{"id":7294,"date":"2026-01-20T03:21:54","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T22:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/sports-leagues-and-broadcasters-must-tailor-engagement-strategies-for-gen-z\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T03:21:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T22:21:54","slug":"sports-leagues-and-broadcasters-must-tailor-engagement-strategies-for-gen-z","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/sports-leagues-and-broadcasters-must-tailor-engagement-strategies-for-gen-z\/","title":{"rendered":"Sports Leagues and Broadcasters Must Tailor Engagement Strategies for Gen Z"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"_7uU-JuqmhI\"><iframe title=\"Sports Leagues and Broadcasters Must Tailor Engagement Strategies for Gen Z\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_7uU-JuqmhI?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/cathy-rasenberger-3300a39\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Free Live Sports president Cathy Rasenberger\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Free Live Sports president Cathy Rasenberger<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> argues that sports leagues and broadcasters need to adapt to the ways <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.streamingmedia.com\/Articles\/Editorial\/Featured-Articles\/How-the-Gen-Z-Playbook-Is-Reshaping-Next-Gen-Sports-Streaming-170812.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"how the gen z playbook is shaping next-gen sports streaming\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gen Z viewers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> consume content\u2014short-form, social, athlete-centric storylines\u2014if they want to engage and retain younger audiences in this discussion with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mattstagg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"MTech Sport, Media &amp; Entertainment consultant Matt Stagg\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MTech Sport, Media &amp; Entertainment consultant Matt Stagg<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/peterscott5\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Play Anywhere CSO Pete Scott\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Play Anywhere CSO Pete Scott<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jongiegengack\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Hub Entertainment Research principal Jon Giegengack\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hub Entertainment Research principal Jon Giegengack<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.streamingmedia.com\/Conferences\/Connect2025-Dec\/Default.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Streaming Media Connect 2025\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Streaming Media Connect 2025<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Going Where the Viewers Already Are<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stagg asserts that broadcasters are waiting for people to watch sports like they used to, which is a lazy strategy because viewing habits have changed. He wonders how they should be planning engagement strategies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rasenberger notes, \u201cFrom my <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.freelivesports.tv\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"free live sports\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">point of view<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, I think it\u2019s got to be ubiquitous. You have to go where your viewers are, and Gen Z viewers are not watching SVOD or traditional linear cable or broadcast. They are watching short form, they\u2019re watching clips, they\u2019re watching highlights, and it\u2019s on social media and it\u2019s on FAST and it\u2019s on YouTube.\u201d The professional leagues understand this\u2014if they don\u2019t have a strategy that reaches all of the different demographic groups, they won\u2019t reach them at all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.streamingmedia.com\/Articles\/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=171730\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Monetizing Sports on FAST: A Q&amp;A With Free Live Sports&#039; Cathy Rasenberger and Amagi&#039;s Srinivasan KA\">Rasenberger\u2019s FAST platform<\/a> is \u201clayering on top an SDK that uses short-form video to engage younger fans. It\u2019s called Glued In. And it enables community interaction, gamification, rewards, betting data, and moderated UGC, and it\u2019s vertical. So you can share it onto social media.\u201d This aids in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.streamingmedia.com\/Articles\/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=173133\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"How to Fight Sports Streaming Fragmentation Fatigue\">content discovery<\/a>: \u201c[If y]ou want to bring young people in, do it in the language they speak, which is short-form video, and then sell them up on the longer-form content.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scott builds on this point by providing the example of ESPN\u2019s app. \u201cThere\u2019s a section called <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/support.espn.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/40378390026004-What-are-Verts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"what are verts\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verts<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. So it\u2019s Home, Scores, Verts. And Verts is literally vertical video. A lot of that\u2019s being powered by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/wsc-sports.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"WSC Sports\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WSC Sports<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to basically understand that the audience is looking at vertical content.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He agrees with Rasenberger that you need to go where the audiences are. It\u2019s also important to be \u201crespectful of how they consume their content, and then roll it up as much as you can into the live experience.\u201d Scott discusses the failure of the World Cup\u2019s recent draw to make a big splash. \u201cThat was just the cards that were dealt,\u201d he concedes. \u201cBut think about the storylines, think about the players. It\u2019s almost like a movie business now. If you start six months out before the release, and if you\u2019re not dropping a little tease about the actor or the storyline or behind-the-scenes video, people just won\u2019t be interested in it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Community-Building as a Boon for Engagement\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scott believes that upcoming events will provide opportunities for better engagement: the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.streamingmedia.com\/Articles\/Post\/Blog\/How-Super-Bowl-Ad-Playbook-Will-Change-in-2026-172975.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"super bowl ad playbook for 2026\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Super Bowl<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.streamingmedia.com\/Articles\/News\/Online-Video-News\/Milano-Cortina-2026-Winter-Olympics-Host-Broadcaster-Rules-Out-Remote-Production-173132.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"olympics host broadcaster rules out remote production\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Olympics<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, etc. \u201cYou\u2019ll start to see, I hope, broadcasters engaging audiences in multiple places where they know they can get audiences to respond,\u201d he says. In addition, making money from these efforts is an important aspect: \u201cHow do we placate a large sponsor like a Coca-Cola or [a] FIFA?\u201d He believes AI will play a role. \u201cAI is going to basically start to match the content with the person and the particular personalized ad. And I think you\u2019re going to see a lot of interest around that.\u201d Scott foresees a marriage between personalization and monetization on multiple platforms.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rasenberger concurs. \u201cYeah, I think you hit the nail on the head. I think that now younger audiences follow the athlete. They don\u2019t necessarily follow the team as much. So they want to know[, for example,] what does that athlete eat during the day? What do his bio rhythms look like?\u201d She says they follow these details like they would follow any social media influencer\u2019s output.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Giegengack adds, \u201cIt\u2019s kind of a shift from serving an audience to serving a community, and people that are fans of football, or better yet, people that are fans of a specific team, they want to know everything that\u2019s going on.\u201d He cites the NFL draft as something that\u2019s become a massive event, along with the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/combine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"NFL Combine\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NFL Combine<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. \u201cWhen it began, they just put [the Combine] on TV just because, but without realizing that people, especially in the off-season, will eat this stuff up. And I think that the range of things that fans will watch to feel part of that community is huge. And it\u2019s a really, really good sign even for the big sports because now you have stuff that will keep these people engaged and maybe even become more engaged in the off-seasons while there\u2019s no games to watch. And that used to be a struggle when all you had to work with was linear TV, but now there\u2019s no shortage at all of ways to keep people engaged while it\u2019s in the off-season.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.streamingmedia.com\/Conferences\/Connect2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Join us February 24\u201326, 2026 for more thought leadership, actionable insights, and lively debate at Streaming Media Connect 2026! Registration is open!\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Join us February 24\u201326, 2026 for more thought leadership, actionable insights, and lively debate at Streaming Media Connect 2026! 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Entertainment consultant Matt Stagg, Play Anywhere CSO Pete Scott, and Hub Entertainment Research [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-live-session"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paknews.centers.pk\/ur\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}