New Meltwater report reveals what sports enthusiasts are talking about on Twitter

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 19, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Meltwater, a global leader in media and social intelligence, has released a new report based on Twitter data that highlights the key trends in the sports industry that marketers and advertisers should care about in 2022.

The report, released in partnership with Twitter, explores the conversation drivers around top-trending topics on Twitter in 2021— including cryptocurrencies, NFTs, esports, gender equality and racism— as well as ways that brands can stay on the ball when it comes to responding to these issues.

Using their industry-leading social listening and analytics solutions, Meltwater analyzed hundreds of millions of Tweets to understand the conversation on social media for the Birdseye Report | Industry Deep Dive: Sports.

Key trends
The sports world embraces Cryptocurrencies and NFTs
Within sports-related conversations on Twitter, mentions of cryptocurrencies and NFTs increased 151% during 2021. With NFTs disrupting the age-old sports memorabilia industry, conversations around how sports teams and players are cashing on the popularity of these new asset classes have been on the rise.

The rise of the metaverse, esports and AR/VR
The definition of “live” sports is changing, as is the conversation around the future of esports and technology’s role in sports. Twitter conversations around the metaverse and sports rose by 6,024% compared to the first half of 2021.

The prevalence of diversity, equality & inclusion in the conversation
How the sports industry addresses major issues like racial equality is evolving, with players, teams, and organizations becoming more vocal in response to a changing world. Twitter conversations on equality in sports increased by 12% during 2021, and conversations on women in sports increased by 22% during 2021.

This data is based on the research presented in the Birdseye Report: Sports, which analyzes global Tweets from Jan 1, 2021 to Dec 8, 2021.

The results make it clear that sports marketers cannot sit on the social media sidelines when it comes to the adoption of new technologies or addressing issues like equality. For more insights, marketers and industry professionals can look at the full report to understand what is driving the conversation around each trend and how they can use this information in their marketing strategies.

"The digitization of sports has taken an immense leap during the past 12 months, fueled by the crossover of sports consumption via multiple online channels and the introduction of crypto, blockchain and NFTs. As the industry continues to change, the insights in the Birdseye Report illustrate the power of AI-powered social listening and analytics. Meltwater’s AI sifts through billions of data points each day and enables brands, marketers and boardrooms to make better decisions and create omni-channel marketing strategies," said Meltwater's VP of Partnerships and Product Marketing Johnny Vance. "By leveraging this kind of market research, brands, teams and organizations can improve their competitive positioning, ultimately enabling an agile marketing strategy towards the real-time shifts in consumer behavior."

The report is a result of Meltwater’s inclusion within the Twitter Official Partner Program, which recognizes those companies who are not only consumers of Twitter data, but also serve Twitter data and insights to their customers in sophisticated and impactful ways, to help them make more informed strategic decisions.

“To create innovative and impactful marketing strategies, you must have a comprehensive understanding of your target audience. Our new Birdseye Report on Sports, developed in partnership with Meltwater, taps into the hundreds of millions of conversations Twitter users had around sports in 2021 to identify meaningful insights and emerging trends within the industry,” says Lauren Jenkins, Head of the Twitter Official Partner Program. “The insights shared within the report provide sports marketers and advertisers with a solid foundation they can use to build out their 2022 marketing strategies.”

See the full report here: https://partners.twitter.com/en/partner-resources/birdseye-report/sports

For further information, please contact:
Jenny Force
VP of Marketing, Meltwater
jenny.force@meltwater.com

About Meltwater
Meltwater provides social and media intelligence. By examining millions of posts each day from social media platforms, blogs and news sites, Meltwater helps companies make better, more informed decisions based on insight from the outside. The company was founded in Oslo, Norway, in 2001 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with 50 offices across six continents. The company has 2,100 employees and 27,000 corporate customers, including industry leaders in several sectors. Learn more at meltwater.com.