The Future of Sports Media: Key Insights from Investor George Pyne

At times when you are in a crowd and there's someone taller standing near you, and you notice they are looking in a specific direction, you try to jump up to see what they are looking at for yourself. That's how I feel about picking George Pyne e's brain - he has a unique vantage point over the sports media landscape given his experience across teams, leagues, media and investments.

George Pyne, Founder and CEO of Bruin Capital , aims to "brew and invest in sports businesses on a global basis." He is a recurrent guest on US business channels like CNBC, SBJ and industry media and have his own blog on linkedin called Channel Change.

I wanted to understand where he is focusing his gaze right now and get his insider perspective on major industry trends. During our conversation, Pyne shared valuable insights on the evolution of sports media and where he sees emerging opportunities.

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Bruin Capital

George Pyne founded global sports investment firm Bruin Capital in 2015. Bruin Capital has invested in companies operating across 16 countries. As Pyne stated, "Our portfolio companies operate in 16 countries, we do business in 50, and we work with almost every major federation and club in the world."

Sports as a Valuable Asset Class

Pyne sees tremendous value in sports as an investment asset class. As he explained, "Sports as an asset class has been very durable. Over 30 years of team valuations of clubs have increased at a double digit pace. So sports is a very valuable and durable and reliable asset class and has been for over 30 years." He believes this growth comes from the sheer passion of sports fans globally. In Pyne's words, "It brings millions of people together around a passion point. It's global, it's passionate, and has hundreds of millions of followers."

The Fan Experience Becomes More Direct

Looking ahead, Pyne expects the relationship between fans and their favorite teams or athletes to become much more personalized. He stated, "I think with the fragmentation of media, the one to one relationship between the fan and their club and their player is going to become more critical." Pyne sees social media driving this shift, as it has allowed individual superstars like Messi and Ronaldo to foster direct connections with fans.

Investing in the Sports Ecosystem

Unlike private equity firms that acquire sports teams, Bruin Capital instead invests in the wider ecosystem around sports. Pyne focuses on data and technology companies that Bruin can help expand globally. He stated, "We really know Australia, the Americas and Europe and cross sell the services of our companies. On top of that we tend to like technology. So data and tech we're very comfortable with and of course we're in data and tech because there's a lot of growth there."

The Cutting Edge of Technology

Pyne stressed that we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to sports media innovation. As he remarked, "You know, the one thing about technology is, you know, Carlo, it reinvents itself constantly. And so that reinvention means there are going to be all kinds of opportunities for other people." He pointed to artificial intelligence as an example of a rapidly advancing field that could soon transform the sports world.

Quick Fire on U.S. Sports Business Trends

Some rapid fire perspectives from Pyne on American sports:

• On a women's college volleyball game drawing 92,000 fans, Pyne commented "I think too people like to be together at kind of cool and exciting events and I think that's what was part of the equation."
• Regarding Las Vegas' unique Sphere venue, Pyne doesn't think it's a one-off, stating "I don't think it's a unicorn. And I think again, those unique experiences through technology that allow people to experience things that they couldn't do before, I think there's going to be more of that, not less of it."

• On Apple's landmark MLS deal, Pyne sees it as a major inflection point in the shift towards direct-to-consumer sports content. As he explained, "Apple is going to obviously with the global reach and global capabilities, apple, Amazon, YouTube, those types of platforms, you're going to see more and more sports content on those platforms." Pyne expects tech giants to increasingly follow Apple's lead in acquiring live sports rights as media becomes more fragmented.
• ESPN faces dual challenges from eroding pay TV subscriptions and the shift from "B2B2C" to direct "B2C" streaming. As Pyne outlined, "It's gone from 100 million subscribers to 74 million subscribers on the way to 50 million subscribers. That's a big reduction. And at the same time you're losing the pricing power." He noted ESPN will likely need to partner with a streaming specialist moving forward. However, Pyne reiterated "still, ESPN is a great brand, it's always going to have its place."
• For the NBA's upcoming rights negotiations starting in 2025, Pyne anticipates direct-to-consumer platforms will become key players. As he predicted, "definitely a streamer" will acquire rights given the number of games and value. Pyne also sees NBC and Comcast as contenders to potentially replace WarnerMedia. He remarked, "a streaming partner will be a good solution for all that" in terms of complementing regional sports networks.
• On questions about the NFL's initial YouTube deal results, Pyne stressed it's too early to draw conclusions in year one. As he notes, "typically an investment. NFL has other strategic objectives for the person buying the rights." Pyne pointed out that NFL content remains "the most valuable content in America" by far, making it highly strategic for digital platforms long-term.

Read more about George Pyne views on the industry in the Channel Change newsletter.

This is episode No.54 of my LinkedIn newsletter, "A guy with a scarf".

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My Book: Untangling the esports ecosystem

I am not a gamer myself but being involved in the sport business , I have always been fascinated by esports and always wanted to create my personal map on how it differs and resemble traditional sports.

A recent conversation with a friend (she is Chief Commercial Officer at a global esports and entertainment organization), pushed me to dig deeper and get a better understanding of such a complex and intriguing ecosystem.

I have the impression esports growth challenges are in part connected to going trust mainstream, curious to expand on that.

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