What’s working in fan engagement right now 

8% drop in generic email opens shows important shift in sports audience segmentation and need for automation

If your email open rates are dropping, or revenue per fan is stalled, you’re not alone. Across leagues and teams, sports marketers face the same bottleneck: building targeted segments fast enough to capitalize on shifting fan preferences and emerging digital channels. 

The data confirms it. StellarAlgo’s work with more than 230 sports properties, including 14 leagues, shows generic campaigns aren’t cutting through anymore. We’ve seen overall open rates on one-message-for-all-campaigns decline about 8% in the last year. 

Personalized topics and timeliness are no longer luxuries, and the recent data is irrefutable. If it’s game day, and a fan-favorite player is unexpectedly going to be back in play after an injury, unless you can get word out to key segments in just an hour or two, you’ve missed the window to drive last-minute ticket sales or promote jersey buying as fans walking into the venue.  

The state of sports fan engagement has reached a turning point. Mass campaigns to all fans won’t hit growth or revenue goals. Only teams that can move fast to engage their broader fanbase with campaigns specifically meaningful to them are seeing up to 30% growth on per game ticket sales. 

Using data from more than 200 million fans and 5 billion fan interactions, we examine what’s working today in sports to drive fan engagement and create sustainable fan loyalty. 

The current state of fan engagement 

Modern sports fans now split their time across social media, streaming platforms, and live broadcasts, with 73% relying on mobile sports apps and nearly a third using a second screen during games. This fragmentation means sports organizations compete not only with other teams but with every form of digital entertainment.  

With new leagues launching and entertainment options multiplying, capturing and maintaining fan loyalty requires precision targeting rather than broad-reach campaigns. And, sports marketing teams must now engage fans across social media channels, merchandise purchases, via in-venue experiences, streaming platforms and more.  

• Industry research shows that fans expect year-round, well segmented engagement, yet many teams still lean on seasonal, one-way marketing. This leaves younger, digitally focused fans underserved and weakens opportunities for loyalty and sales growth. 

• In today’s hyper-competitive landscape, effective fan engagement requires more relevant experiences, from tailored ticket offers to communications that builds on past behavior. 70% of consumers are more likely to buy from brands that deliver personalized experiences.  
• Fans who feel seen and valued are more likely to spend, attend more games, and build lasting loyalty that translates to predictable revenue. 

What’s working today in fan engagement 

Across billions of fan interactions supported by StellarAlgo, the most effective campaigns share common traits: they are relevant, behavior-driven, and timed to key moments in the fan journey. The highest-performing strategies use precise segmentation, automation, and multi-channel outreach to drive measurable revenue and retention. 

Behavioral segmentation outperforms demographics 

Segmenting fans by purchase habits, attendance history, and engagement level leads to more effective campaigns. 

• Why it works: Fans behave differently—last-minute buyers, weekday attendees, and high spenders need tailored messaging 

• Best practice: Build segments based on timing, frequency, spend, and game type preferences 

Value-based offers versus ticket discounts 

Fans respond better to offers that emphasize experience, exclusivity, or upgrades rather than price cuts. 

• Why it works: Value-driven messaging builds loyalty and drives full-price purchases 

• Best practice: Highlight benefits like seat upgrades, insider access, or themed experiences over ticket discount offers 

Precision timing and automation maximize impact 

Automated campaigns triggered by fan behavior (e.g. attendance, email opens, purchase signals) drive higher ROI and reduce manual effort. 

• Why it works: Timely outreach feels relevant and improves conversion rates 

• Best practice: Automate follow-ups within 24–72 hours of key fan actions (e.g., attendance, cart abandonment) 

Multi-channel outreach drives higher conversions 

Campaigns that combine email, text, and paid social consistently outperform single-channel efforts. 

• Why it works: Fans engage differently across platforms—multi-channel outreach increases reach, relevance, and frequency 

• Best practice: Use coordinated messaging across channels and retarget fans who engage but don’t convert   

Sports properties like the Las Vegas Aviators (MiLB), the Florida Everblades (ECHL) and the Cincinnati Open have gone beyond generic marketing campaigns, reporting year-over-year growth in both ticket sales and fan retention.  

Take the Vegas Golden Knights, for example, who achieved 2x higher ticket sales from targeted audiences and grew their known fanbase by 10% during the 2024-25 NHL season by moving beyond generic campaigns. By segmenting audiences based on attendance history and purchase behavior, they’re able to create campaigns that feel personal and timely. 

Effective segmentation identifies behavioral moments that matter most for revenue impact. A first-time attendee should not receive the same follow-up as a long-term season ticket holder, just as family buyers have different priorities than corporate partners. Successful segmentation recognizes these behavioral differences and acts on them with precision.  

Automated detection of purchase-ready fans tied to 10% growth in ticket sales 

Knowing who’s most likely to buy next, and what offer to present them, has become a critical advantage in driving fan revenue growth.  

The current movement to democratize fan data access is driven by the desire from live events, league and team fan engagement leaders and marketing staff to have more visibility to hunt for patterns that suggest ideal next buyers. But access alone isn’t enough. 

Data shows that automated detection of ideal fan engagement opportunities begins to open new revenue opportunities – generally, at least 10% growth in ticket sales per sports property. From single-game attendees likely to return, to lapsed season ticket holders who could be re-engaged, the sports properties using automated segment prediction to identify the next best fan engagement opportunities consistently gaining fan loyalty and revenue. 

But highest revenue gains from tickets, merchandise, sponsorship as well as gains in fan loyalty and avidity were earned by properties that also use segment automation where the promising segment is set to run at a high-interest moment for fans. 

“Roughly four hours before every game about 30% of tickets change hands. It used to be impossible to communicate with that 30% before a game. It took too long to continually pull ticket sales lists in real time. Now we have segment automation in place to send out fan engagement campaigns all the way up to the start of the game, and that’s had a huge impact.” – Ben Conrad, VP Digital Marketing & Automation, Milwaukee Bucks

Team versus league ROI on smarter audience selection 

Whether many teams within a league or just a few invest in smart segment selection and segment automation, the data shows they all see fan revenue and avidity improve. There’s something else leagues including the MiLB and NBA report regarding return on investment when more teams opt in – a rising tide effect. 

“We now have a tool that can help us easily repeat successful fan engagement activities across all NBA teams… benchmarking that helps us level up ticket sales and create successful nurture campaigns across all teams.” – Zach Shapiro, VP Data Strategy & Analytics, NBA

League co-investment, so individual teams don’t bear full costs, can also accelerate team gains in fan engagement, revenue and loyalty.  

The future of fan segmentation and automation 

Ultimately, fan data analysis shows the next era of fan engagement must put the fan first. That finding isn’t new – what’s new is how technology is making the hard work of better targeted and relevant campaigns possible. 

As competition for fan attention continues to intensify, the pressure to improve the relevance of fan communication will continue to grow. Hours in the day won’t.

Even lean-staffed teams with smaller fanbases are seeing revenue increase at least 7% when able to use existing fan data to predict fan interests and guide relevant engagement. While the impact of generic fan outreach is dropping, sports organizations using technology to detect which fans are best to target with time-sensitive experiences then automating that outreach, those teams are outperforming peers.

So how can your team or league bring fans closer with less effort? Let’s talk about what’s possible with your valued fanbase and data.

More fans.

Better Engagement.

Talk with us