College Football Should Step Up Its Fan Engagement Game to Capitalize on a Willing, Able, and Available Base

Daniel Litwin
Jan 12, 2024
Learn more
Andrew Lafiosca College Football Experts Talk fan engagement nfl Nielsen Sports Patrick Rishe Stephi Blank Washington University in St. Louis WIT Sports

 

Fan engagement is up in the NFL; it’s high time College Football joined the party.

The NFL marked an unprecedented achievement in the 2023-2024 season by securing 93 of the top 100 most-watched TV broadcasts in the US, a feat not matched by any other sport. This surge in popularity underscores the NFL’s crucial role in sustaining linear television amidst declining cable subscriptions.

Does the NFL’s popularity, stellar viewership, and engaged fanbase carry over to college football?

This year’s Orange Bowl scored more than just touchdowns in No.6 ranked Georgia Bulldogs rout of No. 4 Florida State Seminoles 63-3. Ratings of 10.4M viewers make it the best non-Semifinal Orange Bowl since 2017, and it was the most-streamed college football game ever on ESPN+. And the Michigan-Washington national title game? 25M viewers tuned into ESPN to watch.

So, the viewership is there, and avenues for fan engagement are available. Still, is College Football doing enough to capitalize on all this opportunity, or is there room for improvement?

In this episode of MarketScale’s Experts Talk Series, host Daniel Litwin, the Voice of B2B, dives into the heart of fan engagement in college football with Stephi Blank, the Vice President of Marketing & Service at WIT Sports; Dr. Patrick Rishe, the Director of the Sports Business Program at Washington University in St. Louis; and Andrew Lafiosca, the Managing Director of US/CAN at Nielsen Sports. Their discussion illuminates the evolving dynamics of fan interaction in an era where digital engagement is becoming as crucial as the in-stadium experience.

Highlights from their conversation include:

  • The challenge of fan accessibility to live games due to high ticket prices, emphasizing the need for broader fan engagement strategies beyond physical attendance
  • The lag in fan engagement in college sports compared to professional leagues, highlighting the importance of investing in sports technology and fan data analytics
  • The limitations smaller schools face in expanding their fan base compared to larger universities, underscoring the diverse challenges in fan engagement across different institutions

With her extensive experience in sports marketing, Stephi Blank brings a wealth of knowledge in fan engagement strategies, particularly in leveraging digital platforms to enhance the fan experience and broaden accessibility.

An expert in sports business and economics, Dr. Rishe offers insightful analysis of sports’ financial and marketing aspects, focusing on how investment in technology and analytics can drive fan engagement and business growth in sports.

Andrew Lafiosca specializes in sports analytics and market research. His expertise lies in understanding audience behaviors and trends, providing critical insights into how sports organizations can effectively reach and engage with diverse fan bases.

Article by James Kent

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

TGR Foundation
Tiger Woods’ TGR Foundation Is Reimagining Educational Access Through STEAM, AI, and Community Partnerships
May 19, 2026

As schools across the United States continue grappling with post-pandemic learning loss, declining student engagement, and shrinking emergency funding, nonprofit organizations are increasingly stepping in to fill critical gaps. Recent national studies on literacy recovery, student engagement, and career-connected learning show that educators are facing significant post-pandemic challenges in keeping students connected to pathways that…

Read More
Talent
Higher Ed Must Build a Talent Supply Chain to Fix Workforce Readiness
May 18, 2026

The traditional pathway from college to career is starting to break down—and both universities and employers are feeling the strain. Higher education is under mounting pressure to prove career outcomes as employers question graduate readiness and internships decline. In fact, many institutions are reporting shrinking internship pipelines even as employers continue to prioritize prior…

Read More
healthcare
The Healthcare Talent Fix: Build Pipelines Early, Use Data, and Get the Experience Right
May 18, 2026

There’s a growing tension inside healthcare right now—between the people leaving the workforce and the patients still arriving every day. It’s a dynamic that leaders can no longer afford to ignore. The numbers make that clear: the Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that the U.S. could be short of as many as 86,000 physicians…

Read More
education
Just Thinking… About Federal Funds, Student Support, and the Future of Education with Eric Reaves
May 15, 2026

As conversations around the future of the U.S. Department of Education continue to intensify, educators and federal program leaders are facing mounting uncertainty about how federal funds will be managed, distributed, and regulated. At the same time, schools serving historically underserved students remain heavily reliant on programs like Title I and other federally supported initiatives…

Read More
Related
farm
Software & Technology
The Business Case for AgTech: Better Data Is Key to Managing Risk on the Farm
April 23, 2026
AI in business
Healthcare
A Practical Conversation About AI in Business: From Hype to Real-World Impact
April 15, 2026

Artificial intelligence has moved from buzzword to boardroom priority at a staggering pace. Yet despite widespread adoption, many organizations are still struggling to turn experimentation into measurable business value—some estimates suggest the majority of enterprise AI initiatives fail to scale successfully. As AI becomes “table stakes” across industries, the real challenge is no longer…

Read More
Cybersecurity
Healthcare
The Expanding Threat Surface: Why Cybersecurity Is No Longer Optional for SMBs
April 9, 2026

Cybersecurity is no longer a concern reserved for large enterprises—it has become a defining issue for businesses of every size. Over the past decade, the rapid rise of cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and cryptocurrency has fundamentally reshaped the threat landscape, lowering the barrier to entry for cybercriminals and expanding the range of viable targets….

Read More