CFL aims to bring more fun to the mix
The CFL wants to get a little more personal.
On Tuesday, the league announced the launch of a couple products that are aimed at energizing more fans — not necessarily with gambling. It stems from the partnership it announced last December with Genius Sports.
Tuesday's rollout essentially amounts to the launch of the
CFL Gamezone, which will serve as a central hub for fans to play games and contests.
Tyler Mazereeuw, the CFL'S chief revenue and marketing officer, says it's just the first step of a multi-year plan to change how the CFL connects with fans.
“The definition of fandom doesn't have to be one size fits all,” Mazereeuw said. “Fandom can be playing fantasy, we're good with that. It can be going to the game, it can be sports betting ... the definition of a sports fan has changed and anybody who is engaging, consuming, participating in the CFL at some level. It makes sense because everyone's tastes are different. The conversation around marketing has been an ongoing one around this league.
“We used to be a `mass' world. The CFL has gone out and bought billboards and bought TV ads, and it might have worked or it might not have worked. There's still mass media and that's still important, but it really is a digital world.”
Details on the partnership with Genius Sports have been hard to come by since CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie announced that the British company would be getting equity in the league during Grey Cup Week.
While it will be the game hub that has the most immediate impact on fans and the experience of following the league, the embrace of a more data-driven ticketing and marketing experience will likely be just as integral to the league's business.
Essentially, the CFL and Genius will be accumulating data on its customers and then catering more personal content and marketing that fit an individual fans' needs. It's certainly not a new concept in the sports world — or just the world, in general.
“We knew we needed to move in that direction, but how do you do it? That's really complicated and really expensive. That's where Genius came in to say, ` We do this for a living, we do this for other leagues, this is our craft,'” Mazereeuw said. “The more personalized the experience, and the more we know about them as a fan, the more we can enhance their experience. For years, we were offering different experiences with say, Football Frenzy, hundreds of thousands of people were playing but we didn't know who they were.”
As for Gamezone, it will be the new home for the league's fantasy football game, as well as Preseason Futures predictor where fans can guess at multiple season-long outcomes and a CFL Pick 'Em game. There are plans for more throughout the season.
Both the league and Genius Sports continue to tout the Second Spectrum camera technology that could make things like the Nickelodeon Slime Trail that have been popular on NFL broadcasts possible in Canada. That is still a couple years away.
“That's all real technology that's out in the wild,” said Josh Linforth, managing director of media and engagement at Genius Sports. “Those cameras are in NFL stadiums, it's just the rollout of putting those cameras into CFL stadiums.”
And so, while the launch of a couple new games may not exactly feel like the start of a new era for the CFL, the league believes the information can help get fans more engaged with the threedown game and help them collect data that will make it easier to grow the game.