Stop Marketing at Sports Fans. Start Marketing with Them.

Sports fans don’t just watch anymore.They post. They bet. They cheer. They scroll. They debate. They meme.And most importantly? They expect brands to show up in ways that match their energy — not interrupt it.

But too often, brands still treat live sport as a one-way broadcast moment.TV spot. Pitchside board. Logo on a shirt.It’s legacy media wrapped in legacy thinking.

At Finovation Media, we believe there’s a better way — a smarter, fan-first way.Because in today’s world, attention isn’t just won by being seen.It’s won by being relevant in the moment that matters.

From Interruptions to Interactions

The traditional sports marketing playbook was built for mass reach.But today’s fans live in micro-moments — dynamic, fast-moving pockets of attention driven by what’s happening on the pitch, court, feed or forum.

Examples of these fan moments include:

A last-minute goal

A buzzer beater

A half-time scroll

A heated debate on X

A fan standing outside the stadium, looking for post-match plans

Each of these is a window of intent — a flash of heightened engagement.And that’s where the opportunity lies.

Not in reaching “sports fans” as a general category……but in reaching the right fan, at the right moment, with the right message.

Real-Time Relevance = Real-World Results

Through our proprietary tech, FanStack, we help brands plug into these fan moments in real time — and turn them into performance.

FanStack acts as a modular “engagement engine” that lets us layer in:

Live match triggers (goals, red cards, tip-offs, etc.)

Mood signals from social listening and forum chatter

Geo-targeting around stadiums, fan zones, or even pubs

Contextual and temporal signals (e.g. Sunday scroll patterns, half-time spikes)

Fan identity cues — from fantasy players to sneakerheads to fitness buffs

What does this mean in practice?

Real-World Inspiration: Uber Eats x World Cup

One standout example came during the 2022 World Cup, when Uber Eats ran time-sensitive offers during extra time and penalties in key matches — moments where tension was high, fans were locked in, and the likelihood of in-home ordering spiked.

By aligning with the emotion of the moment, they reportedly saw a 28% increase in app opens during live match windows, compared to baseline game-day traffic.

This wasn’t just media buying — it was fan-aware timing.A powerful reminder that when you show up matters just as much as where.

Finovation Media Case Study

In a recent activation with a sportswear client, we used FanStack to trigger mobile ads only during half-time of Premier League matches — hyper-targeting fans within a 2km radius of select stadiums.

These ads promoted a flash 1-hour offer on matchday gear — just as fans were checking their phones for updates or heading for refreshments.

The results:

A 2.3x uplift in engagement compared to always-on ads

A 34% reduction in cost-per-click

Significantly higher in-store redemptions the following day

It wasn’t about being everywhere.It was about being precisely where the fan was — at the exact moment they were most engaged.

Why This Matters: The Fan Has Changed

Modern fans are not just viewers — they’re digital participants.They consume content across devices, expect personalisation, and are deeply loyal… when the brand speaks their language.

They don’t want another generic sports ad.They want brands that feel like part of the fan experience — not a disruption to it.

That’s the shift:

From reach to relevance

From mass to moment

From marketing at to marketing with

What’s Next?

Whether you're a sportswear brand, an event promoter, an entertainment platform or a wellness business — if you're trying to capture the passion of sport to fuel your brand, you need a strategy that moves as fast as the fan does.

That’s where we come in.

If you’re ready to:

Add fan intelligence into your digital mix

Activate across real-time media moments

Go beyond static placements and into orchestrated engagement

Let’s talk.

Because the game has changed.And the brands who win in sport… are the ones who show up when it matters — not just where.