Many high school athletic programs are admitting defeat to smartphones and social media in the battle to keep student athletes on teams, even going as far as cancelling seasons for lack of interest in the program. Incorporating social media into the athletic season may be the key to keeping students engaged and excited to be part of a team, and team sports hype videos are the best way to feature those athletes so they remain on teams and inspire their friends to try out.
What is a Hype Video?
Sports hype videos are promotional videos that feature a team and its players in sporting action. Hype videos serve as introductions to games, rosters, or seasons, hoping to get the athletes and fans “hyped” or excited for the events ahead. They often appeal to the fans emotionally, evoking a sense of pride and community through music, narration, and imagery. Usually hype videos last 1-2 minutes long and feature memorable highlights, player previews, and establishing shots of the stadium or community the team represents.
Here is an example of a senior-feature hype video I created as Marketing & Communications Director at Poland Seminary High School in Poland, Ohio. Senior players are introduced before action shots are shown. Notice how the song adds suspense leading to a “drop”, or a section of music where elements drop out in time and come back in louder or heavier than before.
Why Hype videos?
The benefits of producing sports hype videos can be seen through the excitement of the athletes, fans, and communities featured. There are five obvious benefits to creating hype videos:
- Recruitment – Underclassmen and younger athletes are more inclined to stay on the team until their senior year or perform at a higher level to be featured in the videos.
- Fan Attendance – There is nothing better than having a full crowd at sporting events. Featuring the fans in the hype video inspires them to attract more attention and cheer louder to be recognized.
- Easy to Share – When many athletes are featured in the video, there are more people inclined to share the video with their followers. People are more likely to share content they identify with, and if their athlete friend is featured in the video, they are inspired to share the video.
- Team Pride/Confidence – Having a hype video gives the team a sense of pride and connection to their teammates and community. If played before every game, the team will get “hyped” to perform.
- Opponent Fear – A hype video and its effect on the home crowd can certainly get into the heads of opponents. The team looks and sounds even stronger when a hype video accompanies their entrance to a game.
How do you create a Hype Video?
Creating a hype video is like telling a short, exciting story. Teams can make their hype videos however they’d like! Videos can feature stadiums, fans, slo-mo action shots, locker room preparation, and more. In recording, a good recruitment tactic is to focus on senior members of the team. In effect, viewers or younger team athletes might be more inspired to join and stay on teams through their senior year.
First, Music!
Music is arguably the most important element of the video and should be determined before syncing any video. A song and its direction determines the storyline. Finding the perfect song is sometimes as easy as asking the team what their pump-up song is! However, if you’re left to pick the song yourself, you should think of the sport and game itself. Like any sport, weeks of slow, focused or even nervous preparation lead up to an exciting game or performance. So the song you pick should have all the elements of the sport your capturing. That usually means a focused, slow, or less complex start followed by a build up. The build up leads to a strong drop/release of the main beat, complex and full of moving rhythm. Rap, Rock, EDM, and Cinematic/Film music are genres that do this very well.
The song should be begin less involved or complex, not giving away the main beat to the song. It should sound suspenseful or cinematic, almost hinting at the full beat. Verses are good parts to use for the beginning, and choruses are useful for the high-energy part, especially because choruses are the parts of the song most people know and sing to anyway.
For example, listen closely to the music I created in this Poland Bulldogs Girls Basketball hype video. I took the song “Unholy” by Sam Smith & Kim Petras and made an orchestral or cinematic loop during the introduction of players. After introductions, the beat drops and high-energy highlights are shown.
Then, establishing shots!
Your visuals should begin with emotional, slower, and less active shots. Establish the mood and intensity with some of the following slow establishing shots:
- Empty locker room or stadium
- Past team trophies/awards
- Newspaper, Images, or media of past team results
- Past team highlights
Finally, highlights!
After the beat drop, feature those highlights! Find any big moments, wins, celebrations, or scores and try to synchronize them to the beats of the song! If your team doesn’t have many scores or highlights yet, you can feature the following types of shots:
- Team hugging/celebrating a score
- Handshakes
- Huddles and breaking huddles
- High-fives, pointing, gestures
- BONUS: Mic’d Up Content – If you mic up one of your players, you can get engaging and immersive content that will set your hype videos apart from your opponents!
Summary
Sports hype videos are a valuable tool for recruitment because they showcase the team’s talent and success, create a sense of team culture and community, get people excited, and can be easily shared. These videos can be an effective way for coaches and athletic directors to attract new players and promote their programs.
