Digital Sport Trends 2018: The threats to digital in the new year

As the festive period fades away and becomes little more than a hazy memory, the time for looking back over 2017 has ended and looking forward to 2018 is the new stock in trade for anyone enthusiastic enough to be energised about a new year in digital sport.

Early January is a time when resolutions are still being kept, but even if they fall by the wayside in the next few weeks, many in the sports industry can see a fruitful year ahead.

To kickstart the turning of the calendar, we at Digital Sport have asked a number of professionals from across the industry for their highlights of the year that was, as well as their thoughts on what’s to come over the next 12 months or so.

Earlier this week, we had a look at the opportunities our participants could see in the year ahead, and saw that there was a trend in the answers, as esports and live-streaming are seen as presenting a chance for the industry to continue to grow in the coming months. Today, we’re looking at the other side of the coin.

Threats

Yet again, another trend appeared in how those in the industry see the near future.

There are similar threats that rear their heads every year: will live-streaming present a problem for broadcasters, will younger audiences switch off, or will industry-leaders be slow to react to vital needs? But on the whole, there’s an unmistakably positive vibe to the responses when we asked the question this year: Threats? What threats?

Sure, there are keen threats to each specific sector, and a changing landscape will always present problems ahead. But over the last 10 years, digital media has grown from being a sideshow to being simply integral to success. No longer should clubs, teams and leagues have a ‘digital strategy’ – now it should really just be called the ‘strategy’. If you’re trying to reach fans, there’s really only one place to do it by now, and that’s on social media and online.

And as such, there are plenty out there who simply don’t see a pitfall for digital media within sport in the coming year. There will be ups and downs for specific organisations, of course, and that’s not to say that there’s room for complacency. But now that the world has become more and more about what happens on digital media, there’s really room only for growth for those who are innovative enough to take it.

As we move into the second week of 2018, then, and towards the middle of its first month, there are plenty who think that our enthusiasm for the future shouldn’t dampen along with the excitement for the new gym membership or healthy diet.

If you’d like to find out more from the report then click on the link below to download your own copy of it…
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2018 Digital Sport Trends Report

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About author

Chris McMullan
Chris McMullan 831 posts

Chris is a sports journalist and editor of Digital Sport - follow him on Twitter @CJMcMullan_

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