Is Live Dead?

To an old sports media industry person like me, I cling to the value of live TV because I remember when doing a “live remote shoot” meant deploying significant resources. It would cost you $20k, a satellite truck, eight staff and a complete organizational alignment on resources to deliver a 3 minute live TV segment. Being live was a preciously guarded commodity that sent a message to a broader audience that this event (sports, tornado coverage, celebrity interview, etc) was important because it was broadcast live.

But today everyone can be a livestreamer and literally everything is live. 

Twitter is LIVE - you hear Trump's thoughts immediately. Facebook and Instagram gives ANYONE the ability to LIVESTREAM globally instantly with one click. Zoom has made a 300 person LIVE video conference a common place in every elementary school. Every Fortnight game on Playstation is LIVE with 100 people around the world. And this morning I watched a dog livestream on TikTok to a live audience of 270,000 people. Ok, the last sentence is not true but you get my point.

“Everything is live” means this is a new opportunity for sports where value is no longer defined between a distinction of live and non-live. I can hear you right now - “But fans want live sports, punters need live sports, live content is king, blah blah, listen to me I'm old and I know about live sports blah blah." 

Hear me out - today, fans have more options that didn’t exist 5 years ago. It is now easier than ever to find exactly what content you are looking for and every algorithm on every platform is coupled with AI that will put content directly in front of your core audience. Unquestionably, today's core fans are served more live sport content on every device they own.

Right now is an opportunity that didn’t exist before to reach the next circle of influence, the next 100 million people you want to get your sport content in front of. These are the new fans and PPV buyers that will help you attract the next multi-million dollar sponsor or the fan that buys a Liverpool jersey but never watch football live or buys the NY Yankees cap or just likes to engage in cooler talk about sports. That fan who doesn’t care if it’s live sports or not. If the core fans are the tip of the spear, then this next circle of fans are the entire bag of spears.

Here are 3 thoughts that make me believe that delivering sport content to fans has to change in order to reach beyond the "hardcore" fan.

(1) Technology

Delivering sport highlights was a manual process that could take hours or days but today highlights can be fully automated and delivered on every platform in the world within seconds. 

Warner Media VP Peter Scott recently said “I think the evolution of sports rights is going to change to the point where I think video highlights will be more valuable than live rights”. 

Peter's statement literally has had my head spinning for the last 2 months because it forced me to look at a new possible future for sports content. Sport properties need to own highlights and deliver them faster, in multiple local languages, in multiple screen formats, and better than anyone else on the planet. 

If sport is the property that you’ve invested billions into, is there any reason that some 12 year old kid in the basement is turning out highlights faster than you? A recent study of Gen Z sport fans reported that 55% percent of young men watch only highlights of traditional sports instead of full games because of so many ads during the games. 

I read that and I realized that is also exactly what frustrates me about watching a live TV event. 

(2) The Fluid Fan

When I was 15 I had an NBC logo jacket that I proudly wore and I proclaimed they were the best channel in the world. I grew up thinking sports and loyalty to a single entity was sacrosanct. I worshipped one place (the Oilers stadium) and one type of media (network NBC TV) but today's fan is fluid and I am now fluid. I don't care what Network is carrying the game I want to watch - as long as I can get it on my phone, ipad, laptop, or streamed to my TV. I don't even have a cable subscription now.

My bud Josh Walker, President of Sports Innovation Lab said it perfectly "The days of relying on one place (the stadium) or one type of media (broadcast) are over. The Fluid Fan is here."

(3) A selfie world

Years ago when you saw a celebrity you took a picture of them. That’s it. You wouldn’t have the audacity to put your face next to their famous face and ask for a photo like you are best friends. But today our sense of inclusion is so ingrained that we think of a selfie as a pre-destined right.

Just like the selfie, fans today demand immediacy and inclusivity so asking people to passively watch sports on a screen is about as relevant today as a Blackberry phone. Quibi, the multi-billion dollar start-up backed by old media heads just died and it’s why TikTok is demolishing IG. Everything in TikTok is about inclusivity. With one click you make a reaction video of picture in picture to share, with one click you include yourself in hit song duet, and with one click you go live. Imagine if within seconds millions of fans can easily share that blissful moment of sporting glory with their friends through a reaction video - to have the digital currency to say I’m included in this great moment. 

If your only tool for fan engagement is comments on a social post then you may want to re-evaluate your business plan.

The legalization of sport betting is a natural extension of the selfie world. Betting is immediacy and inclusivity, i.e. it give fans another reason to be included and care. The “NBA Last 90” partnership with the company Highlight Games is a great example where it gives users the ability to place bets on various outcomes in the final 90 seconds of a simulated game stitched together from official NBA highlight footage. Fantasy leagues and virtual betting is the proverbial “honeypot” to attract a broader fanbase and the bridge to earning some revenues from the USD150 billion global sport betting market.

The covid pandemic amplified various businesses strengths and weaknesses and the challenge for the sports industry is not that what is in place is necessarily wrong, it's more of a question of can you innovate fast enough.