MADRID, 30 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of ACB, Antonio Martín, assured this Thursday that the “DNA, the competition, is not going to change”, although he acknowledged that “the experience is constantly changing”, which is why he believes that “a balance must be sought”, while At the same time, despite the fact that “it is good to be creative”, he criticized the fact that competitions do not listen to players or fans.
“The ones who change are the consumers, and then we follow behind. The consumer changes their habits and we have to adapt. Now there is much more offer, and we also have to diagnose what the fan wants, we have to be agile to identify it, attend to the content, the way of communicating it and where to communicate it,” Martín analyzed at the Business Sport Forum organized by Marca y Expansión.
The former player and now ACB leader admitted that he would “love to have a manual or guide for investments with a more or less assured return” and gave the keys to getting closer. “You have to analyze whether the competition is attractive; secondly, the language and way of communicating it; and then, where,” he commented on the new habits and tastes of fans.
“On top of that, the expiration of these fashions is very fast, that’s why we often have the feeling of chasing, but we are humble enough not to be fortune tellers, because being a fortune teller is stupid, error after error. But we have a theory, our own. “DNA, the competition, we are not going to change it. I don’t think Wimbledon will change, nor do we, but the experience is constantly changing,” he added as part of his strategy to engage a young audience without losing the most loyal.
Because for Martín, the key is “to find a difficult balance” between novelties and pureness. For this reason, in the ACB “everyone” tries to “look at it with a certain distance and pause, because otherwise you enter a loop of changes that you may regret.”
During this round table, Martín was accompanied by the general director of Spain and Portugal of Legends, Chus Bueno; the director of sponsorships at Santander, Enrique Geijo; and the Director of Brand and Marketing of Iberia, Gemma Juncá. All of them addressed the treatment of sport with sponsors, a relationship in which “the fundamental thing” for it to be successful is “to create a very clear identifying line”, and achieve that “call effect.”
“We have broken records with Endesa, Movistar, and those are examples for others, due to the reliability of the content. My team has done well in maintaining a line, not trying to mislead the potential partner. We try to make the association with the ACB more tranquility and security. We are small, affable, but unruly and eager to please. The relationship has to be fluid, natural and truthful. We generate a skin and a way of understanding each other,” Martín explained.
Finally, the president of ACB addressed the life of the current competitions, confessing that he does not understand that their formats grow and incorporate more matches when “compressed events are easier for the fan to follow.” “It is surprising that some try to make longer leagues, with more teams, with Playoff, Regular League, Play-in… It is good to be creative, but sometimes we do not listen to players or fans,” he lamented.
“In 2023, trying to capture a user’s attention for 10 months with the same intensity… There have to be valley moments, but you can’t fail at your peak moment, because you can have a big problem, because many things are monetized,” he concluded.