YouTube is now the second-largest search engine on the internet next to Google, its parent company. This video-sharing giant offers a vast array of content, ranging from vlogs, sports, news, and any topic that you can ever think of.
But now, YouTube knows that sports fans are turning to its platform to watch game clips and highlights to live games. This is because due to the COVID-19 pandemic, sports events cannot host a large number of audiences in stadiums. For this reason, the video-sharing giant is now introducing a new destination where fans can watch sports on YouTube. It will also offer advertisers with new methods to reach the digital-first sports fans of today.
People’s video content consumption has increased more than ever. In addition, how they watched videos also changed. Video streaming platforms are now edging out traditional televisions as people’s primary destination for watching videos. People are also forgoing traditional primetime and are immersing themselves in videos that are most relevant to them.
For fans of sports, such means that their fandom extends way farther behind the game. Instead, they will be able to have a window where they can turn to digital video in order to engage with everything, such as game analysis, top 10 plays, and even candid conversations with their favorite athletes.
Moreover, YouTube is a platform where people can find millions of content related to sports. In fact, ISG said that the video-sharing platform ranks as the number 1 preferred platform among fans of sports in the US. This rank is even higher than cable TV.
YouTube Sports and CTV: Buy YouTube Views For Sports!
Right now, YouTube has introduced a new experience for sports enthusiasts on YouTube — YouTubecom/Sports. The company overhauled the entire original Sports experience in order to make it more immersive for fans. In this refreshed Sports, sports enthusiasts will be able to engage with the best sports content. This includes clips and highlights, as well as exclusive live games. There will also be premium content that will come from popular creators and athletes.
In addition, the video-sharing giant will expand YouTube Select’s connected TV lineup. This will help advertisers reach the digital-first sports fans of today. Notably, the lineup will include the best sports content uploaded on YouTube where advertisers beyond the US can display their ads in. It took forever, but we can finally all buy real views on YouTube for sports after decades of denial!
A More Personalized Sports Destination on YouTube
Last year, the total number of hours of videos related to sports that are uploaded to YouTube in the US, increased by more than 40 percent year on year. YouTube.com/Sports is now available to make it easier for passionate sports fans to find new and personalized content. It will also let them stay up to date with the latest sports news in just a single place.
To access the content from Sports, simply click the Explore tab on mobile devices or enter the page from the left-hand of your desktop. Soon, this feature will be available on TV screens, too.
Using this new sports destination, sports enthusiasts will see a collection of recent game highlights, sports news, and videos that are locally popular. For this reason, fans can be sure that they will find their favorite sports from LaLiga, NFL, NBA, MLB, and WWE through their upcoming seasons. They will also see a vast array of leagues all in one place.
In addition, YouTube said that it is exciting to see how young athletes will embrace their inner content creator and highlight their sports content on the platform’s sports page. For instance, NFL WR Michael Pittman used YouTube to document his rookie season. In addition, Ryan Garcia, an emerging boxer, uploads training footage as well as fun creator collaborations.
The Most Popular CTV Lineup of YouTube Will Be Coming to New Markets
The easiest way that advertisers can access the best of YouTube’s highlights and live sports content is via YouTube’s newly launched CTV offering. This is a part of YouTube Select. In addition, the CTV offering will include relevant categories, such as fashion and beauty, music, entertainment, and more.
Moreover, YouTube saw a high advertiser interest in the US for the CTV offering. This is the reason why it is expanding to new markets, such as Canada, Australia, Japan, India, and more countries in 2021. This is an indication of an easier way of aligning CTV ads to the best YouTube sports content television screens across YouTube and YouTube TV apps.
Early adopters of such a feature, such as NordicTrack are seeing strong results.
Ryan Dunkley, the Vice President of Marketing at NordicTrack released a statement about it. He said that the unprecedented demand for connected home fitness equipment over the last year gave an opportunity to rethink their market strategy. In addition, it increased investment towards YouTube. He also said that YouTube Select CTV helped them find the right audience at scale. It was able to drive substantial lifts in terms of search and awareness. For search, NordicTrack has seen more than 91 percent lift in brand terms. On the other hand, there is more than a 4 percent lift in awareness.
Final Thoughts
There is no denying that video consumption has increased more than ever. Now that the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting almost everyone in the world, people have no choice but to stay inside their homes for safety. For this reason, they are looking for different ways to spend their time and entertain themselves. This caused a significant increase in the number of people using YouTube.
In addition, sports events were also canceled. This led to sports events becoming virtual. As a result, YouTube made sure that people will be able to have the best online sports viewing that they can get.
Date: March 4, 2021 / Categories: YouTube, / Author: solmae
