GSIQ THOUGHT LEADERSHIP SERIES · PART 3 OF 3

Written by Nicole Hollomon, Managing Partner, United States

In Part One of this short series, I looked at the foundational research needs of emerging sports properties.

In Part Two, I identified four areas of research that can make or break a start-up league or competition – and help them stand out from the competition.

In this piece, I take a look at the common pitfalls emerging properties need to avoid when it comes to conducting research.

01

Connected programs beat isolated studies

Many properties commission research. Far fewer build the connected measurement program they need to sustain or maximize their property.

I have seen organizations commission several individually credible studies that produced different definitions of the same audience. The problem was not that any one study was poor. It was that no one had designed them to work together.

One project may measure broadcast audiences one way, another may use a different segmentation model for sponsor research, and a third may apply another set of assumptions to host-market value.

Each study may be reasonable on its own. Taken together, they can create competing versions of the audience, conflicting estimates of value, and no credible trend line.

A connected program starts with shared definitions, documented data sources, a consistent set of core measures, and a clear distinction among observed behavior, modeled value, and stated intent.

The studies can then answer different questions without creating competing versions of the business.

As the property moves beyond its opening seasons, its evidence should be accumulating – not being reconciled. Leaders should be able to show where the property started, how it has developed, and which outcomes are beginning to repeat.

02

Evidence is not a substitute for a sustainable business

Measurement alone cannot make a sports property successful.

It cannot repair an unsustainable cost structure, solve inadequate capitalization, compensate for weak leadership, or persuade audiences to embrace a product they do not value.

What it can do is replace some assumptions and anecdotes with evidence.

It can help leaders distinguish a product problem from an awareness problem. It can show whether strong attendance is creating value for sponsors. It can identify which audiences offer realistic growth potential. It can give investors and partners a clearer view of both progress and risk.

Most importantly, it helps ensure that a promising property does not enter critical negotiations relying solely on the other party’s data.

Without its own evidence base, a property may find that sponsors, media partners, investors, and host markets define its value on their terms and through their numbers.

At that point, the property is not negotiating as a partner with evidence. It is pitching a narrative and at this point is likely to lose out.

03

Value the evidence base as highly as the marketing

If I could change one thing about how emerging properties budget, it would be this: stop treating measurement as a reporting cost and start treating it as commercial infrastructure.

Marketing helps create awareness and attract an audience. Measurement tells you what that audience means, how it is changing, and where value is actually being created.

That evidence matters at renewal, at the media-rights table, in the next funding discussion, and in conversations with prospective host markets.

A property that spends heavily to generate interest but lightly to understand and prove that interest is building an asset it may struggle to value – or fully monetize.

The launch period offers a limited chance to establish the baselines that future decisions will depend on. Use it to understand the audience, improve the product, document commercial delivery, and build a connected account of value.

Novelty wins the meeting but evidence wins the renewal.

If you want to find out more about how research can give your property or event the best chance of prospering, please get in touch. 

contact@gsiq.com