Spectacle events surrounding sports are pulling viewership numbers that rival, and sometimes exceed, the games themselves. That creates new openings for advertisers to reach passionate audiences in low-stakes, high-excitement environments.

Major sporting events reveal broader cultural trends. "Amazon is in such a unique position to give us an idea of broader consumer sentiment because of its scale and reach," our analyst Sarah Marzano said on a recent episode "In the Game." The same principle applies to sport-adjacent spectacles, which reveal an unsatiated hunger for collective experiences that traditional game broadcasts don't satisfy.

The numbers now sit at the top of the sports viewing chart. The UFC's Freedom 250 event on the White House South Lawn drew 7 million viewers on Paramount+ in the US, the most-viewed event in the company's domestic history, according to Nielsen. Globally, the MMA league reported 34 million viewers tuned in. The Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight went further, drawing an estimated 108 million live viewers globally, Super Bowl-level numbers for what many considered a lackluster match.

Here's what the rise of spectacle events means for sports marketing.

Casual fans are driving spectacle viewership

These events attract fundamentally different audiences than regular-season games, creating both opportunities and challenges for marketers.

"I think one of the unique draws of these events is that they often capture audiences who aren't necessarily super tuned-in sports viewers," EMARKETER newsletter analyst Marisa Jones said. "They're much more casual fans who are tuning into this spectacle event to see who's going to be on their team, rather than having to watch the whole game."

Formula 1 shows how little of the actual contest audiences need. Sunday races average 76 million live viewers globally. The Saturday qualifying sessions, essentially watching cars individually lap the track, still draw 50 million to 60 million viewers, and in the US about 50% of Sunday's race audience tunes in for them.

Casual viewers need messaging built for them, not the messaging aimed at fans who watch every game. That widens the reachable audience, but it rules out creative that assumes deep sports knowledge.

Zero-stakes environments create unique branding opportunities

Unlike actual games with winners and losers, spectacle events offer what Willens described as "almost zero stakes settings" where "it's all upside."

"Even if some team that you root for picks a player you weren't expecting them to pick, you're still gonna go, 'Well, the hell with it. I support him,'" Willens said. "It's big moments of joy every 15 minutes for hours on end."

That emotional cover changes what teams and brands can put out. During the NFL Draft, the LA Rams' social team created a Friday movie parody called "Thursday" with Snoop Dogg and O.J. Jackson Jr. that generated significant engagement, the kind of content that might have faced backlash during the regular season.

"During the season they sort of can't get too silly or else their fans get upset about it," Willens noted. "But in a setting like this where the whole point is to just get excited about meeting someone new, it really gives these teams an opportunity to let their hair down metaphorically."

Brands can take creative risks during spectacle events that would be inappropriate during competitive games. The celebratory atmosphere provides cover for experimental, lighthearted content that builds affinity without the risk of associating with a loss.

Free access democratizes fan engagement

Rising ticket prices have handed spectacle events an audience. NFL ticket costs have climbed 40% to 50% over the past decade, and the alternatives are free. The NFL Draft experience costs nothing to attend. FIFA World Cup fan fests in host cities like Philadelphia drew thousands of attendees, many without deep soccer knowledge, to watch matches on large screens. UFC weigh-ins distribute thousands of free tickets, filling stadium-like environments.

"It is genuinely shocking how cost-prohibitive it is to attend a regular season game of basically any sporting event," Willens said. "You're talking about shelling out hundreds of dollars if you want to go with your family to see just a regular season game."

Free spectacle events reach the fans priced out of stadiums, particularly younger viewers and families. Their engagement stays high even when their spending on tickets is zero, which is exactly the audience brands activating on site are buying.

Second-screen engagement dominates viewing behavior

Most spectacle event viewers watch with a phone in hand, which opens a parallel marketing channel. During the FIFA World Cup, 59% of US fans used a second screen while watching, with particularly high rates among Gen Z viewers, according to data cited on the podcast.

"Second screen marketing is one of the best opportunities for a lot of brands who are also priced out of these games to still get involved in the conversation around the game," Jones said. "That is really a great opportunity to do it for maybe a lower price for people who are multitasking while they watch."

Brands excluded from broadcast sponsorships can reach engaged viewers through mobile-optimized content, social media activations, and search marketing timed to live events at significantly lower costs than traditional sports advertising.

Listen to the full episode.

This was originally featured in the EMARKETER Daily newsletter. For more marketing insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.