Tokyo canoe sprint Olympic champion Sandor Totka will be one of the athletes to catch when the ICF hosts its first Virtual World Cup next month.
Totka issued the challenge to paddlers all over the world to take him on in the 2000 metre virtual race, which will be held online on December 17. Competitors will use the latest cutting edge technology to measure their progress against opponents located in loungerooms, garages and gymnasiums around the world.
Hungary’s Totka stormed to Olympic gold in the men’s 200 metres at the Tokyo Olympics, claiming the scalp of Great Britain’s reigning Olympic champion, Liam Heath, along the way. In the lead-up to Tokyo Totka also won European gold.
“The virtual world cup is an exciting new format, and I can’t wait to take on paddlers from all over the world,” Totka said.
“2000 metres is not really my ideal distance, so there will be a good chance for paddlers to really challenge me. And I know that because I am the Olympic champion, everyone will want to beat me.”
The virtual world cup will offer opportunities for individual races in three categories – junior, senior and masters 40+ – for both men and women. There will also be races for men’s and women’s paracanoe. Each race will have a cut-off of 15 minutes.
The ICF has partnered with world-leading ergo manufacturer KayakPro to ensure the competition offers the best possible athlete experience. Competitors will need access to a KayakPro machine, and the cutting edge Genesis Port Bluetooth Smart Console. Athletes who don’t have the console may qualify for an ICF donation.
Competitors will also need to be able to film their performance, to be part of the ICF livestream program.
Entry to the event costs just EU 5. Registration closes December 7, and a trial competition run will be held for interested participants on December 15.
The Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) was dissolved yesterday at the organisations Extraordinary General Meeting in Lausanne.
The organisation’s President Ivo Ferriani believes that this is a “step forward towards a better future for sport”.
The decision was decided by a vote secured more than a two thirds majority, with 70 people voting in favour and and just 22 against.
It was agreed that the GSAIF’s total assets of £4.9 million will be transferred over to SportAccord with 79 voting in favour and 11 against.
Ivo Ferriarni said: “Now we can move forward and build a stronger entity under SportAccord though the representation of the umbrella organisation.
“Today we are taking the right decision for the future of GAISF and, more importantly, the future of the global sporting community.
“This is a key step towards a better future and we are taking this step together.
“Most of the services once provided by GAISF are now provided by other bodies as was the case with the anti-doping to the International Testing Agency,” said Ferriani.
“The underlining business operation of the GAISF has been loss making over recent years and there is considerable doubt regarding its future financial stability.
“GAISF does not have the expertise in its staff to successfully organise a multi-sport event.”
World Table Tennis on Wednesday 30th November unveiled the first half of its events calendar for the 2023 season of WTT Series and WTT Feeder Series.
The calendar promises a year of firsts as the WTT Series kicks off in January with WTT Contender Durban. It will be the first time a WTT Series event will be staged in the Republic of South Africa. All eyes will remain on Durban as the city is set to host the ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals in May. Africa continues to be a hotspot for the 2023 calendar as Nigeria will host WTT Contender Lagos in June, a first for the country, followed by the third edition of WTT Contender Tunis.
The first half of the year will also bring a return of a blockbuster event. Singapore hosted the first ever Grand Smash event in 2022, marking the start of a grand new legacy for table tennis. This legacy continues to unfold next year as Singapore Smash 2023 will set the Lion City alight once again, promising an even bigger and better event for players and fans. Building on 2022 momentum continues to be a key theme in the latest calendar.
While Doha and Zagreb will host a WTT event for the third and second consecutive year respectively, maiden hosts round out the first half of the 2023 calendar, adding momentum to the international growth of table tennis. WTT Star Contender Goa and WTT Star Contender Bangkok brings the series to India and Thailand for the first time while WTT Contender Amman introduces the global series to Jordan.
WTT Star Contender Ljubljana embodies the growth of the sport. The capital of Slovenia hosts a WTT event for the first time after the country successfully delivered several WTT Feeder and Contender events in regional cities over the past years.
Click here to download the 2023 WTT Series calendar and the WTT Feeder Series calendar.
Liu Guoliang, Chair of World Table Tennis Board, commented, “World Table Tennis’s future shines ever brighter in 2023, further demonstrating the global influence of this sport we love. I hope more cities around the world, especially those beyond the traditional powerhouses, will play host to WTT events, experience the charm of table tennis through that and ultimately attract more people to participate in the sport. This has always been our most fundamental goal.”
The WTT events structure provides the perfect showcase for both athletes and fans. The event tiers exhibit and highlight the phenomenal talent of world-class table tennis stars in a fresh, dynamic and entertainment-driven settings.
At the top is the WTT Series, the official professional table tennis series of events, with the world’s best table tennis players facing off in events of different levels:
WTT Contender and WTT Star Contender events, designed to mix global stars, national heroes and rising stars across Men’s and Women’s Singles, Doubles and Mixed competitions.
WTT Champions events, featuring high-octane action with the 32 best men’s and women’s singles players
WTT Grand Smashes, the foundation of the WTT Series and the pillars of the season, bringing two-week-long thrills with the best 128 Men’s and Women’s Singles players as well as Doubles and mixed doubles action.
WTT Cup Finals, one prestigious event at the end of the season, held separately for men and women, with the best of the best only
Under the WTT Series, the WTT Feeder Series serves as a critical stepping-stone bringing together a mix of the world’s up and coming stars, local and regional heroes, players fighting to return to the WTT Series due to form or returning from career breaks. WTT Feeder Series events are driven by player participation with up to 400 players to deliver international competitive table tennis with grassroots and community activation. In the first half of 2023, WTT Feeder Series events will be hosted in Doha, Amman, Düsseldorf, and Antalya.
The WTT Youth Series is where it all begins. Forming an important part of the WTT events pyramid, it establishes the playing pathway and journey from day one to World No.1. The 2023 events calendar of WTT Youth Series was announced in October with an record number of events organised in every corner of the world.
Steve Dainton, ITTF Group CEO, commented, “The first two years of World Table Tennis provided a learning experience, and more importantly a launchpad for the future growth that begins now. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to recede, the calendar for World Table Tennis will continue to grow. Providing a worldwide, cutting-edge experience is the goal of World Table Tennis, and this year will show just how we much we can deliver.”
The first half of the year sends the WTT Series and WTT Feeder Series across three continents for more than 15 events; but that’s just the beginning. Players and fans can look forward to the series landing in the Americas, Europe and Asia in the second half of 2023, creating a truly global series. Champions events will also be touching down in new locations around the world and a second Grand Smash will be unveiled, rounding out an action-packed 2023 WTT Series calendar. The stage will then be set for players to chase World Ranking points in a bid to qualify for the season ending WTT Cup Finals and pursue the top honour of closing out the season as the year-end World No.1.
Winning a bid for a major sporting event is a huge honour. It puts your country on the world’s stage, increases tourism and boosts the economy. Not to mention what hosting does for increasing a sports’ following and inspiring people to get active. But what about the impact these events have on our planet?
Qatar 2022 is here. From articles about human rights to concerns about the heat the game will be played in, FIFA’s choice has been controversial from the get go. The hope is that this criticism has been turned into opportunities for improvement.
Architecture appears to be integral to Qatar 2022’s sustainability strategy. A lot of effort and attention has gone into sustainable design and the legacy of the tournament’s eight stadiums. Most notably, Stadium 974. Made of 974 storage containers, it will be dismantled at the end of the tournament, while six others will become hotels or business centres. New parks have also been created surrounding the stadiums and training sites, which are irrigated using recycled water.
They’re sustainable builds for sure. But as the world is watching, and likely judging how sustainable this tournament will be, the big question is: will Qatar 2022 bring about social change?
Sustainability extends to far more than the environment alone. From the Latin ‘sustinere’, meaning to ‘hold upright’; the upholding of human rights should be high on this World Cup’s agenda. Recycling bins won’t cut it, as the tournament claims to be working in line with the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Sport is undoubtedly a force for good, but organisations need to dig deep and think of more than promising to offset their emissions. Perhaps there should be more recognition for sports that really are in the lead where sustainability is concerned.
The Olympic Games in Paris 2024 are set to be both ‘spectacular and sustainable’. The hosts have given themselves the target of being the first major sporting event to positively impact the climate. ‘Prioritising frugality and utility’, Paris placed environmental responsibility at the core of its bid, putting a lot of planning into reducing emissions prior to the games starting. Most notably, 95% of the games will be hosted in existing or temporary venues – all specifically chosen to reduce the number of new builds needed and environmental impact. Only two new venues are being built – the Olympic and Paralympic Village. Both are designed to be an eco-district for French residents following the games, giving Paris 2024 a lasting eco-legacy. Très magnifique.
Of course, major sporting events can also play a part in helping societies move towards a circular economy. Banning single use plastics from events is a nice start – but it can’t be the finish line. The Tokyo Olympics was a great example of this. Podiums were made from recycled plastic, athlete’s beds were made using cardboard, and even the medals were constructed with recycled electronic devices. But it’s not just down to organisers, sponsors should get involved with sustainability too. Events are a great opportunity to live your brand’s values by doing acts, not just ads. For the 2022 Australian Open, in their ‘Aces for Oceans’ campaign, long term sponsors Kia pledged to remove plastic from the sea for every Ace scored. Kia currently turns recycled plastic bottles into seats in their electric models. With so much waste in the world, isn’t it time we had a bit of competition to see how we could reuse materials around sporting events?
If they’re going to have a place in the future, longer standing sporting events need to step up and do more, as new organisations are entering the arena who have sustainability baked into who they are.
Take Sail GP for example; ‘Powered by Nature’. Sustainability is one of the things that sets this sailing championship apart. Alongside the races themselves, the sport has an ‘Impact League’ – a secondary leaderboard in which teams earn points for actions that reduce their carbon footprint or help accelerate inclusivity in sailing. Every team competes across 10 different sustainability criterias, from travel and accommodation to how they use their voice and influence. Initiatives such as this stop progress being held back by policy and bureaucracy and give teams the autonomy to take matters into their own hands and sail ahead with better solutions.
Sail GP events also go to great lengths to reduce their carbon footprint. The Denmark Sail Grand Prix moved fans to the venue using electric buses, offered plant-based food options and recyclable cutlery. Even sponsor Carlsberg got involved; designing a new beer bottle consisting of wood fibres, with an internal barrier made of a plant-based mass to keep the beer fresh and full of flavour. Carlsberg are testing the new packaging, with the vision that these new fibre bottles should have a CO2 release that’s 80% lower than a disposable glass bottle. Cheers to that.
From the food and drink we choose, to the sponsors we support, to the sports we play – sustainability is something we can all choose to get behind. Sporting events are a special thing to behold; the culmination of a lot of hard work, discipline and determination; full of human stories of endeavour, setbacks and triumph. Imagine if we harnessed this energy into forming solid sustainability strategies? With a bit of creative thinking, design support and scientists on side, I have no doubt sporting events can be a great play in helping the planet win.
Written by Niamh Deehan, Senior Strategist at Cravens.
Gymnastics Australia, the national governing body for gymnastics within Australia and the 8 State & Territory Associations have agreed an exciting partnership with InCrowd to launch new digital platforms at the end of this year.
Established in 1949, Gymnastics Australia’s mission is to promote, develop and grow gymnastics for the enjoyment of all, and a key part of this strategy is to enhance the digital experience for its new and existing audiences. Having undergone brand and data transformations in the last couple of years, Gymnastics Australia’s focus has turned to the website platforms and how the online experience can be improved to drive better value for the organisation and its members.
InCrowd has a proven track record of producing industry-leading fan technology, data driven solutions and professional services for it’s portfolio of clients that includes UEFA, Major League Soccer, United Rugby Championship (URC), Premiership Rugby, EuroLeague Basketball, Formula 1, ECB, Rugby Football League, World Snooker and a number of Premier League and Championship football clubs.
In Australia and New Zealand, InCrowd is currently working with organisations such as the AFL, Fijian Drua Rugby and Golf Australia, and delivers in-stadia LED display technology across 41 venues including the SCG, GMHBA Stadium, Stadium Australia and CommBank Stadium.
The new websites will be built upon InCrowd’s Digital Experience Platform, Bridge, which includes a sports specific headless CMS, digital asset manager, fan activations, reporting & insights and audience targeting tools that enable personalised content delivery and communications based on 1st party data.
InCrowd’s Head of Partnerships AU & NZ Seb Lear said “the sport of Gymnastics in Australia is heading into an incredible period.. With the Commonwealth Games coming to Victoria in 2026, and the Brisbane Olympics in 2032, InCrowd is extremely excited to support Gymnastics Australia and the State & Territory associations in capitalising on these milestone events. By delivering best in class digital platforms that engage new and existing audiences,
InCrowd believes that these fan-first developments by Gymnastics Australia will enable the sport to continue to grow and thrive for years to come.”
Alexandra Ash, Chief Executive Officer at Gymnastics Australia added “We’re thrilled to partner with InCrowd, an organisation which constantly pushes the boundaries in providing a unique digital experience for sports fans around the world. ”
“This is a significant and welcome partnership for Gymnastics in Australia as we enter what is an exciting decade of sport in this country. We look forward to working with Seb and the entire InCrowd team to engage further with our members and supporters.”
In large tournaments good communication tools come in handy. Here’s how one of the largest junior football tournaments in Europe uses their mobile app.
When you’re hosting a football tournament for over 20 000 junior players and their support groups, there are a lot of moving parts. In that setting, good communication tools come in handy.
Here’s a look into our collaboration with Helsinki Cup, one of the biggest junior football tournaments in Europe, and how their mobile app became the number one source of information for the tournament attendance.
We started working with the Helsinki Cup team in the spring of 2020. The tournament had used a different app in 2019 but it didn’t serve the tournament’s needs anymore. The management chose Choicely’s mobile app for its diverse features, and the amount of flexibility that comes with the app builder. Choicely team built the app for Helsinki Cup in the spring, well in time for the tournament in early July.
Using the app in tournament setting
The new Helsinki Cup app was a huge hit during its first year, as it was downloaded over 3 times more than the old 2019 app. It racked up an impressive 17 000 downloads and had an average usage time of 9 minutes and 30 seconds. It ranked first in App Store and Google Play Sports app listing 24 hours after the app launch. In the post tournament survey 74% of the participants said that the app was their primary source of information regarding the tournament, compared to the old app with only 40% favoring it in 2019.
Why did the attendees like to use the mobile app? Some reasons include:
The attendees can find the timetables and the tournament program easily in the app. This is crucial as the tournament has many football fields in the city of Helsinki, and it is critical for the players and attendees to be on time. If you need information fast, the experience is faster and better with a mobile app rather than using a website.
Users can find maps and directions in the app. Most of the attendees aren’t familiar with Helsinki. The directions are easy to use with the mobile phone and GPS.
The scoreboard can be found in the app, so players and their parents can follow the results easily in the app. This is done by integrating Helsinki Cup’s scoreboard solution Torneopal into the app.
The parents can watch the games through a livestream. If they want to follow the match but also explore the city, it can be done with the stream. The streaming service Solidsport was integrated into the app for the 2021 tournament. 90% of the games were streamed and the attendees could pay a fee to watch the stream.
Social media updates. Helsinki Cup’s Instagram feed has been integrated into the app where users can see them in one place.
On top of serving the attendees, there are also a number of reasons why the app is so useful for the organizers:
Push messages are a fast way to inform attendees. Organizers can send out a push message if something comes up that attendees need to know immediately. Pushes can also be scheduled in advance for certain times. Both are useful features in hectic tournaments like Helsinki Cup.
Sponsor visibility. A mobile app brings a new possibility to showcase the tournament sponsors, which benefits the partners and Helsinki Cup organization to fund, grow and develop the tournament even further.
Informing attendees also before and after the tournament. Right now Helsinki Cup is showing a compilation video from the previous tournament, offering registrations for next year – including an early bird raffle to win free tickets. The tournament is also sending a monthly push message about the latest news and keeping the audience active around the year.
This way the mobile app truly helps the whole tournament ecosystem connect before, during and after the intensive event.
Growth in numbers
Both the tournament and the app have seen growth in numbers during the three years of our collaboration.
For Helsinki Cup, 2022 was their biggest tournament in its 46-year history with 5140 teams attending.
In 2022, the mobile app had:
over 28 000 users between April and July – 24% more than the previous year.
440 000 sessions, a growth of 25% compared to 2021
average time spent of 12 minutes 42 seconds per user per day.
During the three years of the app has cemented its position as the most important communication channel, reported by the attendees. The app is popular among the users, and the information about the app has spread fast.
Kirsi Kavanne, Helsinki Cup CEO says: “We at Helsinki Cup have been extremely satisfied with the mobile application. In my opinion it is straightforward, customer-friendly, easy to use and convenient to update.
“Parents of children participating in Helsinki Cup also agree, according to the feedback we’ve received. Our annual visitor survey indicates that the Helsinki Cup mobile application has very quickly become the most important channel for following the tournament and getting news updates related to it.”
World Table Tennis is pleased to announce an agreement with Corpay1, a FLEETCOR® brand, for Corpay’s Cross-Border business to become World Table Tennis’s official Global FX Payments Supplier.
Corpay, a global leader in business payments, will handle all World Table Tennis’ global foreign exchange payments for the 2023 season. With a record number of events planned on every continent, the need to process foreign exchange payments quickly and efficiently is a must to showcase the record-setting prize money World Table Tennis has to offer.
Corpay Cross-Border’s platform will enable eligible companies to manage their global payments from a single point of access, streamlining this process and limiting any potential exposure through currency exchanges. As part of the arrangement, World Table Tennis and its stakeholders – subject to Corpay compliance – will have access to Corpay’s innovative solutions and network.
Michael Brown, World Table Tennis Chief Financial Officer, commented, “In 2022, World Table Tennis has disbursed over $6M USD in prize money, processed more than 3,000 individual transactions, to over 80 different territories around the world. This was a record year, and we expect the prize money purse to continue to grow in the coming years, and likely to have doubled again by 2024. World Table Tennis has placed the athletes at the heart of its events. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure we have partners, such as Corpay, to help ensure they receive their prize money as easily as possible.”
“Corpay is very honoured to be named the official Global FX Payments Supplier for World Table Tennis,” said Brad Loder, Vice-President, Cross-Border Marketing, Corpay Cross-Border Solutions. “I am confident that World Table Tennis, the players and their business partner network will benefit from access to our comprehensive cross-border payments and FX risk management solutions, along with benefit from our payments experience gained within the world of sports.”
Kimberly Koh, World Table Tennis Partnerships Director, added, “We are delighted to welcome Corpay, a global leader in business payments, as World Table Tennis’s official Global FX Payments Supplier. As World Table Tennis continues to grow since its 2021 launch, Corpay will provide innovative payment services, playing a significant role in the transformation of the sport. We look forward to introducing Corpay through our corporate hospitality and business partner network and continuing to grow this partnership in the longer term.”
The 2023 Para Swimming World Championships has brought in Jonathan Neill as a commercial consultant for the event.
He will be responsible for creating the commercial strategy including the sales proposition to secure new partners, along with advising on partnership management and activation. Neill is already working with the International Paralympic Committee on their PARA SPORT commercial strategy.
The Para Swimming World Championships will be held at the Manchester Aquatics Centre from 31 July to 6 August 2023. The biggest Para swimming event outside of the Paralympic Games, it will be the third time the World Championships have taken place in Great Britain. The last time in London 2019, 637 swimmers from 73 nations were welcomed, with 188 records broken including 39 world records, and over 143 million people watching around the world.
Having worked in a variety of agency, brand and rights holder roles, Neill set up his own consultancy 12 months ago. Other clients during this time include the Football Association of Ireland, Modern Pentathlon and Laser Run World Championships, Playermaker, VisitBritain, YouGov Sport and Guild.
Jonathan Neill said: “The Para Swimming World Championships truly demonstrate and celebrate diversity and inclusion, and the role that sport can play in creating positive social impacts to individuals, communities, and wider society. Para Swimming had the highest cumulative broadcast audience for any sport at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, and with over 14 million persons in the UK living with a disability and having a spending power of over £274 billion a year, there are multiple reasons for brands to be involved and help create a more inclusive world.”
Katie Chapman, Manchester 2023 Para Swimming World Championships Event Director, added: “I’m proud and delighted that the UK is once again hosting these prestigious Championships, this time in Manchester, the perfect city with its rich heritage in world class sport. I’m looking forward to working in partnership with brands and organisations across a number of exciting opportunities to achieve our ambition to deliver not only a world class event, but an event that drives lasting positive change more widely for people and communities.”
“The 2021/22 financial year was the Club’s first full season since the devastating impact of the pandemic, and I am pleased to report that Saints emerged strongly, making an excellent recovery in the aftermath of two very challenging financial years,” said John White, Northampton Saints Chairman.
“The return of crowds to cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens saw more than 220,000 people pass through our gates, with Saints one of only four clubs in the Premiership to have increased attendances compared to pre-pandemic crowds. But, despite a strong commercial bounce back, in reality the after-effects of the pandemic have put Saints’ financial plan back by approximately three years.
“Our turnover of £20.8m was up £2.4m from the 2018/19 season – the last full season which was unimpacted by Covid-19 – representing the Club’s highest-ever revenue, and a profit before tax of £0.3m. However, this figure is flattered by a one-off business interruption insurance payment of £0.5m. Without this, the underlying result was a loss before tax of £0.2m.
“As of 30 June, our cash balance was £8.5m. It should be noted though that during the year we issued £3m of preference shares to fund the construction of our new High Performance Centre, which was included in this figure at year end and will be spent by early 2023.
“We are operating in a challenging environment, both within the rugby Premiership and in the wider economic context. However, we are in a resilient position and have a clear plan for the future. Saints has a track record of responsible financial management and was profitable for 16 consecutive years, bucking the trend across the league and enabling us to maintain a strong balance sheet.”
Anthony Smith-Chaigneau, is the Senior Director Global Sports Marketing & Marketing Development at Nagra-Kudelski, in this Member Insights article he looks into the battle sports face for coverage.
An obvious observation: I hear you say! Well, not for everyone. Especially ordinary sports-fans who have no idea that TV is as complex as it is. Pay-TV business for sport, and all Pay-TV businesses compete for the same consumers’ eyeballs. We forget that almost all sports are behind a paywall—SkySports, BT Sports, Fox Sports, ESPN, etc. Pay-TV considers sport part of its ‘premium content,’ and often part of a larger viewing bundle.
As these pay-TV operators have paid handsomely for sports rights, the consumer must pay to watch it and therein the top nine sports dominate that offer. However, some lower-tier sports are on the fringes within Pay-TV, and those get the smaller broadcast rights deals. The reality is that just because a sport is on TV doesn’t mean it reaches the total available TV market in a territory at the times people want to watch.
The actual reach is only a percentage of a territory (say 20 per cent market share). A Pay-TV service provider will claim they have millions of subscribers, but the Pay-TV operator does not know if your sport fans are paying subscribers to their service.
In sports on TV: broadcast trumps streaming (due to rights there is geo-blocking), but broadcast does not mean greater reach to the masses – Whereas unfettered D2C streaming does (no geo-blocking and total market availability). It does mean you can look to capture all your fans, but it’s not that simple a direction to go in, either. Many businesses tout apps as the solution but it is far more complex than building an app.
Broadcast v Streaming – A business issue based on a sport’s desirability, ability, and scalability. All sports want to be on TV (market desirability; but not all can be). Some sports do realise D2C streaming is the future (still market desirability), but are they able to do the following?
A) If it is there, stop taking the broadcast money and commit to D2C streaming (investment ability). B) treat the D2C streaming service as if they were on broadcast TV with excellent content production, marketing, and all the wrappers that make a sport an entertaining spectacle (investment ability). C) Further invest in fan engagement and social media at a level that the sport is top-of-mind amongst the new generation of digital natives (scalability).
The discussion should not be broadcast v streaming; it should be focused on the federation situation (size of the sport, market reach capability and desired new market reach, financial capacity, federation desire) and how they can build a future for their sport.
Questions:
I want to go D2C streaming! (Is my sport big enough? Does the Board of Directors get it, and will they back it?)
Can I afford to go D2C streaming – Can I invest, and do I have a ‘team’ that can take it to market, or do I have to outsource?
What are the deeper investment needs (What are the costs of production, commentary, operations, etc.) – It is not just building an App and Website, and fans will come … see point 4.
If I go D2C streaming, can I build out my sports offer as if I was a top-tier sport? (Tournament pre-show, mid-show, and post-show storytelling, multi-language, marketing, and live social-media content, driving conversion for a desirable premium content offer to the masses across the globe!)
Can I charge a price that will allow me to attract fans, grow the offer and keep the lights on? If you have done stage 4. above, you can charge more!
Realising your sport’s business situation with good market understanding, BoD lobbying, planning, and investment is the way forward with a need for speedy decision-making and committed execution to deployment. Sports fans are not bothered by boardroom and industry business issues; they want to access and enjoy their favourite sports as they are accustomed to as digital natives.
The modern fan understands streaming but does not understand broadcast rights complexities, geo-blocking, and all the nuances around this complex market situation. There is one thing for sure as fans get more Internet savvy – they know the latest URLs to the illegal pirate sites that seem to know how to stream sports better than many trying to do it in the media industry.
In business, farsightedness without politics and the ability to commit investment can grow any sport in a modern media world. Looking at it pragmatically and treating it as a journey – With a crawl, walk, run implementation for D2C streaming this can allow any federation to grow their sport significantly across the globe. But it comes with challenges and at a cost.
