May 2017

The Rise of the E-Fan
SPIA Asia - Asia’s Sports Industry Awards and Conference 2017
Bangkok, 6-7 November 2017

With modern technology, gone are the days when watching a sporting event was either in person or live on TV. Today, even the smallest, most local sporting events can be watched by a global audience and the impacts on commercialisation, content creation, distribution, broadcasting rights, participation and consumer engagement and interaction are enormous.

Mobile devices have revolutionised the way we watch sports, enabling us to view our favourite content when and where we want. Moreover, e-sports, or electronic sports, has become a multi-million dollar industry, turning upside-down the way people engage in sport throughout the world. In fact, competitive video gaming will feature as a demonstration sport in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, before being included in the official sporting programme in the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

Gone are the days when TV was the premier platform for watching sporting events, as viewers move to mobile devices and computers. According to a survey conducted by Imagen, a video management services company, and London-based FTI consulting, a global business advisory firm, UK viewers watch sports content on an average of five devices at home, with six in 10 watching it on a standard TV, and just under half watching on a smart TV. What's more, six in 10 UK viewers use their mobile phones to watch sports content, and UK households spend 60 percent of their viewing time on non-live TV, watching a combination of recorded, archived, on-demand, playback, and video sharing websites.

However, some challenges remain. Despite the availability of increasingly sophisticated technology, the demand for and access to high quality footage of recorded and historic content is not being met, the survey shows. Finding the right content is not easy, and even when it is indeed located, the quality of the footage oftentimes leaves much to wish for.

Poor video quality and the increase in non-live viewing have given rise to a strong demand for high quality recording and especially apps are well positioned to deliver individualised content on demand. According to the survey, there is a willingness to pay to watch sports content on an app, with 50 percent of 18-29 year olds in the UK willing to pay up to £10 a month for the service.

As well as new distribution opportunities, digitalisation and the increase in mobile and internet use across the world and across various age groups have also precipitated an explosion in the ways in which brands, rights holders and event organisers can engage and interact with their audiences. Mass participation sporting events have benefitted enormously from the ability of audiences to go online and share their experiences via social media, interact with brands and rights holders via purpose-built apps, and engage in online communities. According to research by Kepios, a Singapore-based business consulting services provider, technological advances help brands engage with their audiences through social media, smartphones, wearable devices, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence and bots.

The concepts of the e-fan and digitalisation of mass participation sporting events will be on the agenda at the third edition of SPIA Asia – Asia's Sports Industry Awards and Conference 2017, which will take place on 6-7 November 2017 at Centara Grand & Bangkok Convention Centre at CentralWorld. Over the two day event more than 300 delegates and 20 international speakers from various backgrounds will discuss and provide insights on mass participation, event management, sponsorship, and integrated sports campaigns.

The Sponsorship Experts, Paul Poole (South East Asia) Co., Ltd.
will be managing sponsorship and partnership marketing for SPIA Asia – Asia's Sports Industry Awards and Conference 2017 including awards entry submissions, and ticket sales for the gala awards dinner and the conference part of the event. We have a number of commercial sponsorship and partnership opportunities available for brands and businesses wanting to integrate with this high profile sports industry event as well as many other opportunities to create bespoke events for your brand or business.

Paul Poole (South East Asia) Co., Ltd. is an independent marketing consultancy based in Bangkok, Thailand specialising in commercial sponsorship and partnership marketing, working with both rights holders and brands - acting as a catalyst by bringing them together and maximising the relationship.

We have packaged, sold and managed sponsorship and partnership opportunities for a wide range of rights holders and worked with many of the world’s leading brands to source and engage the right sponsorships and partnerships for them to maximise.


We have created a package of comprehensive commercial sponsorship and partnership programmes especially for SPIA Asia – Asia's Sports Industry Awards and Conference 2017, please click:


Please contact us for more information: Tel./Fax: +66 2622 0605 – 7 Email: info@paulpoole.co.th