A live game can now be a TV broadcast, a live stream, a mobile highlight and an immersive experience. For the rights holders and distributors, each is a potential source of revenue.
But the commercial question is bigger than how many places a game can appear. Rights holders and distributors must consider how much additional work and cost each destination creates.
The challenge is to make those experiences distinct for viewers without rebuilding the production process for every outlet. To generate revenue from the digital dollars they capture, rights holders and distributors need to evaluate incremental profitability, not just reach.
A Wealth of Live Feeds, Clips, Archives and Immersive Experiences
In the past, a broadcast network like NBC would air Olympic events on multiple, linear channels. Viewers who wanted to watch an Olympic event such as a soccer match had to tune in to a certain channel at a specific time. However, because of the venue-viewer time difference, gold-medal events in prime time may have happened nine hours earlier. So, NBC went to great lengths to shelter event results from the Olympics to deliver the big surprise for the audience.
Now it is pushing out that data to everybody all day, every day, giving viewers real-time access to current data and clips, as well as archives, through streaming. But NBC also packages Olympics events within a unique broadcast so viewers tune in for a destination experience.
In-stadium MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL fan experiences used to boil down to ticket holders staring at the diamond, court, field or rink. Now in-stadium and home viewers can use their devices to see different camera angles and focus in on their favorite players and never miss a shot. And rights holders, distributors and venues are working to engage ticket holders from the moment they walk into stadiums, while they’re in their seats, at concession stands and even post-game.
Creating and monetizing in-game experience apps using data about player firsts and sports records is one way they’re using content to drive engagement and revenue. Organizations can also then pull that content forward to create documentaries akin to Hard Knocks, the HBO and NFL Films series on NFL teams. They can reuse that content again later at key times, such as when players retire and get into the Hall of Fame or when the team wins the Super Bowl.
Businesses are also using sports content to create experiences beyond homes and stadiums. People pay admission at Cosm venues to experience live events in immersive environments that feel like arenas. Fox Sports has a multi-year live sports deal with Cosm to bring college football, the Daytona 500, MLB and NFL in a shared reality merging virtual and physical worlds.
The Opportunity to Capture More Digital Dollars Requires Operational Change
Effective content use requires businesses to manage content in a modern, cost-effective way.
This is even more important today amid the massive media layoffs.
Many broadcasters, cable TV companies, leagues, streamers and other entities are now starting to create content platforms, production environments and supply chains that can feed multiple arms of distribution while reducing complexity, operating costs and technical overhead.
To get started, businesses should:
- Understand their content rights and figure out how best to manage them
- Implement common workflow strategies
- Establish reusable production elements
- Enable shared content access and rights information
- Create differentiated final outputs
The Bottom Line
Distributing more content is great. But the real goal is to make each additional offering economically worthwhile. Before adding another feed, format or destination, rights holders should ask: What new revenue can it generate, and what additional work does it require?
Common production frameworks and workflows that enable companies to create content once and employ it for many uses makes customizing content both easier and far more profitable.
