Five things to look out for from the world of football content in 2022
The world of football content has never been as competitive as it is going to be in 2022. There’s more data – free and paid for – than ever before. There are more tools to help showcase this data, too. There’s a better understanding of it all and, as a result of this, even more content creators within this sphere.
So how exactly do you navigate your way through what is a perpetually evolving market? The easiest way is perhaps to simply embrace it. It being, well, everything.
So, here are five things we expect to see in football content in 2022.
1. More of it
At times, they say that less is more. This is not the case in football content.
Content remains king, queen and currency.
Gone are the days that a post-match report signals the end of that particular matchday. Readers now want analysis on why the game went the way it did. They want to know why a player was Man-of-the-Match or why he was hauled off early. They want answers to every question imaginable.
Most supporters online have theories or opinions and they will seek out content until theirs are validated.
There is not a finite number of views available, so why would content providers limit their potential options by putting a cap on the amount they produce?
2. More visualisations
Mark Thompson put it best at the end of the year when, in his feature on our new xG timelines, he said: “People like patterns.”
Heat maps were one of the first visualisations that readers and audiences were exposed to in football. People now understand that the more intense the colour is on the map, the more time they have spent on the ball in that area of the pitch.
They know what patterns to look for in this visualisation.
Gradually, more visualisations are being used by mainstream media and audiences are getting a better understanding of what it is showing, what is normal and what is good.
For example, a misconception used to be that if a midfielder wasn’t playing every pass forward, they weren’t doing their job. Now people understand that players have certain roles and this could include recycling possession, not progressing it. The more you see things like pass maps, the more familiar the audience is with them and the better the understanding they have.
Instead of just telling them what has happened, use football content to show them.
3. More audience engagement
What better way is there to understand your audience than to effectively ask them what they like?
It used to be all cloak and dagger but social media has given you access to audiences in a way that previously wasn’t possible.
For example, our #AskVizAnything hour on Twitter was a marketing campaign to expose our audience to a variety of tools that we have within the Twenty3 Toolbox. But we can also analyse the requests to find out what sort of visualisation is popular at that particular time and who the topical players are.
You can do this across all social media platforms and analyse the data to spot trends.
We have already seen the likes of Reach set up forms to get first-hand feedback from their audience on a variety of topics and subjects. The more open you are to this, the more chance you have of growing.
4. More data
In December, we updated the Toolbox with Release V. It included additions such as xG Timelines and we also introduced Expected Threat (xT). Large parts of the media have finally adopted Expected Goals (xG) and use it with the headline stats such as possession, shots and passes when analysing a match.
There was a big focus on Passes Per Defensive Action (commonly referred to as PPDA) in 2021. While turning out for Aston Villa last season, Jack Grealish referenced Expected Assists (xA). We will likely see that talked about with greater regularity this year. Expected Threat should creep into the conversation too.
There will forever be new metrics to help with analysis. Those who adopt it early on and make it part of their routine will reap the rewards in the long-term.
5. A hybrid approach
The era of Quality vs Quantity is well and truly over.
Outlets used to be obliged to make a decision between the two. Did they want to be the first with a piece of content on a subject or did they want to produce the best piece on that topic? There was a trade-off. There no longer needs to be, though.
With so many tools out there – such as the Twenty3 Toolbox – content creators are able to produce detailed, in-depth pieces at great speed. Sky Sports do it in real time. Squawka continually post some of the best content out there and they are often ahead of the curve. LiveScore and TV 2 Sporten have both been able to add to their live coverage of football.
All the graphics and visualisations in this article use Wyscout data and were produced in the Twenty3 Toolbox.
If you think the Toolbox could help your organisation either in the Media or Pro industry, please don’t hesitate to request a demo here.