Ep. 18: Kirill Magaev - Niche Sports Streaming Startup Shares Lessons Learned

Retention Zone episode 18 guest is Kirill Magaev , a streaming media expert with extensive experience in the sports industry. Kirill has worked in acquisitions and media rights sales for over 20 years, starting with a focus on football and later expanding into distribution of Olympic Games coverage.

In addition to these business development roles, Kirill also founded his own OTT platform focused on streaming niche sports in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. This entrepreneurial endeavor offered great insights into the world of direct-to-consumer sports streaming - including monetization experiments, marketing tactics and dealing with the challenges of seasonality.

Even though increased competition ultimately led Kirill to shut down his platform, he extracted invaluable lessons that he now leverages in his sports media consultancy work. His hands-on knowledge covers the full range of streaming operations - from content licensing and platform development to subscriber acquisition and retention.

I was excited to tap into Kirill's wealth of experience in the online video space and hear his thoughts on emerging best practices in the industry. Tune in to learn more from this streaming media veteran!

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Niche Sports Streaming Startup Shares Lessons Learned

In the interview on the Retention Zone podcast, Kirill Magaev shared his experiences launching and running XYZ Sports TV - a streaming platform focused on niche sports in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Despite ultimate failure due to stiff competition, Magaev's startup journey yielded valuable insights for anyone looking to break into sports streaming.

The Platform and Business Model

XYZ Sports TV offered both monthly subscriptions and pay-per-view options for its niche sporting events. Magaev notes the importance of pay-per-view in establishing trust and value: "you have to propose pay per view to give the clients the user security that nothing will be booked again, again and again from their credit cards."

Over time, the platform experimented with sport-specific passes after realizing there was little overlap between different sports' fans. As Magaev explained, "the different sport fans have completely different attitude means they are not connecting to each other."

Acquiring Customers

With almost no marketing budget, XYZ Sports TV initially relied on grassroots outreach to sports clubs and fan groups. According to Magaev, the cooperation with teams was highly effective: "We spoke with Berlin recycling volleys...They promote our platform, let's say for free, just that their fans could see the matches."

Dealing with Seasonality

One of the biggest struggles for any sports streaming provider is coping with off-seasons. For XYZ Sports TV, the key lessons were to maintain communication during downtime and effectively bring fans back when seasons restart. As Magaev emphasized, "It's always learning by doing. And each fan group has different behavior."

Key Takeaways

Despite failing to compete with conglomerates like DAZN, DYN in the long run, Magaev extracted several nuggets of wisdom from his niche sports OTT venture:

• Go niche - big viewer numbers aren't realistic, but fans are extremely loyal
• Flexible monetization models cater to different sports fans
• Leverage direct team/club partnerships for promotion
• Maintain communication and prime fans for upcoming seasons

For any entrepreneur looking to dive into sports streaming, focusing efforts on underserved fans represents a viable pathway forward. Although challenges abound, passion and commitment can lay the foundation for a thriving media business.

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Retention Zone is presented by Cleeng, the Subscription Retention Management SAAS platform.

Retention Zone is hosted and produced by Carlo De Marchis (A guy with a scarf)