Life is expensive.
If you’ve looked at your cable bill recently, you’ve noticed prices continue to rise. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the average basic cable cost was $22.35 in 1995, but in 2012, the cost for the same service rose to $61.63. Many consumers would love to cut out cable, but live sports content has been holding them hostage.
Millions of people are ditching their cable service in favor of new mobile streaming options. YouTube has quickly become a leader in online sports content as a result. Putting together the internet’s best sports-related channels and content creators, The Whistle Sports Network offers refuge to those who are running from cable. Since its January launch, Whistle Sports has racked up over 9 million subscribers and more than 1.3 billion views through a network of 208 channels.
“About four years ago, I started to notice how my kids were consuming video-based content, and I couldn’t believe how different it was,” John West, Chief Executive Officer of The Whistle Sports Network, told Sporting News.
“Millennials have their own versions of media. It really sparked the idea to create what has evolved into our network.”
Brands see this network as the perfect forum to reach millennials through digital sports content. As this demographic moves away from television sets and solely onto mobile devices, marketers must also shift their focus. Partnerships with the NFL, MLB, NASCAR, PGA Tour, MLS, and others have attributed to Whistle Sports’ massive growth.
“The ecosystem continues to evolve,” said Jeff Urban, Whistle Sports Network’s Co-Founder.
“We are building a sales organization within the company to seek out brands looking to connect with our audience demographic. Our focus is in two main areas: 1. Branded content opportunities and 2. Power verticals in certain areas like basketball, soccer, trick shots, lacrosse, etc. We would then be able to provide a marketing and advertisement environment for those brands that want to direct their message to those verticals.”
As younger sports fans continue consuming high volumes of mobile sports content, more brands will turn to mobile content networks, like Whistle Sports, for marketing help. Bigger partnerships are certainly on the horizon, with the opportunity to harness the future buying power of the millennials.
For these networks, the best is yet to come.