It's sports season in South Africa and the locals are backing the boys in gold and green — whether that's from the stands, a bar stool or the couch at home. While the people's support has not lessened in the least, the way they consume sports media has substantially changed.
Today's fans are just as likely to quickly catch highlights on social media or stream matches through connected TV as they are to tune into traditional television. This does present brands with many different ways to reach sports fans, however it also creates media that is much more complex to navigate when establishing ROI.
Leslie Adams, Sales Director at Reach Africa, talks to media update about how the FIFA World Cup 2026 reflects this changing media space, the role of AI and connected TV, and how brands can maximise their sports marketing investments.
How have streaming platforms, social media and connected TV changed the way advertisers approach major sporting events compared to a decade ago?
We've become so accustomed to broadcasters holding a monopoly on sporting content that the FIFA World Cup 2026 expanded distribution caught many by surprise. But when you look closer, the move is entirely data driven.
A decade ago, TV dominated every metric from consumers' time spent to DStv subscriber count. TV has fallen from the most watched medium to number 3 in overall media consumption measured by time.
Critically the general shift toward digital has also led to a decline in global sport viewership, a huge risk for the longevity of the beautiful game. Younger audiences, in particular, are engaging with sport content in an entirely new way, outside of traditional broadcast television, largely led by social media — from banter on X, to breaking news on Instagram.
This evolution has forced brands to show up where the fans are — on streaming apps, social media channels and connected TV (CTV) — in addition to traditional broadcast. Today, success is less about choosing one channel and more about understanding how each platform contributes to the overall fan journey.
What role do creators and influencers play in sports marketing and how should brands evaluate their impact alongside traditional media channels?
Fandom and access have grown to include direct access to footballers, pundits and other creators. This creates a "behind the scenes" layer outside of verified and unverified information.
With the power of personality at an all time high, audiences are now treated to different perspectives in an unscripted way that has grown to become more trusted outside of the traditional formalities.
Rivalries play out in unvarnished and often nasty ways offering more entertainment that fans connect to on an emotional level. This expanded access to unvarnished opinion, insider information and relatable content has fueled the meteoric rise of YouTube Vodcasts, with shows like The OverLap now reaching global audiences larger than traditional broadcaster magazine shows.
CTV has birthed the idea of global channels, not restricted by market licensing or broadcasting formalities, now reaching a global scale. In the past, the channel led, followed by content. Today, fandom starts with the content and creators who then can choose their preferred channel or channels.
For brands, partnerships should be driven by audience relevance and authentic communities, rather than simply buying the biggest available audience. Moreover, the decline in reach from traditional power players forces them to explore new platforms to effectively reach audiences at scale.
You have emphasised meaningful engagement as a key objective. How do you define meaningful engagement and what does it look like in practice?
By widening access to the game across multiple entry points, the FIFA World Cup has exposed an industry challenge regarding measurement: impression vs TV rating.
Ultimately, "attention" coupled with "time spent" leads to meaningful engagement. It's when audiences actively choose to spend time with content, interact with it, share it or continue the conversation beyond the live event, rather than simply being exposed to an advert.
The FWC has proven that broadcasters are very good at commercialising live sport, but not very good at growing its audience. In 2026, TV Devices launched WC hubs, betting sites launched streaming platforms, Netflix launched its first-ever live daily show, and TikTok and YouTube streamed games live.
With every touch point playing a meaningful role to the consumer, the brand challenge is to understand what role each access point plays and if and how that can add more value to the consumers viewing experience.
With the FIFA World Cup now in full swing, what trends should brands be paying attention to if they want to maximise their marketing investment?
Creators have cut through the noise in a way that talking-head panels at half time simply haven't been able to do.
The FWC is arguably the biggest shared viewing event. With so many experiencing it alone via their devices, social platforms like WhatsApp and YouTube are critical tools for bringing fans together in an authentic and meaningful way ("Watch with Trevor Noah" is an excellent example).
The power of the device: TVs have evolved to maximize the viewing experience across apps, with fans launching everything from the homepage. As content discovery increasingly starts on the TV home screen rather than within a single broadcaster's ecosystem, that screen has become some of the most valuable advertising real estate in connected television. Brands ignore at their own peril.
Artificial intelligence is influencing almost every area of marketing. How do you see AI affecting audience targeting and personalisation during major sporting events?
AI will undoubtedly make audience targeting more intelligent, but it won't change the fundamentals of sport.
The biggest opportunity lies in helping brands deliver more relevant, creative, optimised media placements in real time and personalise messaging based on audience behaviour across different platforms. As viewing becomes increasingly fragmented, AI will help marketers understand where attention is shifting and how to adapt campaigns accordingly.
Did you find this Q&A insightful? Let us know in the comments section below.
*Image courtesy of contributor and Canva