The $130 Billion Blind Spot in Sports
Morgan Stanley just put numbers to something that should be a wake-up call to anyone running a sports business. While 92 percent of companies in retail use technology to personalize marketing, only 30 percent of companies in sports do the same.
That gap adds up to real money. Morgan Stanley estimates the sports industry could generate $130 billion in additional revenue by closing it.
I spent time early in my career in sports, left for more than a decade to work in digital marketing for Fortune 500s, and then returned. From that vantage point, the reason for the gap is obvious. Sports has always been hyper-focused on sales: filling seats, selling sponsorships, moving merchandise. While that singular focus makes sense, it has come at a cost. Strategy has lagged. Other industries embraced digital transformation a decade ago. Sports is still catching up.
We see the same pattern every day with clients and prospects across the sports and recreation industries. Leaders know how to sell but often lack the digital foundation that allows them to reach further, grow faster and compete with more modern brands.
Closing that gap doesn’t take a Wall Street budget. It starts with smart, low-risk steps that prove out results.
Personalization pilots → segment your audience, build short email journeys and see how different messages land
Full-funnel campaigns → run a 4–6 week LinkedIn or Google campaign with tailored TOFU/MOFU/BOFU assets
Digital audits → quick-turn evaluations of your website, social presence and current campaigns, with a prioritized action plan
List-to-launch projects → clean your contacts, tag them and send a short nurture series to test response
Landing page optimization → spin up two versions of a campaign page aimed at different audiences, and let data show what works
If you’re reading this and thinking, “Personalization sounds great, but I’m not sure I even have the right foundation,” don’t worry. We can help there too. Sometimes the first step is clarifying your brand story, refreshing your website or aligning your social presence so that everything else has a stronger base.
At Victus Marketing, we work with leaders across sports, recreation, performing arts and beyond to define their brand canon, sharpen their story and build campaigns that drive both immediate revenue and long-term equity. Sales will always be critical in these industries. But the edge now is shifting from "always selling" to "always building."
👉 If you’re ready to start closing that gap, visit victusmktg.com to book an appointment today.
