Success in sports marketing isn’t about being the loudest voice: it’s about showing up meaningfully and relevantly in the moments fans care about most, says Sportradar’s Ralf Ollig in a new, two-part interview with The Drum.

The rules of the marketing game have shifted dramatically. Fans now live in a world of reels, shorts, second screens and constant scroll – a landscape Ollig, vice president of product at Sportradar ad:s marketing services, describes as “full of noise” and “divided attention.” But, in the middle of all that fragmentation, sport still commands rare, undivided, emotionally charged focus from fans.

And what’s truly reshaping the field is the rise of real-time, adaptive technology. AI can now detect goals, turning points, momentum shifts and underdog breakthroughs as soon as they happen, and instantly adapt creative across all channels to mirror the fan emotion in that precise moment.

It’s a levelling force, says Ollig: “You don’t need to be an event sponsor, like a World Cup sponsor, to tap into the fan emotion cycle.”

And it all comes down to when, who and where you target, Ollig says, explaining the sector’s new Clock, Crowd, Context playbook. “Timing drives intent,” Ollig says, noting that brands acting within days of a key moment can triple purchase intent.

But showing up at the right moment only works if you show up for the right people. “Fans are not a one-size-fits-all” group, explains Ollig. They span die-hards, casuals, locals and global followers – each one with different triggers and touchpoints. Those who connect across multiple channels and multiple sports show roughly 40% higher lifetime value driven by deeper, more frequent engagement.

Context ties it all together. With around 80% of fans using a second screen while watching live sport, reaching them requires fluid, connected, dynamic storytelling that follows their behaviors across platforms – from the stadium, to the sofa, to the scroll.

The impact is undeniable. When brands align their message with live context — the right moment, the right fan, the right environment, “brand recall jumps by 23%” says Ollig. His key takeaway? Stop measuring success in impressions. Start measuring it in impact.

If you want your brand to own the sports moment instead of watching it pass by, this is the interview you can’t afford to miss.

Credit: TheDrum

By Maria Greaves writes for The Drum.