Why would a healthcare agency offer sports marketing?

Healthcare marketers looking for a fresh way to engage audiences across a wide range of demographics have turned to what may seem like an unusual source – sports.

According to YouGov data, 67% of global consumers follow sports on a regular basis via various platforms. The Men’s FIFA 2022 World Cup captured 5 billion viewers, the 2024 Tour de France had 3.5 billion viewers, the ICC 2023 Cricket World Cup had 2.6 billion viewers, and the Women’s 2023 FIFA World Cup and the 2024 Summer Olympics had 2 billion viewers each.

Globally, there’s a strong appetite for sports. But what does it have to do with health?

Gozde Dinc, director of strategic partnerships & innovation at Genentech, explains the connection: it's about emotion, attention, and relevance.

“Sports bring out a range of emotions – excitement, joy, even anger. It has a unique power to make us feel deeply, often moving us to tears. As healthcare marketers, we have an opportunity to link those emotions to our product in a way that resonates. Sports audiences are some of the most engaged. So much so that we get frustrated if anyone walks past the TV when we're watching our game. This creates an opportunity for brands to capture some of that attention. There’s a natural connection between the power of sports and inspiring people to think about their health. You are watching athletes perform at the peak of physical fitness, so it's an authentic space to talk about how to best take care of your own health.”

Partnership opportunities

Sports present a significant opportunity for healthcare brands to partner with these events and leagues when patients, caregivers, and even healthcare professionals – capturing them during their “white coats off” moments – are actively engaged with the content. Calling up the images of fans dressed in their team’s colours, glued to the screen, and sharing those moments with friends and family, helps us recognise how important sports are, and that this is a moment when people are feeling passionate and leaned-in.

We saw strong examples of this with several pharmaceutical companies embarking on partnerships around the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, one of the top globally watched sporting events. Viewers were tuned in to see not only who would take home the gold and how their home countries would fare, but also dramatic moments like the comeback of Simone Biles.

Brands successfully tapped into the emotion and fandom around the Olympics. One pharma brand created a campaign around the Olympics that highlighted the convergence of science and sport, such as overcoming challenges to ensure progress is being made and that science is inclusive and available to all. Additionally, this partnership tapped into an area of focus for their product pipeline, raising awareness of meningitis, and creating authentic moments, including Paralympic athletes that have been impacted by the disease. This is one example of how healthcare marketing leveraged emotion, attention, and relevance.

Advocacy & personal connection

Knowing that everyone is a patient can be beneficial to brands, exploring how athletes have a personal connection to their brand and feel passionate about representing that brand. In one example, a well-known hockey player in the US connected with a pharma brand when his family member was diagnosed with cancer. He became a brand advocate.

Many leagues and teams have partnerships already in place with different non-profits, allowing marketers to amortise these opportunities in an authentic manner. The NFL, for instance, is in its 16th season with its programme Crucial Catch, a year-round initiative in partnership with the American Cancer Society to educate fans on the importance of being their own health advocate, while also offering screenings and resources to underserved communities.

In 2024, 15 NFL players that have personal connections to cancer have been incorporated into the messaging to amplify the mission of this programme through appearances, fundraising campaigns, and raising awareness across social media. These are prime opportunities for a brand to align with an already existing partnership and incorporate authentic messaging with athletes.

Diverse sports fan demographic

In addition, it’s important to recognise that the demographics of fans have evolved. While there is still a strong skew to men watching sports globally, with 77% of men following sports content. YouGov’s audit of global sports viewership found that 56% of women immerse themselves as well.

Sports also provide an opportunity to reach a diverse cross-section of audiences, serving as an advantage to any healthcare client to have access to key audiences benefitting from their medications. According to our Media Vitals Global Research, for example, healthcare professionals in Europe and Canada feel that two in five patients are underinformed about their health and sports present that opportunity to share information to these audiences.

With increased global viewership and dedicated and diverse fan bases, sports present the prime opportunity for healthcare and pharmaceutical brands. These brands can align with cultural and health trends and activate within sports opportunities. They can tap into the benefit of emotional and authentic storytelling that is disseminated through on-site opportunities and leveraging key athletes and their platforms.

Sports marketing offers healthcare brands an alternative channel to reach their audiences and align with the strong brand loyalty fans have for their favourite teams and sporting events.