go-digital-or-go-bust

Go digital or go bust

The vast majority of video coverage on college sports focuses on longer content: Either broadcasts of full games or highlights that last a few minutes. While such content is of course necessary, college athletics would also be better served by content atomization: This longer footage is cut down into byte-sized content that would engage audiences.
There are many examples of byte-sized content in college sports. For example, every year in college football, the Heisman winner has what the media dubs a “Heisman moment,” a crowning athletic sequence that arguably wins them the award. In 2020, for example, Auburn University quarterback Cam Newton ran through what seemed like most of the LSU defense for his Heisman moment, which was shared endlessly on the internet.
Byte-sized content can extend to the atmosphere as well. In a 2010 football game between the Arizona Wildcats and the Iowa Hawkeyes, the camera panned onto a student fan who mouthed, “Stop” to the camera while smiling. The charm of the clip <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/stop-girl">soon went viral</a>, drawing massive attention to what was an otherwise routine game.
Every match in a college sport has moments like these. It can be one spectacular play, such as a buzzer-beater. It can be a blooper where an athlete makes a silly mistake. It can be a controversial call by the referee. It can be footage of a school ritual. It can even be interesting fan reactions, as in the case of the Stop fan.
This type of byte-sized content is best accomplished through the aid of an AI-based video editor like Magnifi, which can auto-generate clips based on specific meta-tags and get them published faster with the help of auto-flipping, auto-personalization, and auto-distribution. Schools would be wise to incorporate this content into their digital transformation strategy for three key reasons.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-1744 " src="https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Untitled-design-2023-10-18T105920.394-1024x576.png" alt="rugby players" width="730" height="411" srcset="https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Untitled-design-2023-10-18T105920.394-1024x576.png 1024w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Untitled-design-2023-10-18T105920.394-300x169.png 300w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Untitled-design-2023-10-18T105920.394-768x432.png 768w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Untitled-design-2023-10-18T105920.394-1536x864.png 1536w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Untitled-design-2023-10-18T105920.394.png 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 730px) 100vw, 730px" />
<h3>Byte-sized content caters to increasingly mobile audiences.</h3>
Whenever people have a dull moment, the go-to habit for most people is to take out their phone. During these moments, smartphone users are generally looking for interesting byte-sized content to browse through. This fact accounts for the growth of shorter-form videos, such as Stories and Reels on Facebook and Instagram, Shorts on YouTube, and TikTok as a whole. It should be no wonder that some analysts estimate that people watch an average of <a href="https://timespacemedia.com/short-form-video-what-advertisers-should-know/#:~:text=Short%2Dform%20video%20has%20become,short%2Dform%20video%20content%20daily.">3 hours of short-form video per day</a>.
College sports can deepen engagement with this on-the-go audience through shorter content. While colleges may not necessarily already think of their sports as a hub for byte-sized content, they actually are. Take the case of basketball: a spectacular dunk, a difficult three-pointer, a riled-up coach, a dancing mascot, and a celebrating fan are all fairly normal occurrences that would make great short videos. Every sport offers the same opportunities, and it is up to schools to maximize them. 
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-1745 " src="https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Untitled-design-2023-10-18T110235.265-1024x576.png" alt="watching on mobile" width="725" height="408" srcset="https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Untitled-design-2023-10-18T110235.265-1024x576.png 1024w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Untitled-design-2023-10-18T110235.265-300x169.png 300w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Untitled-design-2023-10-18T110235.265-768x432.png 768w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Untitled-design-2023-10-18T110235.265-1536x864.png 1536w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Untitled-design-2023-10-18T110235.265.png 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 725px) 100vw, 725px" />
<h3>Byte-sized content can funnel into longer content. </h3>
Schools may be hesitant to serve short videos with the fear it will cannibalize consumption of their longer content. Why watch a full game recap, after all, if the game-winning, buzzer-beater is already available as a ten-second clip? This assumption is a false one. 
Fans of college sports do not choose between shorter videos and longer ones. In fact, the most digitally savvy colleges are using short content as a funnel into longer content. For example, San Jose State Spartans, which is a member of the Mountain West Conference, regularly publishes <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@sjsuspartans">shorts on its YouTube</a>. Many of these smartly bring users toward related, longer content, effectively serving as a ten-second reminder to engage more deeply. 
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-1725 " src="https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Diseno-sin-titulo-13-1024x576.png" alt="Fans in stadium" width="725" height="408" srcset="https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Diseno-sin-titulo-13-1024x576.png 1024w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Diseno-sin-titulo-13-300x169.png 300w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Diseno-sin-titulo-13-768x432.png 768w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Diseno-sin-titulo-13-1536x864.png 1536w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Diseno-sin-titulo-13-2048x1152.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 725px) 100vw, 725px" />
<h3>Byte-sized video content is highly shareable.</h3>
As brands, colleges and universities need to prioritize reach and visibility. Short videos can help schools achieve this goal often far better than longer ones. With short videos, there is little thinking compared to the cognitive load a longer video would place upon them.
With byte-sized content, the person can be stirred by seeing the fantastic home run or the funny fan (according to <a href="https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/bitesized-content-booms-as-viewers-attention-spans-fall-11672855210154.html">Boston Consulting Group our attention span is now only eight seconds</a>), and then choose to share. The viewer can then post it on their own social media account or message the link to a friend. There is none of the hesitation that may come with a longer video (i.e. Is there something here that others may take offense to?) 
The highly shareable nature of these videos means that colleges with compelling content in this format can easily multiply their brand’s reach. 
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-1746 " src="https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Untitled-design-2023-10-18T110734.478-1024x576.png" alt="social media sharing" width="714" height="402" srcset="https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Untitled-design-2023-10-18T110734.478-1024x576.png 1024w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Untitled-design-2023-10-18T110734.478-300x169.png 300w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Untitled-design-2023-10-18T110734.478-768x432.png 768w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Untitled-design-2023-10-18T110734.478-1536x864.png 1536w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Untitled-design-2023-10-18T110734.478.png 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 714px) 100vw, 714px" />
<h3>Short is not short </h3>
Short videos are not easy to produce. It arguably takes just as much effort to find notable clips, cut them, and distribute them as a longer video. Because of this counterintuitive fact, colleges and universities should rely on an AI-based video editor like Magnifi for their byte-sized content. Doing so will give them all the benefits of shorter content at a fraction of the resources. 
If you’re a director of athletics, a chief marketing officer, or a leader in your college’s athletics department, reach out to Magnifi for a <a href="https://magnifi.ai/request-a-demo">free demo of our AI-based video editor</a>.

Go digital or go bust: How collegiate sports can benefit from byte-sized content

Are you a director of athletics who wants to accelerate your school’s digital transformation? Learn how byte-sized content may be a key need.

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collegiate sports 2024

Although OpenAI’s ChatGPT was released only a little over a year ago in November 2022, generative artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed entire industries almost overnight. This bewildering pace of technological change is bound to continue into 2024, and its impact on college sports will be no exception.
We’ve taken out our crystal ball to cast our predictions on how AI will continue to transform every aspect of college athletics in 2024 and beyond.
<h3>Evaluating recruits more efficiently with filters </h3>
An integral part of building any collegiate sports team is recruiting. While coaches and scouts do occasionally make on-site visits to games or clinics &#8211; which <a href="https://recruitlook.com/college-recruiting-budgets-limit-a-college-coachs-resources/">costs an average of US$1,500 to US$2,000 per person per trip</a> &#8211; they largely evaluate prospective players through game tape. Unfortunately, game tape is hard to access and even harder to sift through. A coach interested in just one player from a high school team will have to sit through an entire game to watch their target player. This process is a waste of time. It’s no wonder that they spend around <a href="https://www.verifiedathletics.com/coaches-corner/2018/3/3/how-much-does-an-average-college-coach-work-per-week">10 hours per week recruiting</a>. 
AI will offer a more efficient way to evaluate recruits. With an AI-based video editor, coaches can ingest relevant footage and then filter by the player’s name to auto-generate a clip of all their in-game highlights. This ability will enable coaches to evaluate more players, and in turn, recruit and field the most talented roster.
<h3>Building omnipresence through auto-resizing and distribution </h3>
The production teams of college athletic departments are generally resource-constrained, given <a href="https://www.gobankingrates.com/net-worth/sports/colleges-cut-athletics-due-budget-restraints/">the fact that most are losing money</a>. They only have so many producers and editors as well as time in which to edit and publish videos. These limits affect fans the most: They have only a select number of channels where they can view their favourite teams and players.
In 2024, more collegiate athletic departments will use AI-based video editors to auto-resize highlight videos for the ideal dimensions of different channels and auto-distribute them from a single back-end. These features will give collegiate athletic departments ubiquity: Their teams and players will be everywhere that fans also are.
Many of the most forward-thinking programs are already doing this, such as the <a href="https://themw.com/">Mountain West Conference</a>, which conveniently auto-resizes and distributes its league’s highlights to its MWC Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X.
<h3>Identifying opponent tendencies through meta-tags </h3>
Game footage is also integral to scouting opponents. Head coaches must be aware of how opponents play so that they can best prepare the team for them, a task so critical that they <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/source-ohio-state-inquired-about-in-person-scouting-of-cfp-opponents-ahead-of-last-seasons-playoff-194605956.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJs3KBCIU_c00lf3RYgBuHPnGBeXpPcYULcRADWicZ3gYpJGXzALF3KlcGMUSbbNE7QSsZRre37ZthuLpRRrK8TCqf1jf7wY8uoTm1QePaLTR7JOTQgNCtYmwYmbVUh3uK2rsDYYdDIvxYK_wAD2Sc7TbRDKz0uoDucw2g2Lnq8z">often violate administrative rules just to do so</a>. As with recruiting, this task is complicated by the fact that coaches will have to watch games of rival teams, not all of which will be relevant to them.
A defensive analyst for a basketball team will only want to watch the opponent’s offensive plays. They do not need to sit through the other team’s defensive plays &#8211; that would be the role of their offensive counterpart.
AI-based editors offer a more efficient way of scouting. Coaches and analysts can use meta-tags to learn about their opponents. For example, the defensive analyst could use the meta-tags “steals” or “blocks” to look for the best way historically to pressure and cause turnovers from the opponent.
<h3>Personalizing the fan experience </h3>
In 2024, Personalization is not just a good-to-have but rather a must-have approach for brands
Augmented reality and virtual reality continue to become more widely used. There are many ways for college departments to use AR and VR to engage fans. Unfortunately, production for AR and VR is intensive, so it would be a strain on top of their existing production requirements. 
Take a look at <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonogus/2019/09/13/dallas-cowboys-use-augmented-reality-in-popular-new-fan-activation-pose-with-the-pros/?sh=5b55de431716">what the Dallas Cowboys did</a>. They created AR photo booths where fans could take photos with their favourite stars. Naturally, because these photos are a great experience, fans tend to post them online, amplifying the team’s brand.
Collegiate athletics departments not already on the personalization journey, will soon get in on this trend. The most efficient way to produce the necessary clips for this material is through an AI-based video editor, which will give them a greater diversity of content immediately. For example, one college team might give fans to “commentate” over key highlights &#8211; just like their favourite announcers &#8211; and then post them on their social media. 
This level of personalization will build an even deeper affinity between them and their favourite teams.
<h3>AI will define 2024 </h3>
As is evident from these examples, AI will continue to innovate how collegiate athletic programs recruit, scout, distribute, and engage. If your collegiate athletic program or team wants to maximize these trends, please reach out to our team at Magnifi for a demo on how our AI-based video editor can improve team performance, content volume, and <a href="https://www.magnifi.ai/request-a-demo">fan engagement</a>.

5 Predictions in 2024: Transforming Video Content in Collegiate Sports

Explore the future of collegiate sports in 2024 as AI transforms player recruitment, scouting, content distribution, and fan engagement. Discover how Magnifi&#8217;s AI-based video editor revolutionizes team performance, content creation, and fan connections. Stay ahead in the game – read more now!

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College sports using AI

The average university offers many sports. At the highest end, universities in division I, II, and III must have <a href="https://honestgame.com/2022/01/20/naia-vs-ncaa/">twenty-four sports</a>, and those in lower associations still have fifteen sports. Since the number of matches will vary per sport, the best way to grasp the sheer scale of college athletics is the population. 
Division I athletics has over 6,700 different features, collectively <a href="https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2021/5/11/our-division-i-members.aspx">featuring over 190,000 athletes</a>. With this scale, it is manually impossible to provide meaningful video coverage of all these athletes, and sometimes even all the sports. The bottleneck would be as much the post-production as the production: Editing video for relevant highlights would require resources that universities just do not have to spare.
<a href="https://magnifi.ai/request-a-demo?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=internal-ad&amp;utm_campaign=changing-the-game-increasing-engagement-in-college-sports-with-ai-video-editors" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-3547 size-large" src="https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Collegiate-blog-ad-Request-a-Demo-with-Magnifi-1024x152.png" alt="" width="1024" height="152" srcset="https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Collegiate-blog-ad-Request-a-Demo-with-Magnifi-1024x152.png 1024w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Collegiate-blog-ad-Request-a-Demo-with-Magnifi-300x44.png 300w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Collegiate-blog-ad-Request-a-Demo-with-Magnifi-768x114.png 768w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Collegiate-blog-ad-Request-a-Demo-with-Magnifi.png 1080w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
As a result, teams in everything from volleyball and tennis to golf and wrestling are often left unseen. This is a missed opportunity for content moderators and creators at colleges and universities who want to drive engagement, especially among their own students on social media. Athletes from less heralded sports can win over audiences, as when UC Berkeley pole vaulter Allison Stoke rose to fame from her modelesque appearance in a competition, eventually using this attention to become an ambassador of the sport through sponsorships with such brands as GoPro. 
AI-based videos offer a better way forward, enabling content creators and moderators to produce highlights of a broader spectrum of college athletes across all their sports.
<h3>How AI-based video editors save time </h3>
Content producers can call on common sports actions through the use of meta-tags. For example, a content producer making highlights for the college’s volleyball game can use the meta-tag “spike” to call on all instances of this action. They can further filter this action to all the spikes performed by a particular athlete. The producer can then auto-generate a clip of this material in as little as thirty-five to forty-five seconds, saving them the time of manually sifting through footage and cutting and stitching clips together. 
The ability to quickly make highlights of any athlete is particularly important in the age of name, image, and likeness (NIL) in college athletics, which allows athletes to monetize their own brand. For example, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, which is a member of the <a href="https://magnifi.ai/insights/mountain-west-success-story?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=internal-link&amp;utm_campaign=changing-the-game-increasing-engagement-in-college-sports-with-ai-video-editors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mountain West Conference</a>, was able to secure a <a href="https://lasvegassun.com/news/2023/jul/09/nil-changed-the-game-and-will-only-continue-to-evo/">top athlete through their NIL collective</a>. College athletes who are sponsored via NIL will naturally want as much exposure as possible &#8211; a proposition that AI-based editors can easily fulfill. 
Colleges will have multiple channels to distribute this content, each of which will have their own ideal screen ratio. On an AI-based video editor, content producers can tailor videos to meet these specific requirements through auto-flipping. This feature will automatically resize each video in the ideal dimensions of a particular format, such as 16:9 for mobile-first channels. Most impressive is this feature is a smart one: It will retain the action, such as the volleyball hurtling back and forth over the net, always at the center of the screen. 
With auto-personalization, universities can also push a button and automatically insert their school’s opening billboard, closing billboard, logo and other materials on each video. 
AI-based video editors, in short, save time across the entire production process. 
<h3>How AI-based video editors boost engagement </h3>
Greater engagement may also have a return on investment: Since many colleges sell advertising, such as naming rights to their stadium or sponsorships in their videos, they can negotiate for better rates from corporate partners when they have higher brand equity. They will also be able to attract athletes who want to build their brand while they excel in their sport. We need to look no further than University of Clemson distance runner Mackenzie Steele, who gained sponsorships from top athletic brands largely on the basis of a <a href="https://izea.com/resources/college-athletes-instagram/">strong social media presence built around her running footage</a>. 
AI-based video editors can crucially facilitate this engagement. With auto-distribution, content creators and moderators can send their videos to a variety of different platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, and more.
Thanks to their AI-based video editors, these colleges will now have extensive highlight videos of every single sport. They will also have highlights of not only major stars, but all the athletes who contribute to each game. This content represents a long tail: Individually, they may generate less interest than college stars from major sports, but collectively, they will drive up the aggregate engagement of the brand.
Friends and family will be able to see highlights of their loved one in swimming, a collegiate sport that regularly lacks coverage. Community members will be able to view videos of their hometown hero in gymnastics who went away for college on scholarship. General fans of the school and the sport will be able to watch recaps of sports like college soccer, lacrosse, and even fencing. 
With this long tail of content, colleges will enjoy greater engagement in all the metrics that matter most: views, likes, and shares. They will succeed, in short, based on what every college ultimately is: a brand. If you’re a director of athletics, a chief marketing officer, or another leader in your college’s athletic department, reach out to Magnifi for a <a href="https://magnifi.ai/request-a-demo?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=internal-link&amp;utm_campaign=changing-the-game-increasing-engagement-in-college-sports-with-ai-video-editors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">free demo on our AI-based video editor</a>.

Changing the game: Increasing engagement in college sports with AI video editors

Are you a director of athletics who wants to revitalize your college’s athletics marketing? Learn how an AI-based video editor can increase fan engagement.

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Mountain West Case Study Cover

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Discover the transformative impact of AI on collegiate sports broadcasting in our latest success story. Magnifi&#8217;s innovative technology empowered the Mountain West Conference to redefine how sports events are covered and consumed, achieving unprecedented engagement rates across a network of over 13 schools, 10 sports and 150 teams. 
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-2709 size-large" src="https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Landing-Page-Cover-1024x585.png" alt="" width="1024" height="585" srcset="https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Landing-Page-Cover-1024x585.png 1024w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Landing-Page-Cover-300x171.png 300w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Landing-Page-Cover-768x439.png 768w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Landing-Page-Cover-1536x878.png 1536w, https://wp-dashboard.magnifi.ai/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Landing-Page-Cover.png 1792w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />
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<h4>Curious to uncover the strategies that led to these remarkable results?</h4>
Submit the form below to download the full success story and discover the strategies that propelled Mountain West to new heights in sports media engagement.
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How did Mountain West uplift engagement rate by 150% in just six months?

Discover how Mountain West enhanced fan engagement by 150% with Magnifi’s AI-powered solutions in our detailed case study. Learn about the advanced technologies and strategies that transformed the broadcasting of collegiate sports across multiple teams and schools.

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