How Short-Form Content Has Taken Over Sports and Entertainment

As with any new type of media, it took time for sports clubs and entertainment companies to fully embrace short-form content. Gen Z and Alpha might regularly cringe at the attempts by some of these brands to reach new audiences, but the mainstream has now fully embraced a different way of marketing.

What was once an optional extra way of reaching potential fans and customers has now become almost the default setting. Sports teams will flood social media with short-form videos, and other entertainment brands, such as legacy TV channels and even the latest online casinos, look to attract followers and fans this way.

What is the reason behind this shift in marketing and content, though? Is it simply chasing the younger generations and their financial muscle and influence? Here’s how short-form content took over the sports and entertainment media worlds.

Watching Sports

The biggest broadcasting and streaming platforms still view live sports as a big thing. Billions of dollars are spent on securing the rights to show full games, and even the chance to show extended highlights is still treasured by these companies. But there has been a definite shift towards more short-form content as well.

As in the entertainment world (and there has also been a lot of crossover between sports and entertainment in recent years), sports teams and leagues see short-form video content as a key way of attracting and retaining fans. Watching a live game is still important, but much shorter clips are just as important in maintaining a high media profile.

Vertical Format

We are now way past the point where younger generations have never known a time before smartphones. These devices have become an integral part of just about everyone’s lives, and we have gotten used to viewing in a completely different format. Television formats, such as 16:9, were always the common way of viewing – but that is no longer the case.

Those television-style formats were based on the natural human field of view, so sports and entertainment media pushed that technology. But smartphones and social media have changed all that. TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube have normalized vertical viewing, and now younger fans expect to watch content in that way.

Second Screen

It is important to note that the rise of short-form content and vertical viewing has not come at the expense of more traditional ways of consuming entertainment and watching sports. Short-form content may be overly popular with younger generations, but even those who are a little older have welcomed second screening into their lives.

Second screening has become incredibly common, with people watching more traditional formats on larger screens, while also using smartphones to add to the experience. This means that the short-form content on these devices has grown, without the original experience being diminished.

Following Trends

The main reason why sports and entertainment brands are producing so much short-form content is that they are desperate to remain relevant with the younger generations. Although there are obviously many younger people who watch sports in the more traditional ways, short-form is increasingly popular and important.

Following trends is everything in the short-form content world, and that has sometimes resulted in established brands producing videos and reels that may not even make much sense to some. Following trends can be an unforgiving business, of course, but the fear of missing out on an audience with disposable wealth ensures that these brands continue their attempts.

Fan Engagement

One of the main reasons why short-form content is so valued by sports and entertainment brands is that fan engagement is a far more important factor of viewership and fandom these days. There used to be a time when broadcasters showed games and shows, with the audience very much experiencing a one-way relationship.

Now fans of sports teams, TV shows, and even other entertainment brands like casinos expect to enjoy a much more give-and-take experience. Short-form content, via social media, is a much easier way of doing this, and the number of followers and likes can easily be translated into larger profits for the brands.

Clips for Content

It could be argued that short-form clips and content have become even more important than the shows and media they originate from for many brands. It is on social media platforms such as TikTok where a subscription-paying audience can be reached, making the clips the most important part of the process.

The main goal will always be getting more people to purchase subscriptions or visit websites, but these brands are looking for potential new demographic audiences, and they are commonly younger. As those younger generations are the biggest consumers of short-form content, it is only natural that they are targeted in this way.

Short-Form to Remain Relevant

This new social-first, short-form content way of attracting a wider audience is not designed to completely take over. It is simply a recognition of how younger generations have changed the way we all now consume sports and entertainment. With AI being integrated even more in the future, it is a form of media that is not going to go away.

Entertainment and sports brands have learned that they must evolve and adapt to newer ways, and keep in touch with original and modern ways of engagement and media consumption. Although we will probably never get to a point where short-form is the only way people enjoy sports and entertainment, its relevance and importance will only grow.