Media Insight: Eurovision Services – “The Right Time, In The Right Format”

Eurovision Services S.A. – formerly known as Eurovision Media Services, the EBU’s business arm – officially became a fully owned EBU subsidiary on 01 January 2019.

Marco Tinnirello, CEO of the company, provides insight into the media market and the strategy of this go-to services provider for event organisers, media organisations and sport federations.

Eurovision Services will build on its established reputation and offer adaptable, end-to-end solutions to produce, distribute and personalise content to the right audiences, at the right time, in the right format.

Discover more at: www.eurovision.net.

NFL Struts Its Media Stuff On CBS

American football showed off its special attractiveness as fan entertainment on Sunday.

Because the nature of the sport is stop-and-start, prediction of what’s going to happen on the field fits naturally into the flow of the game, and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo made the most of the opportunity by calling the plays before they happened during the New England Patriots versus Kansas City Chiefs game on CBS.

Commentator Romo’s uncannily successful predictions of the plays that Pats QB Tom Brady actually ran on the field as he led his team to victory delighted viewers and zapped the Twitter community into a frenzy of comments.

Our favourite was: “Tony Romo was basically calling every play that Pats ran in the 4th quarter and beyond. It was super impressive but one has to ask why didn’t the Chiefs know?”

The AFC championship game, with 6:40 p.m. ET kick-off, was the highest-rated programme on American television since last year’s Super Bowl. The network tweeted that the rating for the game, which went into overtime, was 31.2, or 53.9 million viewers. That’s up 26% from the late window in 2018, the NFC championship between the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings with a 24.7 TVR.

The earlier (3:05 p.m. ET kick-off) Sunday game on Fox, the NFC Conference championship final between the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints, which also went into overtime, drew a 27.1 rating (about 31.2 million viewers) in metered markets. That was the lowest rating for the early window since 2013.

CBS will air Super Bowl LIII exclusively from Atlanta on February 3 as the Pats take on the Rams. Commentator Romo will get a chance to prove that he wasn’t just lucky with his predictions.

Australian Open Wins For Nine

Coverage of the Australian Open pushed Nine Network, which got the domestic tournament rights this year, to victory in the overall ratings in Australia for the week ending January 19.

In the key 25-54 demographic, Nine also won in audience share with 22.2%, while Seven (previously the Open broadcaster) had 15.9% and Ten (home of top-rated I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here) pulled 17.3%.

On January 18, 830,000 viewers in the five metro markets tuned in Nine to see Rafael Nadal defeat Australian Alex de Minaur.

F1 Viewing Keeps Growing Globally

Formula 1 showed a jump in both audience numbers on both broadcast and digital platforms during the 2018 season compared with the year before, indicating that the racing circuit has been rejuvenated under Liberty Media in its second season of ownership.

It’s the second year straight that the numbers are up.

The cumulative TV audience reached 1.758 billion and in the top 20 markets it stood at 1.59 billion, an increase of 3% compared to 2017.

On the digital front, F1’s growth on YouTube was particularly high at 115%, the highest subscriber growth rate of all marquee rights holders.

Unique TV viewers grew by 10% globally in 2018 to 490.2 million in 2018, and unique viewers were up by 14% in the top 20 markets (Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Turkey, UK and USA, plus Pan Latin America and Pan Middle East).

Brazil is the strongest TV market of all for F1 audiences. It was number one both in terms of television reach with 115.2 million viewers and cumulative audience (which grew by 20% there).

With a return to CCTV as the main broadcaster in China reach in that market was more than three times higher than in 2017 at 68 million, making China number two in terms of reach, with USA  third at 34.2 million.

Other markets with big increases in reach were the Indian subcontinent (+87%), France (+51%), Russia (+27%) and USA (20%).

Behind Brazil, the markets for cumulative audience were Germany and Italy (as in the past).

China (+69%), France (+40%), Indonesia (+25%) were the countries with the highest improvement among the top 20 markets.

The Monaco Grand Prix had the highest cumulative audience of the season with 110 million viewers, up 10 from last year. Six events also had more than 90 million viewers: Bahrain, France, Austria, Great Britain, Italy and Mexico.

In 2018 the number of users across Formula 1’s social media platforms also rose significantly.

Total number of followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube reached 18.5 million (up 53.7% compared to 2017), confirming Formula 1 as the fastest growing major sport on social media platforms.

The average number of unique users per race week was 11.1% higher than the previous year.

Total impressions grew up by 29.2% to 10.4 billion, video views by 77.2% to 2.0 billion and minutes watched rose 84.6% to 1.75 billion.

With 205 million fans under the age of 35, Formula 1 is third among of all global sports leagues in terms of the number of fans in this age group, according to Nielsen. Almost two thirds of the fans (62%) were 45 or younger.

LPGA Invests In Tech For Betting Future

The LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association), whose 2019 season teed off yesterday with the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions in Florida, is preparing to invest in a shot-tracking system to prepare for real-time betting in the future.

The system would give the LPGA real-time data like the PGA Tour ShotLink offers but re-purposed to accommodate expected new interest gambling on golf.

LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan told GolfChannel.com: “Regardless what I think of legalised gambling, it’s here, and it’s only going to get more significant.”

“You can stick your head in the sand and act like it’s not going to happen, but you’re still going to have betting issues. So, wouldn’t you rather get control of it, make sure you educate your players, make sure you understand the audience and make sure the data disseminated is real, accurate and managed by people you trust?”

The LPGA is very popular in Asia, the world’s most important sports betting market, where interest in women’s golf is actually higher than for the men’s game.

The tour holds tournaments in Australia, Thailand and Singapore next month and will move to China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan in the autumn.

Whan said: “Nobody knows what percentage of sports betting is going to be on golf. If you are the PGA Tour and European Tour, you can say it’s going to be enough to invest. If you’re the LPGA, you have to ask how much of sports betting will be on golf and what percentage of that will be on women’s golf.”

Whan is implementing a programme this year to educate players on the dangers of gambling and to protect the integrity of competition from corruption.

For more on this story, click here.

 

PGA Chief To Speak At Inaugural Leadership Masterclass In London

iSportconnect will kick off its busy 2019 event calendar in March with a brand-new addition to the line-up, the inaugural Leadership Masterclass, as the first of 16 exclusive events around the world offering plenty more that’s new and different this year.

Focusing on leadership principles and how to make them work in sports organisations, the Leadership Masterclass will take place at EY in London on March 6 from 9:00 to 14:00.

Keith Pelley, CEO of the PGA European Tour, will share insights gleaned from his leadership career, during which he was also president of leading Canadian communications and media company Rogers Media, president of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League and the president of The Sports Network.

isportconnect_calendar

 

The event will also feature a special focus on the impact of Brexit on the sports industry and how leaders can meet the challenges of unpredictable events in a rapidly changing world, by leading economist Trevor Charsley, Senior Market Advisor at AFEX, our newest iSportconnect partner.

More speakers will be announced imminently for this ground-breaking event that will provide high value for men and women in the driver’s seat of sports businesses, governing bodies and brands.

Next up will be our Stadium Masterclass on March 19, followed by the annual Broadcasting Masterclass, with full details coming soon.

Check out the full calendar and plan your year of benefiting from iSportconnect’s unique blend of networking and learning opportunities now.

To register your interest in attending the Leadership, Stadium and Broadcasting Masterclasses, click here.

To download iSportconnect’s 2019 Events Calendar, click here.

NBA Team Owner Leonsis: “We Are A True Platform”

Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis will welcome guests from Alibaba to the game between his NBA team and the New York Knicks at the O2 Arena in London tomorrow evening.

The Wizards are the only team in the league to have a partnership with the Chinese conglomerate. Etihad Airways is also a partner of the Wizards, the NBA’s franchise in the U.S. capital city.

Leonsis’ Monumental Sports & Entertainment group also owns Washington’s NHL team, the reigning Stanley Cup Champions, and the Capital One Arena, where they both play.

“We have a deep relationship,” Leonsis said of the international partners. “It’s not just about basketball or hockey, but about our brand and our relationship with the city and the community and some of the most powerful people in the world.”

The Wizards have developed a new partnership with British clothing retailer Charles Tyrwhitt, which has opened two stores in D.C.

“The NBA has done an unbelievably sound job of brand-building,” Leonsis said of the league’s international strategy. “We are not just a basketball team but at the league level we are part of a true platform, like Facebook or Amazon or Google. Platform companies have multiple brands that plug into each other and reinforce each other, and we mirror that in Washington, D.C.”

Leonsis was planning to visit Chelsea FC today to meet people and watch practice as part of his itinerary in a city he knows well.

He headed Washington’s efforts to be a host city for the Olympic Games and spent a lot of time exploring and learning from the London 2012 experience.

In an extensive interview, he shared loads of fascinating business insights with iSportconnect, which we will be passing along in depth this week. So stay tuned for the next instalment.

Football-Mad Dutch Were Less Crazy About World Cup

The FIFA World Cup topped the TV ratings in most European markets in 2018, but in The Netherlands, one of the most football-mad markets in Europe, it was beaten by a comedy series and a dating show at the top of the annual list of biggest audiences, and the final had about the same number of viewers as the Eurovision Song Contest.

With the Dutch team not making it to Russia 2018, the biggest audience from the tournament, for the semi-final between France and Belgium on NPO1, ranked 3rd for the year behind comedy show De Luizenmoeder on NPO3 and NPO1’s dating reality series Boer Zoekt Vrouw.

The World Cup final, with 3.049 million viewers, pulled just a slightly bigger audience than the Eurovision Song Contest final on NPO1 (the Dutch came 18th) with 3.040 million viewers, both with a 19.3% viewing share.

The other semi-final between England and Croatia was the next highest World Cup match in 7th place and Brazil versus Belgium was 10th, ahead of the France-Croatia final in 11th (all on NPO1).

Men’s speed skating from the PyeongChang Olympics was in 13th on NPO1.

The top UEFA Champions League audience, for Ajax versus Benfica on Veronica, was in 36th place for the year.

Galatasaray Leads European Champion Clubs In Revenue Growth

Turkish club Galatasaray SK showed the highest operating revenue year-on-year increase among Europe’s top football champions, according to a new report by KPMG’s Football Benchmark team.

The Istanbul side grew revenue by 19% in 2017-18, thanks mainly to an improved domestic TV deal and better on-pitch performance, resulting in doubling attendance and a 63% growth in matchday revenues.

KPMG’s report compares business performance indicators of the champions of Europe’s eight most prominent leagues: Barcelona (Spain), Bayern München (Germany), Porto (Portugal), Juventus (Italy), Manchester City (England), Paris Saint-Germain (France) and PSV Eindhoven (Holland), as well as Galatasaray.

The report shows that six of the eight recorded increased operating revenues (the exceptions being Juventus and PSV).

Commercial growth represents the source of revenue with the highest impact on total turnover for six of the eight champions. Bayern München was the most successful at growing their commercial revenue, reaching €316m (£281.1m).

The report also reveals that clubs that represent a league with limited international appeal and a smaller local TV market rely more on the prize money of major UEFA tournaments, especially the Champions League.

Andrea Sartori, KPMG’s Global Head of Sports, and leader of KPMG’s Football Benchmark team, said: “Our analysis highlights the prominence that commercial expansion is gaining: while match day income is affected by stadium capacity and broadcasting income by multi-year deals, proper management decisions and solid international commercial expansion strategies, supported by adequate sporting performance, can help grow markets around the globe.”

For the full report, click here.

Italy Postpones Ban On Betting Ads

Clubs in Italy’s top-flight football league, Serie A, will be allowed to continue their current betting sponsorship deals through the rest of this season before an advertising ban takes effect, according to the national communications regulator.

Teams in the competition (and other sports organisations) with contracts in effect with betting sponsors are permitted to continue wearing those betting brands on their shirts and advertising can continue to appear at venues, following a decision by AGCOM (Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni) backed by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Italy’s Council of Ministers approved a blanket ban on gambling advertising from January 1, 2019. The ban will now take full effect on July 12 of this year.