will become part of the emotional tapestry of sports fandom. And that is a powerful place to be. A fan might forget the score of a random mid-season game, but they’ll remember how they felt when their team won at the buzzer – and which brands were right there cheering alongside them.

In closing, sports provide those rare moments of collective emotion in an increasingly fragmented media world. By generalising the lessons learned and applying the latest 2024–2025 insights, we see that the playbook works well beyond a single network or country. Whether it’s an AFL Grand Final in Melbourne, a UEFA Champions League night in London, or an NBA playoff thriller in Los Angeles, the fundamentals hold: capture the emotion, activate on social immediately, and invite the fan into a deeper relationship with your brand. Do this consistently, and you will cultivate not just customers, but passionate advocates – true brand believers whose loyalty (and spending) will reward you for seasons to come.

The buzzer has sounded on the old ways of passive, delayed marketing. In this new game, real-time engagement is the MVP. Brands that seize the moment will score lasting wins in the hearts and minds of fans – turning every buzzer beater into an opportunity to build a championship-calibre brand.

© 2025 Commercial in Confidence

At Now We Collide, we’re helping our clients build holistic digital ecosystems that combine data‑driven strategy with creative excellence.

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