We no longer exclusively watch sports on television. Sports broadcasters, content creators, social media and internet juggernauts, and sports rights holders all seek to maximize their earning potential. It indicates a significant disruption of the current environment! In actuality, this is already true. We are already seeing significant changes, and more will come. As usual, it is challenging to predict the outcome. We talk about the six key tendencies, some of which are evident and others of which are not.
1. Pressure on traditional TV operators. Gaining market share is OTT.
I’m sorry. OTT? What is OTT? This is starting to get a little technical. This is common knowledge for you media types, but it is less well known to the majority of sports enthusiasts, who make up my readers. OTT stands for “over-the-top,” a word for material that is supplied via the internet without the need for customers to pay for cable or pay-TV services. OTT is simply streaming.
I’m glad to have that out of the way. Why are these OTT companies gaining market share? Several factors. The first factor is the shift in generations. Gen Z and Gen Alpha are recent generations that have no idea what television is. Yes, I am a little exaggerated, but for them, the internet is what actually matters. When was the last time you saw them watch television or a broadcast? It is only a matter of time now since the elder (TV grown up) generation is gradually dying off and the younger generation is advancing with each new baby! TV will eventually stop broadcasting, if not sooner then later.
So why is progress in sports moving so slowly? So let’s introduce the owners of the rights! These are the individuals who market the sports content they produce. By signing long-term agreements with extremely wealthy media networks, several rights holders have thus far increased their revenue. These networks have thus far preferred to offer end users (mostly TV viewers) sports in packages. Many of these contracts will soon expire (see table below), at which point they will be subject to renegotiation. It’s going to be an interesting period with so many new parties on the table and TV losing viewers.
2. Prices will rise as competition for rights increases. The table has many parties.
We dealt with conventional TV, ok? The simple part was that. Share of TV will decline. Now for the challenging part! Who will ultimately prevail in the content war? The issue is the abundance of current and new distribution channels and formats. All of them are focusing on substance because, in the end, that is what matters.
Will social media platforms use their platforms to broadcast live sporting events to draw viewers? Will it be the players that only play video on demand? Will sports leagues, clubs, and federations launch their own platforms (like f1 tv pro)? Will the producers of sports material (the Discoveries of this world investing in the Olympics, golf, and cycling) be striving to become the Netflix of sports?
Will Amazon, through its Twitch subsidiary—which is already a significant source of entertainment in the world of e-sports—opt for interactive lifestreaming? Or perhaps the traditional TV networks will branch out and use new media to leverage their content, either independently or, more likely, in collaboration with knowledgeable parties. Anyone can make a guess! In any event, with all of these parties vying for attention, the content war will get more intense. And consequently, this will surely drive up the cost of rights and content.
3. Novel content types could become popular
In comparison to his parents, much alone his grandparents, a GenZer has different preferences. These generations continue to want material that is generated and provided in the same manner. But keep in mind that Gen Z is the video generation! Long live broadcasts of sporting events are not appealing to GenZ. Before a game is complete, GenZ is long gone.
They enjoy highlights or absurdly amusing stuff (Dude Perfect is a prime example), as well as backstories and interviews with the celebrities and role models they identify with. Some of them enjoy watching Twitch, where independent commentators interact with viewers while live-streaming sporting events. Expect formats to speed up significantly as well. The attention span of Generation Z is increasing shorter and shorter, therefore information needs to be engaging and fast-paced.Content will vary and no longer be limited to solely classic games, that much is certain. Going forward, there will be a lot more variation.
4. There will be a rise of new platforms!
The quantity of sports-related productions (background, hilarious, add-on, etc.) will significantly increase due to the fact that it will be much simpler for everyone (including you and me) to create new content, as we just described. As the primary consumers and creators who can quickly sift through this pile of generated content, GenZ and Gen Alpha will be crucial to the transformation. They desire to create their own videos (tiktok!) and disseminate them to a global audience. Athletes and sports organizations are anticipated to play a bigger role in creating content and collecting it on new channels. A wonderful illustration of what to anticipate is Players Tribune.
5. Sports Betting
Sports content is now fully immersed with sports betting lines and odds provided by online sportsbooks. At the bottom of every ticker on network TV you will see the game listed along with its start time and point spread. The point spread is one way to enjoy the game but there are also a myriad of other ways to bet on games. You can wager total points scored by a player, which team will score first and about 100 other options.
