Have we passed 'peak’ TV sport?

It’s time to bring the vuvuzelas out of the cupboard again as we get ready for the 2018 FIFA World Cup to kick off tomorrow. This is bound to be a really interesting tournament, for all sorts of reasons – and some of them aren’t even anything to do with politics…

This is only the beginning of a summer of serious sport, with Wimbledon and the US Open, the Tour de France, Rugby World Cup Sevens, the Ryder Cup and much more to follow.

Not so long ago, this would have been a time of contradictory impulses, at least for sports fans living north of the equator. On one hand, we would hopefully be enjoying some of the best weather of the year. And on the other, there would be that deep urge to sit indoors and watch as much of the coverage as our TV providers – and sleep patterns – would allow.

But a lot has changed in recent years, and much of this has come about thanks to developments in mobile technology. We’re no longer tied to that box in the corner of our lounge (or local bar) if we want to see our sports heroes in action. Now we can watch them battle it out and discuss the goals and referee decisions in real time, wherever we are, thanks to the smart devices we carry around.

The last World Cup became famous for breaking Facebook and Twitter records: Germany’s victory in the final resulted in 618,725 tweets a minute, while over on Facebook 88 million global users posted, liked and commented their way to a record 280 million interactions.

I was working in the UK at the time, where we saw the effects of the recent 4G revolution first-hand. It was clear that the technology was driving changes in people’s daily habits: we had seen social media use jump from 12% to a quarter of the total traffic across the network in 2014 – and during the World Cup fixtures we also saw many peak traffic points, with an uplift of 5-15% each time. 

Four years on, data use continues to grow at a phenomenal rate and shows no sign at all of slowing down. In fact, it is actually doubling every 15 months or so. The use of sports apps has also been on the up – by as much as 40%, according to one report. ‘Mobile’ TV also means that fans can catch up and watch replays whenever they like. In Switzerland, for example, YouTube continues to be the number one channel for viewing content on my company’s network.

What’s more, we’ll soon we’ll be experiencing the effect of 5G networks, which will be able to carry thousands upon thousands of connections simultaneously, and deliver content at blistering speeds. So it’s anyone’s guess what the future network traffic statistics will be – but they’ll be colossal.

Perhaps even more interesting, another influence starting to play out now is the appearance of some new faces at the broadcasting table, which could transform the face of TV sport – and TV in general – in the coming years.

Our old friend Amazon has secured deals to air the US Open Tennis Championshipin the UK, along with a portion of its Premier League soccer matches, and NFL (National Football League) gamesin the US. This means that Amazon Prime Video members will get live coverage and match highlights on demand, along with extra content, as part of their existing subscriptions.

And Amazon is not alone. Facebook has also made moves to get into the live sports market, while Netflix and Apple are also thought to be sizing up interest. As a major web or media player, why wouldn’t you? Sport is big business: for one thing, the associated advertising brings in enormous revenues. And it attracts large, diverse audiences.

It’s a bet that could well pay off for Amazon. It has 100 million subscribers on its Prime service, who tend to spend more than non-Prime members, and said that 2017 was its biggest year ever for sign-ups.

One thing is for sure, and it’s that with new players on the scene and emerging technology tapping at the door, there are going to be interesting times ahead in the TV industry, in sport and beyond. The game looks set to change in a big way – and I’ve booked a ringside seat. Who’s joining me?

Photo credit: Mariya Budt