Sports participation and digital media insights report

Gemba analysed sports participation and digital media consumption trends, and explored best-practice examples, to understand what support Sport New Zealand can provide in helping its stakeholders improve their digital media strategies.

Key insights

• Participants use social media and digital channels for sports consumption more than non‑participants; as such, digital channels are important for engaging with relevant audiences and can provide a pathway for increasing participation further. A digital strategy is therefore important across all sports.
• Increased digital ownership (i.e. ownership of a smartphone / internet connectivity) does not always translate into increased consumption via apps, demonstrating that it is not enough to rely on a participant having access to a relevant platform – organisations need to provide a reason for participants to actively engage with content via those digital platforms.
• Those participants who are more engaged with sport (e.g. a fanatic, a member, a volunteer) are more likely to consume sport via digital and social media channels, once again highlighting the importance of a digital strategy.
• A large number of New Zealand sports organisations focus their social media content around their high‑performance assets. Greater diversification of content could enable participants to both follow their role models within the sport, as well as learn more about how they too can participate. For example, an athlete can share content around how they first got involved in the sport at a grassroots level.
• A digital strategy need not be complicated; its priority is to provide relevant, up‑to‑date information to its existing and potential participants via accessible channels. All content needs to add value to the users’ experience.

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