The future media challenge and opportunities for sport - May 2003  

Whilst the internet hype has passed, and the doomsayers smugly congratulate themselves on their perspicacity, a quiet revolution is unfolding which will have a deep impact on the future organisation, promotion and consumption of sport, writes sports management consultant Jon Wigley.

The creation, storage and distribution of digital media from the grassroots up is slowly eroding the traditional sports powerbases and the inter-relations between governing bodies, members, participants and fans. The top-down hierarchical pyramid of the last century is being eaten into by networks of common interest - some structured and driven by hard-nosed business interest in the market through public shares, others far looser and organic, fuelled by a non-commercial passion in a sport, a club or an athlete. This development has been enabled by the much-derided internet. The ability to communicate rapidly across borders, share vital information, and forge relationships, is leading to a revolution in the entertainment business. The music industry is the first of many to feel its full force and has been caught off-guard by its closed, protectionist and comfortable existence of the past years.

The threat to free-to-air

Sport in general, and football [soccer] in particular, has enjoyed a period of substantial riches derived from exploding media values. Thankfully those came at a time when the previous uplift provided by global sponsorship packages was beginning to look un-sustainable. However the use of sport as 'a battering ram' for the entry and uptake of subscription television has run its course over the last 10 years, for all but the most valuable properties which remain 'must haves' to sustain subscriber levels and keep churn to a minimum.
In the next five to 10 years it is certain that the sports market share of free-to-air television in the key countries of the world will be substantially reduced by niche/specialist interest 'channels' and the shortfall in advertising revenues. This reduction will force programmers to seriously question the value of sports properties to advertisers, and the end result will be an enhanced value for the jewels of sport, and an absence of exposure for the majority. Within this same time span, the uptake of broadband internet, and the adoption of mobile 3G technologies will add yet another, considerable, twist into the management of sports media assets. However, it is with these developing technologies that the future opportunities for many sports will reside, and the challenge is how to take the necessary steps now in order to benefit in the coming years.

Television has bridged the gap

It is interesting to note how so often sports governing bodies remain totally comfortable and accommodating in their management of the written press - a fact that has generated years of discontent within the broadcast world, when applied to issues of seating, accreditation, priority access, etc, at major sports competitions. It has resulted in an arms length relationship between many sports and their broadcast partners. It may be that technology created a gap that was often not well understood. It may be that the simple gap between the stadia and the outside broadcast vans grew to be more significant than the mere physical distance. The end result is that TV has editorialised sport on its terms, and created a major intermediary between governing bodies and the fans. In the future, if the new media potential is exploited, it is possible not only to remedy that missed opportunity with broadcasters (who will continue to remain of fundamental importance when they can be engaged), but also facilitate a direct control over the content, image and brand of a sport, as well as forge a direct relationship with the fans within an enhanced online community.

Realising the potential

To understand this opportunity, it is first necessary to contemplate how those early adopters of new technology are consuming sports content, the expectations that are generated in reaching out to this new community, and the necessary tools to perform effectively.

Niche information. Fans are becoming expectant of an ability to pursue their particular interests and passion to a considerable depth. This is not just about statistics and past records from the archive, but requires an understanding of the celebrity-driven environment in which sport now resides. Fans wish to have an on-going in-sight into the lives of their favourite athletes, clubs, events and sports. Daily diaries, online chats and 'colour' lifestyle features are becoming common features of many internet websites. There will be a logical process by which skilful adaptation of the infrastructure moves from information - to communication - to entertainment.

Personalisation. As has been seen with the mobile phone uptake, consumption quickly moves from the ubiquitous, standard usage to the personalised, fashion/lifestyle statement. An ability to personalise content will require multiplatform consideration and substantial customer relations management tools.

Interactivity. True interactivity is essential. This can be within a fan community, but also to the stars, the club and the sport. The smoke and mirrors of the past are steadily being cleared and response is expected. Such transparency requires a very clear understanding as to what data is for public consumption, and how this can be used to enhance promotion and PR activities.

Rich media consumption. Continuing mobile networks build-out and the bandwidth limits of current devices has created something of a hold on rich media applications such as video streaming (although there are a few companies forging a way ahead in this field), but it is fascinating to observe how users find ways around limits and create uses for technology unforeseen by the creators - SMS messaging being the best example and a saviour of the telecoms companies in recent times. Others will certainly follow, before we can truly arrive at the nirvana of live video streaming of quality images, but come it will.

Content creation. Communities of common interest are growing. At the grassroots there are companies providing simple tools for sports clubs to get online. The sophistication of these will grow, and we will see evidence of the phenomenal level of literacy and image processing skills that exist amongst 'amateur' users, who will create valuable content for their sites. This will greatly support the growth in strength of local affiliations and networks, putting a question mark over the higher authorities and their governmental remit.

Games and gaming. Because consumption of sport will be maintained 24/7 across a range of platforms it can safely be assumed that much of it will be casual and intermittent. This would appear to support the view that games and gaming will play major roles in maintaining interest and loyalty to channels and sites. Given the huge investments made by the major gaming companies, it would appear to be a safe bet that sports-related games will have a major role to play. The image and name rights issues will provide a field day for the lawyers! The computing power, much of which currently lies dormant, in a Sony PlayStation is truly phenomenal, and is planned to grow substantially in future, with even greater use of semi-conducters.

E-Commerce and micro payment systems. The development of interactive competence will increase the commercial potential from customer relations and detailed profiling. Knowing the true likes and dislikes of the your fan will permit the development of e-commerce and m-commerce opportunities with much focused offers of known interest to the end-user. Micro-payments systems in multiple currencies will facilitate transactions.

Tracking capability and smart systems. As more and more people become connected, and given the growing propensity to tracking, it can be foreseen that the development of smart products that feed into networks will have considerable applications in sport. A GSM linked chip attached to a running shoe can simply log training miles of a runner into a personal database, which can then be entered by the coach, and analysed with feedback online to the athlete.

Communities, affiliations and cause-related connections. The desire to join a cause, and belong to a community with which you can be identified will be a stimulating factor in the future. Those bodies that provide that connection and stimulate a very real relationship and benefit at a local level will prosper. Some charities, Comic Relief in the UK being an excellent example, are showing the way to get a very real, and financial, commitment from people online.

The challenge for sports governing bodies

This massive potential provides an unprecedented challenge to sports governing bodies laden with opportunities. The challenge is how to capture, store and distribute digital content, and how to finance such developments. It should also be clarified that this opportunity does not exist in isolation. It must be considered as one with a total commercial strategy that embraces branding, sponsorship, merchandising, licensing, PR and promotion. The one major lesson that the internet bubble provided was to seriously question the levels of finance that can be generated by media subscription/payments in the absence of substantial advertising. The problem can be broken down into three key areas - editorial capacity, technology infrastructure and management, and funding. All are linked and cannot be considered in isolation. Funding will be the most difficult issue. The need to create systems that will provide the following will be extremely challenging:-

• digital assets management
• content management
• e-commerce/m-commerce capability
• integrated databases and competition management tools
• storage, hosting and streaming facilities

Providing a technical infrastructure

It was stated recently in The Global Business of Sports Television report [published by Screen Digest, March 2003] that sports rights owners will need to seek partnerships in future with broadcasters and technology companies to exploit their broadband potential. I would like to suggest that given the difficulty that middle and minor sports have had to date in getting themselves on the radar of such partners, that a positive role exists for the multisports bodies to provide the technical infrastructure that would enable such development. In this way these sports have an opportunity not only to reach their fans 24/7 all year round, but also to vastly increase the exposure such sports obtain during major Games. It would provide a much needed focus and understanding for the role of such bodies between Games. A further, and possibly connected solution, is for various governing bodies within a sport, or sports with a common root, to develop a shared solution which will bring considerable efficiencies and economies of scale. A very welcome by-product will be the necessary development and adoption of common data entry protocols, which would go a considerable way in avoiding the re-invention of the wheel which happens so often at major Games and championships.

Jon Wigley is a sports management consultant, specialising in the strategic exploitation and integration of commercial rights, and major event management. Jon, formerly chief operating officer of Prisma iVentures (2002) and managing director with Sports Interactive AG (2001), has over 20 years experience of working with major international sports organisations. He was the driving force behind international athletics from 1978 through to 1992 as head of marketing and media for the IAAF. He then moved into motorsports as head of marketing for the FIM World Motorcycle Championships/MotoGP (1992-1995) within the Dorna Sports Marketing Agency, based in Madrid, before moving to men's professional tennis as vice president of marketing for the ATP Tour (1995-2000). Jon currently provides strategic advice to three major sports technology companies - Delta Tre Media (media management), Sportev (broadband video streaming) and SportsCo (customer relations management). He also advises ATP Tennis on the strategic use of its media rights and has recently undertaken a strategic study for Intheteam - an enabling internet platform for creating amateur sports team websites. Jon is also an occasional lecturer at DeMontfort University, Leicester, in the UK. Tel: +44 (0)7753 600409. e-mail: jonvwigley@hotmail.com

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