22 Aug LinkedIn Marketing for Sports Teams: Best Practices
LinkedIn is no longer just for job seekers. The platform has evolved to support diverse, engaging social content strategies that empower brands and companies to drive a multitude of business objectives and initiatives.
While other platforms like Instagram and TikTok prioritize content designed purely for fan engagement like game highlights and player milestones, LinkedIn provides sports properties with the opportunity to tell the story of their business while cultivating new revenue generation opportunities.
Zoomph recently hosted a webinar that highlighted best practices for sports teams and leagues on LinkedIn, capitalizing on the launch of the platform’s new LinkedIn integration.
Here are five takeaways from the webinar that sports teams can apply to their own LinkedIn strategy:
Before you post, you need a plan. Experts agree that LinkedIn requires a dedicated strategy, separate from your team’s approach on other social platforms. Start by setting clear objectives based around what will help your organization the most. This could include:
- Increasing brand awareness
- Engaging new fan demographics
- Attracting new corporate partners
- Driving ticket and corporate suite sales
- Supporting recruiting & staff retention
- Highlighting community programs
- Sharing business & partnership news
“Be clear on the outcomes and be intentional with the posts and what you want to achieve through them and who you want to get in front of,” says Jon Lyndon, CEO of The Lyndon Company.
Depending on organizational needs and opportunities, your strategy may require content that supports multiple goals.
The behavior of the LinkedIn audience is unique compared to other platforms. After all, real names and resumes are attached to profiles. You are engaging with fans who operate differently – and have different passions and interests. Keep this in mind when outlining your goals and content strategy.
“Members on LinkedIn are investing in themselves. They are consuming content on topics they care about, networking or taking a LinkedIn learning course,” says D.J. Shea, Lead Client Services Manager for LinkedIn. “Think about that when you want to provide value to your audience on that platform.”
While part of your LinkedIn audience are fans that care about highlights and the final score – sports teams and leagues should go deeper and focus on tailored content that tells the story of your business.
Showcase the people and strategy that drive success across multiple departments. This can include:
- Behind-the-Scenes Access: Show off the day-to-day operations of your organization, from a team intern’s journey to the creative campaign work of your marketing department.
- Staff Spotlights: Share the career journeys and personal stories of your staff. Have them provide leadership and career advice. This humanizes your brand and builds a deeper connection with your audience.
- Partnership Announcements: Announce new sponsorships and collaborations, explaining the value they bring to both your team and your audience.
- Venue News: New stadium renderings, renovation plans, concession additions, VIP experiences and special events could interest fans as well as potential brand partners. It also allows you to collaborate with other business partners, like architecture firms, concessions contractors, ticketing partners and entertainment companies.
- Community Initiatives: Share stories about your team’s charitable work and commitment to making an impact off the field.
- Networking Events: Promote and host events that focus on specific groups. Feature panel discussions, ticket offers and unique experiences.
- Corporate Communications: Share important business wins that may not resonate on other platforms, but can attract prospective sponsors.
Identify the audiences you want to target – executives, prospective staff, business leaders, and industry influencers – and craft content specifically for them.
“In the past, we have not associated sports and LinkedIn together, but now we are more and more,” says Lyndon. LinkedIn should not be a repost platform. You want to draw in your audience’s attention.”
Additionally, leverage diverse content formats to boost engagement. Use video to capture attention, polls to involve your audience, and carousels to share multi-image stories or reports.
Content is king on LinkedIn, but remember, quality over quantity will help drive better results.
Your staff and players are your most valuable assets. By encouraging them to be brand advocates, you can significantly amplify your team’s reach.
“Employees are the greatest asset you have,” says Shea. “Empowering staff – and players – to amplify your content – but also amplifying the impressive work they are doing relevant to your organization can help drive big dividends.”
Make sure staff are correctly tied in to your company page. If players don’t already have one, you can help them set up an account that can be beneficial for your team and their own professional ventures.
Encourage all team members – from executives to star players – to maintain well-crafted LinkedIn profiles and share your team’s content on their own pages. This simple practice can dramatically increase your content’s visibility and impact.
A common missed opportunity is failing to tag key people. For example, when announcing a new partnership, tag the player, team executives, and the partner company’s executives to extend the post’s reach to their professional networks.
LinkedIn isn’t just for engagement – it’s a powerful tool for generating revenue and attracting high-value partners. Once again, by understanding this unique segment of fans and their behaviors on the platform, there are unique activation opportunities for partners that you can drive more value with.
- Corporate Partnerships: Use the platform to highlight partnerships through thought leader ads and sponsored content. A team executive and a partner’s CEO could co-author a post or host a live discussion to maximize exposure.
- Monetized Events: Host a sponsored LinkedIn Live event or webinar. A live Q&A with a player or a discussion on the business of sports can attract significant interest and sponsorship opportunities.
Ticket Sales & Premium Experiences: Paid media on LinkedIn can also be leveraged to sell corporate suites, premium seating, or other high-value ticket packages. Beyond direct advertising, building a stronger content presence on the platform creates an organic channel for showcasing premium experiences to a business-minded audience.
Business-Focused Programming: Use LinkedIn to promote paid events tailored to professionals, such as networking receptions, behind-the-scenes tours focused on the business side of sports, or executive-level panels. These align perfectly with LinkedIn’s audience and can open additional revenue streams.
Remember, in order to create strong revenue streams – your company page needs to consistently deliver valuable, engaging content.
To refine your strategy and prove ROI, you need to track and analyze the performance of your content. For organic content, leverage Zoomph’s advanced analytics integration for the most reliable data – including social and brand value measurements. This is crucial for improving your content strategy and developing rate cards for sponsored content.
For paid media, you can use LinkedIn’s built-in analytics to gain valuable insights into your audience.
- Key Metrics: Monitor follower growth, engagement rates, and the reach of your posts.
- Content Performance: See which types of content perform best and tailor your strategy to give your audience more of what they love.
- Paid Campaigns: If you’re running ads, use the LinkedIn Insights Tag to track ad performance and optimize your campaigns to reach the right audience.
By continuously learning from your data, you can build a smarter, more effective LinkedIn presence that drives business growth and strengthens your team’s brand.
Ultimately, sports fans want more than just game highlights—they want to understand the people, partnerships, and processes that shape their favorite teams. By embracing LinkedIn’s unique professional environment and tailoring your strategy accordingly, your team can create value far beyond wins and losses.
