BASINGSTOKE, England — Television networks will face increasingly stiff competition for sports league broadcasting rights as OTT challengers, such as Amazon Prime, enter the ring with attractive bids, according to a new report for Juniper Research.

The report, “The Future of Sports Content: Technologies, Broadcast Strategies & eSports 2018–2023,” predicts significant disruption for broadcasters over the next decade as the rights to telecast two major sports leagues come up for renewal. Specifically, Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League could shake things up as OTT players bid for rights to their games.

[Read: Fox Sports Readies The Field For World Series]

“According to our analysis, Amazon would only require 1.7 million new Prime subscribers to pay for Turner’s current MLB rights package priced in the region of $3 billion for eight years,” said Lauren Foye, who authored the report.

To counter the threat, the research firm recommends broadcasters deploy new technologies, such as augmented reality, AI-driven cognitive highlights, like those provided by Fox Sports with the assistance of IBM’s Watson Media for the 2018 World Cup, and 360-degree camera angles, to drive audience engagement.

Broadcasters must also begin taking advantage of the opportunities eSports presents by partnering with publishers of games or eSports leagues for exclusive content and media to be broadcast, the research group recommends.

In addition to the report, Juniper Research has published a white paper, “Three Technologies Set to Revolutionize Sports Content,” offering insight on AR, cognitive highlights, 360-degree cameras and other technologies that offer the potential to drive greater viewer engagement.

Juniper says the stakes are high and will only grow higher. The spending generated by professional sports wearable technologies and the subscription fees viewers will pay to access that content as well as the ad and subscription fee spending for eSports will reach $3.4 billion by 2023, up from $700 million this year, the new research says.

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HAMPSHIRE, ENGLAND—OTT revenues will hit $120 billion by 2020 according to new figures from Juniper Research. The analysts suggest over a quarter of global households will subscribe to SVoD services by 2022.

Juniper Research's Lauren Foye said: “Success will hinge on whether these providers can continue to produce hits such as ‘Stranger Things.’ As consumers become more fluid in their uptake and loyalty to video services, OTTs could just as easily see users switch off.”

They also predict OTT services will enter the sports rights market, but that viewers will then struggle over whether to continue to pay for multiple subscriptions.

The delivery of media via IP will have a benefit to broadcasters in driving consumers to their own OTT services, suggests Juniper. The company forecasts data usage to soar on these devices, approaching 800,000 Petabytes per annum by 2022.

This story first appeared on TVT's sister publication TVB Europe. 

HAMPSHIRE, ENGLAND—Research firm Juniper Research dusted off its crystal ball this month and released what it’s predicting to be the top 10 tech trends of 2018.

1. Amazon & Facebook Lead OTT Bids For Major Sporting Rights

While over-the-top (OTT) sports coverage has been limited to streaming games that are also simulcast by broadcasters, recent bids by the two companies for rights to pro soccer indicate this likely won’t be the case much longer.

“Amazon’s key card here is Amazon Prime,” according to Juniper in its report. “Not only would it gain revenues from new Amazon Prime customers … but additionally revenues derived from retail sales by those customers via the Prime channel. This significantly reduces the number of new customers it would require to cover the costs of a rights package.”

Noted the research firm: “A successful Amazon bid would be a game changer, and would almost certainly encourage it, and its VoD competitors, to mount further bids. Ultimately this would set them up to bid for the biggest prizes of all, the rights to major US sporting events, which are next up for grabs from 2020 onwards.”

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2. Apple, Facebook & Google Bring Social Payments To The Masses

Consumers have become increasingly more trusting of social media and messaging payment services, and launches from the tech trio will accelerate adoption in 2018. The total number of mobile P2P transactions will approach 90 billion in 2018, predicted Juniper, valued at nearly $590 billion.

3. AI & Blockchain to Power Numerous Fintech & Insurance Solutions

The research firm expects blockchain — a digital public ledger of digital currency like bitcoin — will transcend traditional banking applications into such areas as money transferring and digital ID verification.

4. Edge Compuiting to Fast Track the IoT 

Edge computing, a method of data processing, will work in tandem with Cloud computing to hasten IoT’s presence in all avenues of technology.

5. Facial Recognition Applications Surge

It’s not just the iPhone X: We can expect to see the technology used in marketing campaigns, enabling brands to provide recommendations to shoppers.

Added Juniper: “We also think that we will start to see more applications of facial recognition to enable invisible payments, such as those employed in Amazon Go, to reduce the level of in-store friction still further.”

6. The Rise of Robo-Advisors & App-Based Investments 

Digital-minded millennials will be more likely to participate in fintech in 2018, spurred on by artificial intelligence. “The use of the smartphone app as a medium,” said Juniper, “combined with the rise of digital-only challenger banks will attract users traditionally discouraged by financial services.”

7. Machine Learning Coming to Verify Your Identity 

Using ML tech to verify customers’ identifies will advance in 2018, said Juniper, especially in the U.K. where changing regulations are hastening adoption.

8. Chinese Cards & Wallets Achieve Scale in Western Markets

High spend from the tourist trade is motivating Chinese payment services to partner with retailers, point-of-sale and transfer providers in the United States and Europe, said Juniper.

9. Smart Toys Educating the Masses

Tech toys will finally receive their due, supported by product launches from major companies like Lego and Anki.

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10. Wireless Charging Market Moves Up a Gear

The Qi wireless-charging format received a major shot in the arm over the AirFuel Alliance this year, thanks in no small part to Apple’s inclusion of Qi in the iPhone 8 and X. While AirFuel is expected to power larger devices vs. Qi-powered smartphones and tablets, Juniper said this may not be the case for very long. 

This story first appeared on TVT's sister publication TWICE.

HAMPSHIRE, ENGLAND—With more and more broadcasters and telco operators making the transition to streaming by deploying their own on-demand and IPTV offerings, U.K.-based Juniper Research forecasts that consumers will spend around $180 billion in 2017. The research and analytic service provider highlighted this and more research in its “Digital Content Business Models: OTT & Operator Strategies 2016-2021” report.

In addition to offering independent services to compete with OTT providers, Juniper’s report also indicates that telcos recognized the need to develop original content. Sports could also play a role down the line, as indicated by Twitter’s recent acquisition of exclusive rights to stream NFL games for the upcoming 2016 season; though that could prove more difficult, according to Dr. Windsor Holden, author of the research.

“The spiraling cost of most premium sporting rights means that bidders for exclusive live rights must now pay several hundred million dollars per season,” Windsor explained. “With most streamed audiences well under a million, this is likely to deter online-only players in the short and medium term.”

Juniper is offering the complimentary white paper, “Making Digital Content Pay,” for download via its website along with additional details on the “Digital Content Business Models” research.

HAMPSHIRE, ENGLAND—A number of companies and slated to release new Virtual Reality products starting in 2016, with an expected number of 3 million headsets shipments by the end of the year. Juniper Research, in its new report “Virtual Reality: Market Dynamics & Future Prospects 2015-2020,” indicates that number could increase 10 times, with 30 million headsets being shipped globally by 2020. Juniper pinpoints the growth in the video and gaming industries as key factors in this surge of VR headsets.

Oculus, Sony and HTC are all expecting to launch new VR products over the next 12 months. These immersive applications will offer improved technology, like low latency and smarter graphics, at what is expected to be reduced prices.

“The recent attention to and investment into virtual reality is helping to revitalize the industry and with major brand commercial launches imminent, there is huge potential for rapid market expansion,” said Joe Crabtree, co-author of the report.

Additional findings from the report indicate that the Far East and China will see increased development and production activities from a rise in consumer demand; also, hardware retail revenue from VR HMD headset sales will exceed $4 billion by 2020.

To see the full report, click here.

Juniper Research provides research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary.