If you’ve been planning to put on a sporting event, you might be a little concerned that sporting participation has fallen by around 30% over the last few years, according to a recent study.
But while it’s true that sporting events have seen less interest, a significant reason for this is due to the financial issues facing the world at the moment. As of 2023, fear of inflation has spread from country to country, leading many people to have to cut back on costs and only spend on the essentials.
In terms of your own sporting event, the same problems may not apply – it should cost less to watch your own event than it would be to watch a Liverpool vs Spurs game at Wembley, for instance. But that doesn’t mean that you should relax when it comes to your own audience.
In order to pull off a mass participation event without a hitch, you need to ensure that it is organised properly and that you have given people a reason to take part. With this in mind, here are a few points your organisation needs to think about in order to make it a success:
Choose The Right Events Organiser
The first thing you need to do is ensure that the event itself is going to be good. Success is not how many people turn up, but how many people walk away happy and entertained by the day’s events. An approval rate is critical for your organisation, especially if you are looking to put on more than one event.
To do this, you need to go with experience and find mass participation sports organisers that are capable of exciting, engaging and influencing individuals on a wide level. By working together with an organisation like this, you know that the end product – the event itself – is secure and ready to be enjoyed.
Choose The Right Sport
Secondly, sport is nothing without the spectators, and this is no different when it comes to your own event. Of course, you need to have participants, but you also need to secure a seismic crowd to create the atmosphere and get the community talking.
In order to do this, you need to ensure that you choose the right sport that connects with the area in which the event is being hosted. Make sure you communicate with the locals and get a feel for what they would like to be watching before you put anything into action.
Focus Your Story
Another way to draw in participation is with a story that will connect with people on an emotional level. This will involve working out how to write engaging web content that tells that story, engaging your audience before they’ve even stepped out of their house.
Much of this content should also cover exactly what is going to be happening on the day, whether that be the sports being played, any speeches that will be made and a timetable that can easily be followed. Again, as with any service or product, there has to be a gripping story behind it that will make people want to know more.
Market From Your Own Social Media Platforms
Marketing is going to play a big role in participation, too. One of the most effective ways of doing this is through social media. This is one of the most popular – and easy-to-use – market streams in 2023, with the opportunity of reaching hundreds of potential participants who will be interested in the event that you are putting on.
Think once again about your chosen sport and your target audience, then pinpoint a particular platform to really go for. For a younger audience, for instance, you’ll want to look into how to use TikTok for marketing. For an older audience, platforms like Facebook are going to be more effective in the long run.
Make It Unique
Last but not least, if you want to have a solid number of attendees at your event, you need to make the event utterly unique. Think about what kind of experience you are offering. Has it been done before? Is there anything new and exciting to bring people through the door?
If there isn’t, you will have to rethink your strategy. One good way of making a sporting event unique is by really highlighting the location it is taking place in. Market the event around it – including the content and invites. Find a way to make your event as unique as possible and you will have a far higher chance of a big, strong audience.