Nearly 70% of sports fans seek additional statistics and digital insights during live events, highlighting a growing expectation for continuous digital engagement before, during, and after games. As sports organizations evolve from event-driven businesses into always-on digital brands, platforms that enable real-time, personalized engagement are becoming critical infrastructure.
In this episode of AppDevANGLE, I spoke with Chris Koehler, Chief Marketing Officer at Twilio, about Twilio’s partnership with the PGA of America and how sports organizations are increasingly using developer platforms to build long-term relationships with fans rather than focusing solely on ticket sales or single-event experiences.
Our conversation explored the shift toward omnichannel fan engagement, the importance of first-party data, and how organizations can move from isolated communication tools to full customer engagement platforms that support the entire digital fan journey.
From Event Moments to Continuous Fan Relationships
Sports organizations have previously focused on the event itself: selling tickets, filling stadiums, and delivering a game-day experience. That model is changing.
Chris explained that sports organizations are increasingly focused on building continuous relationships with fans rather than isolated interactions.
“You move from a moment in time around the event itself to the full experience before they arrive at the event and after as well.”
This shift mirrors changes already seen in retail and travel industries, where companies map the entire customer journey rather than focusing on individual transactions.
For sports organizations, this means engaging fans across multiple touchpoints:
- Ticket discovery and purchasing
- Pre-event content and updates
- In-event statistics and insights
- Post-event highlights and engagement
- Merchandise and membership programs
The goal is to extend the relationship beyond game day.
Why First-Party Data Is Becoming Essential
A key driver behind this transformation is the increasing importance of first-party data. Sports organizations are moving away from relying solely on broadcast partners and social media platforms to connect with fans. Instead, they want direct relationships that allow them to understand fan preferences and personalize engagement.
Chris noted that organizations are working to build ongoing conversations rather than one-time interactions.
“It’s not just about the one-time experience. It’s about the ongoing conversation and the ongoing experience that they can drive.”
By capturing direct interactions through messaging, email, voice, and digital applications, organizations can deliver personalized experiences that increase engagement and loyalty over time.
Omnichannel Engagement Is the New Fan Experience
Fan engagement today rarely happens in a single channel. Instead, it spans multiple digital interactions across devices and platforms.
Chris emphasized that organizations must think beyond isolated communication channels.
“You have to move from a single channel conversation to an ongoing conversation that is multichannel.”
For the PGA of America, this means engaging golfers and fans through:
- SMS updates
- Email notifications
- Digital event information
- Customer service channels
- Golf lesson and scheduling experiences
This omnichannel approach reflects a broader shift across industries toward unified customer engagement platforms that can manage multiple touchpoints within a single architecture.
Engagement at Scale Requires Developer Platforms
Large sporting events represent one of the most demanding environments for digital engagement platforms.
Major tournaments or sporting events can generate massive spikes in traffic and communication volume. Platforms must support millions of interactions across multiple channels in real time.
Chris highlighted how these high-profile partnerships serve as proof points for Twilio’s broader platform capabilities.
“If we can show that the PGA of America can do this, or Chelsea Football Club or AEG, we think we can help drive customer engagement globally across any industry.”
In this way, sports organizations become large-scale demonstrations of how real-time engagement platforms can support digital experiences across industries.
The Crawl–Walk–Run Model for Customer Engagement Platforms
One important takeaway from the discussion is that organizations do not need to deploy full engagement platforms immediately. Many organizations begin with a single communication channel.
Chris explained: “We see people start with messaging, or email, or voice, and then they progress over time.”
This crawl–walk–run model allows organizations to gradually expand their engagement capabilities by adding new channels, integrating customer data, and eventually managing the entire customer journey within a unified platform.
The approach reduces implementation complexity while allowing organizations to modernize at their own pace.
AI Is Accelerating Engagement Platform Adoption
Artificial intelligence is also beginning to influence how engagement platforms are implemented.
Chris pointed to voice AI as an emerging entry point for many organizations.
“We’re seeing customers start with voice AI, replacing or supplementing call centers, and then evolving into conversational AI across channels.”
As conversational AI expands into messaging, email, and voice interactions, engagement platforms will increasingly become the orchestration layer for AI-powered customer experiences.
Analyst Take
The Twilio–PGA of America partnership illustrates a broader shift underway across the sports and entertainment industry.
Sports organizations are evolving from event-centric businesses into digital engagement platforms that operate continuously across multiple channels. The fan experience is no longer limited to attending a game; it now spans a full lifecycle of digital interactions.
For developers and platform teams, this shift introduces new requirements around scalability, real-time data integration, and omnichannel communication architecture. Platforms capable of supporting high-volume interactions across messaging, voice, email, and digital applications will become critical components of modern customer engagement strategies.
More importantly, the sports industry often acts as an early proving ground for new engagement models. If platforms can deliver personalized fan experiences at the scale of global sporting events, they can support similar engagement patterns across retail, travel, financial services, and other industries.
The long-term trend is clear: organizations are moving from isolated communication tools toward unified engagement platforms that manage the entire customer relationship lifecycle.
