很少有东西能像体育一样吸引观众，2023 年的体育也没有让人失望。体育界的头条新闻层出不穷，每一条都将体育在球迷、赞助商和广告商心目中的形象提升到新的高度。
部分亮点包括
- The final in the ninth FIFA Women’s World Cup was the first to not feature either the U.S. or Germany.
- 2023 MLS 赛季是与 Apple TV 签订的为期 10 年的新电视转播权协议的第一个赛季。
- 梅西（Lionel Messi）在宣布与国际迈阿密足球俱乐部（Inter Miami FC）签约仅六天后，就在今年的联赛杯（Leagues Cup）上踢进了一粒制胜任意球，为他加盟国际迈阿密足球俱乐部拉开了序幕。
- 采用投球计时后，MLB 比赛平均缩短了 24 分钟。
- 美国橄榄球联盟周日票在 YouTube 上首次亮相。
- 奥运会宣布了 2024 年巴黎夏季奥运会的四个新项目：破冰、攀岩、冲浪和滑板。
- 在执教科罗拉多大学橄榄球队的第一年后，《体育画报》将 Prime 教练评为年度最佳运动员。
- 泰勒-斯威夫特（Taylor Swift）和堪萨斯城酋长队近端锋特拉维斯-凯尔斯（Travis Kelce）之间萌生的恋情扩大了 NFL 及其比赛的知名度。
撇开头条新闻不谈，观众在电视上参与体育活动仍然是今年的主要消遣，美国球迷在观看美国收视率最高的五大体育联盟的比赛时长超过 8870 亿分钟。虽然总体上令人印象深刻，但观看 NFL 比赛的时间占总时间的 55%。
From a viewership perspective, nothing attracts audiences like the Super Bowl, and the matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles for Super Bowl LVII was the second-most watched game in league history. In total, audiences watched just under 25 billion minutes of the matchup. And given the immense popularity of the NFL, playoff and Thanksgiving games accounted for the other nine most-watched games of the year. And what’s more, this year’s Thanksgiving games all attracted significant percentages of viewers who watched away from home.
In addition to satiating the needs of football fans, this year’s NFL games are helping fill the void caused by a lack of new primetime programming as a result of the writers strike. Compared with last year, all of this season’s Monday Night Football games are being aired on ABC in addition to ESPN and ESPN2—making it the only day of the week with one game that’s aired on multiple channels.
这一调整对收视率起到了促进作用，ABC 电视台的比赛吸引了比去年同期传统黄金时段节目更多的观众。以今年第四周的对决为例，ABC 电视台的收视率为 870 万，而去年同期在 ABC 电视台播出的两个节目的收视率仅为 570 万。泰勒-斯威夫特（Taylor Swift）与特拉维斯-凯尔斯（Travis Kelce）的恋情也吸引了更多女性观众。
赞助为品牌带来巨大价值
Fans weren’t alone in enjoying the action of the 2023 year in sports. Brands, always eager to partner with opportunities that broaden their exposure with new and existing audiences, continued to benefit from the growing sponsorship opportunities available to them. 2023 was the inaugural year for sponsorship patches on baseball team uniforms, and two of the year’s most valuable brand activations were on MLB jerseys. Across the league, Avnet benefited the most, aided by the fact that its sponsorship involved the Diamondbacks, who competed in the World Series. In total, the top 10 most valuable sports sponsorships delivered more than $259 million in media value1 for brands in 2023.
Brands aren’t the only beneficiaries of the exposure that media delivers to the sports world. The teams themselves also benefit, especially when it comes to social media. And while the Golden State Warriors have perennially been the leader in social media value, Lionel Messi joining Inter Miami FC catapulted the MLS squad to the top of the list this year. In fact, the average simulated value2 of a post for the team was more than twice that of one from the Warriors.
体育产业为 2024 年的到来做好了充分准备，观众和品牌的粉丝群体不断壮大。然而，体育无可否认的吸引力，加上观众对流媒体内容的参与度越来越高，加剧了转播权的竞争--这一因素可能会影响休闲观众的收视率。
例如，对于真正的 NFL 球迷来说，观看每场比赛都需要访问多个传统广播频道、访问 Amazon Prime Video 和订阅 YouTube 上的 Sunday Ticket。同样，纽约洋基队的球迷如果想观看 2023 赛季的所有比赛，也需要访问广播、有线电视、Amazon Prime 和 Apple TV。真正的体育迷一般都会去看比赛的地方，但如果采用点菜、逐场比赛的方式，则很难实现体育观赏的全面增长。
Through the lens of the audience, finding ways to ease sports viewers’ transition to streaming will be critical. The way in which ESPN is approaching NHL games is a good example, as it provides access to more than 1,050 out-of-market games from every team on its subscription ESPN+ service, while broadcasting another 100 games exclusively across ESPN, ESPN+, Hulu and ABC. The Apple TV-MLS deal is another stand-out, as it provides a consistent service and experience for nearly all MLS games. Sports remain the biggest draw for TV audiences, but ensuring that they can find the games they want without having to continue adding services and fees will be critical in the long run.
备注
1 Nielsen Sports’ Quality Index Media Value is the calculated media value of the live broadcast exposure received by the sponsor.
2Simulated social media value refers to the value of a post if a team were to sell a sponsorship for it.
