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Source: cablefax.com, February 2019

In a rapidly changing industry, live, linear sports has long-remained a constant. Distributors and networks could usually rely on folks to tune in to catch whichever ‘Big Game’ is important to them. However, no one is immune to disruptors in the industry, sports included.

“I wish I knew where the future was headed. I think what has become obvious is there was a point in time at which the notion was maybe the sports bubble is bursting, but what we’ve seen is it’s quite the opposite. Live sports is more valuable than ever,” Val Immele, svp of business, Turner Sports, told Cablefax. “Television remains a critically important platform as that’s where the massive audiences are. I really think that the right balance between linear platforms and streaming platforms will be where we land. I think we probably end up in a space where there’s potentially even equal consumption,” she continued.

Streaming, DTC and OTT offerings are becoming increasingly relevant as cord cutting continues to rise (by 2020 more than 45mln people are expected to be without pay TV, according to eMarketer). “We’re going to see some [sports] OTTs that will live and die in the next two or three years. There’s a serious need to prove how OTTs are going to operate, and in our case we decided we’re going to partner with our distributors to align our digital and streaming orientations,” said Juan Carlos Rodriguez, pres of Univision Deportes. Rodriguez emphasized the net works with its partners, including vMVPD offerings like fuboTV, instead of in competition with them. Deportes found its home with soccer and is projecting to account for 51% of all soccer viewership in the US in 2019.

With marquee events, programmers are finding ways to supplement linear viewing. Take last year’s FIFA World Cup on Telemundo. The programmer launched the Telemundo Deportes VR App to give users the feeling of being in the stadium and live streamed all 64 World Cup matches on Telemundo Deportes En Vivo.

beIN Sports also bet on soccer, with the net telling us it plans to expand its DTC offerings in the US. “Streaming will continue to play a major role in the proliferation of local and global niche sports fandom, allowing for greater pools of viewership that would include sought after casual fans in addition to baseline hardcore or avid viewers who would do whatever it takes to seek out hard to find yet compelling content,” said Roy Meyeringh, vp of business development and affiliate sales.

Indeed, the proliferation of streaming is allowing sports outside of major leagues (NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB) to begin to thrive. FloSports, a DTC subscription company, now has 25 different sports verticals in its network. Founding brothers Mark and Martin Floreani participated in track and wrestling in college, but realized their favorite sports wouldn’t have the chance to grow in the same way as the big four. “They found out quickly the gap in track and wrestling exists in a whole bunch of other sports, which is how we got to where we are now,” said Nick Schenck, vp, customer acquisition and marketing. “I think more and more sports rights are moving online to OTT, and it’s great for us because it validates our approach. The viewing experience is better for fans, and you’re going to see more and more sports rights and sports holders moving over. I think linear is still going to exist, but I think in two to three years you’re going to be able to watch any sporting event that you want in OTT options,” Schenck continued.

Turner Sports also has its toes in the OTT game, with the launch of B/R Live in March 2018 and continued expansion of its digital properties. “I believe those sorts of platforms are what are continuing to drive up the price of sports rights, as new entrants come in and need to acquire content,” explained Immele. “Without streaming and OTT platforms, I don’t think we would have seen the tremendous growth that we have without them. It gives fans of smaller, less-known sports a home. We’ve seen that in our partnership with the National Lacrosse League. Their fans didn’t have a place to watch their games before. I think that’s part of the beautiful thing that will come from streaming platforms, more sports will be accessible to fans everywhere.”