Lucky Number 13: The Biggest Upcoming Sporting Events You Need to Advertise
Sports directly impact several verticals, like iGaming, VPNs, Media, Sweepstakes, or even eCommerce. And certain events can generate extraordinaire traffic volumes. Which means? That you absolutely need to advertise them.
Sporting Events 2021-22 for Affiliate Marketers [Interactive Calendar]
But do you know which events to choose from a sea of sports, and more events that you can track? We do! We’ve checked the stats, ran the numbers by our Account Managers, and made sure the traffic volumes flow. So here are the 13 can’t-miss events of the coming months:
21-23 Jan: HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2022 – Malaga
Why: The 2016-17 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2021 gathered 120 million fans on social media. In fact, the competition saw a 50% hike in popularity after it was recommended that the sport remains in the Olympics.
Where: GEOs – Argentina, Australia, Canada, England, France, Japan, South Africa, Spain, USA
What: Verticals – iGaming, VPNs, Media & Entertainment
28-30 Jan: HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2022 – Seville
Still wondering why you should care about sports? Read this
30 Jan – 8 Feb: Cricket: Australian Tour of NZ
Why: The main Australian channel broadcasting the match from last year gathered 224,000 people watching the ICC T20 World Cup Australia vs South Africa. And if you think that’s fantastic, wait till you read what’s next.
But that’s nothing compared with the total number of viewers of the 2021 T20 World Cup – a record-high 167 million, globally (from 200 countries).
Where: GEOs – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, UK, New Zealand.
What: Verticals – iGaming, VPNs, Sweepstakes, Media & Entertainment.
2 Feb: FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup Belgium 2022
Why: You probably think that Indoor Hockey can’t get that much fame, right? Wrong! This competition is held every 4 years. The last time it was held, back in 2018, 8.25 million watched a shorter version of the Tagesschau match.
Could that be the top? Considering the cup was postponed for the past two years, we bet the fans are really eager to watch this match.
Where: GEOs – US, CA, RU, SE, CZ, FI, NO, DK
What: Verticals – iGaming, VPNs, Media & Entertainment.
4-20 Feb: 2022 Beijing Olympics
Why: The 2020 Olympics, held between July and August 2021, gathered an astounding number of viewers worldwide – over 3 BILLION people, according to official data. Keep in mind that we are talking about the largest sporting event, globally.
When it comes to online viewership the leader was Instagram, where the social media accounts of the Olympics gathered 1.1 million followers. And close behind followed Facebook – 1.05 million, Twitter – 503,000, YouTube – 133,000, and TikTok – 72,000.
But the best was the engagement, where Instagram gathered no less than 10.4 million interactions. The social network was followed by TikTok – 13.9 million, Twitter – 2.7 million, and lastly Facebook – 570,000.
Where: GEOs – Worldwide, but you’d better check the sport’s popularity by country.
What: Verticals – iGaming, VPNs, Entertainment, Games, merchandise – eCommerce, and Sweepstakes.
Get your eSports Campaign strategy ready, before it’s too late
5 Feb – 19 Mar: Rugby Six Nations
Why: The finale of the championship brought 7.6 million viewers to the French public-service broadcaster. And that wasn’t the only game to enjoy such popularity. In fact, the England-Scotland match had the most viewers – 8.4 million.
While Scotland vs England only brought 1.2 million viewers, France’s games against Ireland and Italy had 5.9 and 4.1 million viewers.
Where: GEOs – England, Scotland, France, Italy, Ireland, Wales, New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Georgia, South Africa, Canada, Australia
What: Verticals – iGaming, VPNs, Media & Entertainment
6 Feb: Football African Cup of Nations Final (TBD)
Why: The previous African Cup of Nations (AFCON) was held in 2019, in Egypt. And although it seems unbelievable, it gathered over 800 million people watching the games.
The final alone brought 90 million viewers. And a pretty staggering success was recorded on Facebook and Twitter, where videos were the total impressions of the AFCON 2019 reached over 300 million fans.
Where: GEOs – South Africa, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Senegal, Morocco, Ghana, Nigeria, UAR.
What: Verticals – iGaming, VPNs, Entertainment.
13 Feb: Super Bowl
Why: One of the most well-known sporting events worldwide, the Super Bowl, constantly gets about 100 million viewers. However, the February ‘21 edition came in short by about 9%, with just 92 million.
However, keep in mind that this game can peak, as it last did in 2015, and fulminate in a super 114 million viewers. Could this year’s event reach as high? And better yet, do you want to miss out and find out after?
Where: GEOs – US, Canada, and Mexico.
What: Verticals – iGaming (not in the U.S.), Streaming /Entertainment, Nutra, Email submits (aka surveys), Sweepstakes, eCommerce (merchandise).
Read More about Super Bowl campaigns
17 Feb: UEFA Europa League: Knockout round play-offs, first legs
Why: The live match from 2021 was viewed by 5.2 billion people. And while every game of the series gathered approximately 100 million viewers, the finale was watched by 328 million fans.
But the cherry on top was the fact that this was the most active EURO ever, on social media. It had 7.5 billion interactions and views, and only two billion from official UEFA accounts.
Where: GEOs – France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, China, US, India.
What: Verticals – iGaming, VPNs, Streaming.
18-20 Feb: Basketball: NBA All-Star 2022
Why: 16.54 million viewers followed the 2021 Basketball: NBA All-Star game 6 of the finals. This was a 25-year rating record.
Where: GEOs – USA, Canada, France, Australia, Spain, Greece, Turkey.
What: Verticals – iGaming, VPNs, Entertainment, Games, merchandise – eCommerce, and Sweepstakes
24 Feb: UEFA Europa League: Knockout round play-offs, second legs
26 – 27 Feb: HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2022 – Vancouver
27 Feb: Carabao Football Cup Final
8,000 fans were able to attend the match for the first time since the pandemic, live on the stadium for the 2021 final. Although there are no official rating numbers for the previous year’s competitor, the cup final has gathered 672,000 viewers on a single channel, back in 2018.
If you’re up to date with our sports calendar, you know that there are many other sports events worth following. Make sure to closely follow them and prepare your creatives ahead.
And if there’s anything you need, check with your Account Manager, or write on our Telegram chat.
