It’s all go at this time of year for the International Tennis Federation with the world championships for women’s and men’s teams happening back to back. As the Davis Cup gets underway in Spain, I have a confession to make. I admit that as I was watching the Billie Jean King Cup finals in Glasgow a week ago, I had no idea just how much cash there was on the line.
I suppose that I assumed that, because it’s a tournament for national teams and part of the Olympic qualification pathway (like the Davis Cup), the players were mainly doing their patriotic duty with some money thrown in to sweeten the experience. And I am guessing that many people in the arena and watching on TV around the world were similarly ignorant of the size of the payday awaiting the winners.
The intensity of the competition and quality of play should have tipped everybody off. These women really were giving their all on the court at Glasgow’s Emirate Arena.
And that’s no surprise because, national honour aside, we’re talking about big bucks. The players on the winning team from Switzerland shared $2 million in prize money. For the runners-up from Australia it was $1.2 million and making it as far as the semi-finals was worth $800,000 per team. Teams in the group stage get $400,000 each.
And in line with the ITF’s commitment to gender equality, the rewards for players in the Billie Jean King Cup are equal to what the men get in the Davis Cup.
Parity has been achieved in 2022 thanks to the arrival of new partner Gainbridge, which came on board as a sponsor with the express aim of levelling things up.
The BJK Cup comprises 12 teams playing for two weeks in a round-robin group stage, semi-finals and final (the last phase take place in a single location over six days) with a total pot of $11.4 million. The Davis Cup offers $14 million but there are 16 men’s teams playing for three weeks. When you pro rate the figures, it’s even-steven.
In the BJK Cup, $3.4 million is shared by the federations of the competing teams. The prize pot of $8 million on top of that goes right to the players.
But it’s not only about amounts of money. What’s important to recognise is that the players are paid not as individuals, but as part of a winning team. They need to be in it together. They don’t get individual WTA ranking points. It’s all about winning the tournament. And the team dynamic changes the whole nature of the competition.
That story of team competition in tennis probably needs to be more generally understood by fans and communicated by the media to the wider audience because, more than big money, it’s what makes the BJK Cup so special and exciting.
This is piece of content is part of an iSportConnect series based on the key themes emerging around the future of mega events as the FIFA World Cup in Qatar approaches. In this article we speak to ATPI’s Global Head of Commercial for Sports Business, Kevin Perrin, about the importance of travel in fan experience.
The world of sports is more globally interconnected than ever with fans travelling across the globe to see their teams perform at the mightiest of venues against the best teams in the world.
Travel has become increasingly important for mega sports events because spectators must first travel across the world to watch their team qualify, and then they must travel across the country to watch their team advance through the competition in hopes of winning.
Ineffective travel options will significantly worsen the fan experience, making them lose excitement during the tournament and reflect badly on the experience. And what is a sports event without significant passion from the fans?! During major events, fans shouldn’t have to worry about getting there; they should only ever be concerned about their team succeeding.
We sat down with Kevin Perrin, ATPI’s Global Head of Commercial for Sports Business, on the importance of travel for fan experiences at mega events:
The change in travel experience for sports fans
I believe that, prior to the pandemic, sporting events were taken for granted. What changed after the pandemic was that sports fans watched their favourite games from their living rooms, witnessing the game being played with no spectators, and it just felt wrong or off-kilter.
This, in my opinion, created pent-up demand for people to go see their favourite sport live, with large crowds, in order to be a part of the excitement and happening…again. We were also in a good position to see how eager people were to get back on the road after nearly two years of confinement. As a result, it is no surprise that Sports Tourism is one of the most rapidly growing tourism products.
Aside from the obvious effects of the pandemic on the supply chain, human resource challenges, and global travel restrictions, the global demographics are changing.
What I mean is that a new generation is reshaping the travel industry in terms of what they want and how they buy. This new Generation Z is not afraid to express (or post) their preferences, and it is forcing the industry to reconsider their service delivery, products, and destinations.
They have enormous purchasing power and will travel to any location to see or experience their favourite sporting event. They are also aware of the types of offerings available, and they are not afraid to purchase worry-free, best-in-class, first-class products as long as they receive what is due.
The importance of the travel experience for sports fans
It is key! You will not achieve what you set out to do for your client if you put in so much effort to customise their programmes, make sure they have the best experience possible by obtaining the events they want to attend, in the area of a venue they desire, but you get it all wrong to get them there.
You must ensure that you book the best possible route and try to make their travel experience as enjoyable as possible, within the parameters you can control, so that they are in the right mindset when they arrive at their final destination to enjoy the reason they travelled in the first place.
The importance of seamless, stress-free travel to sports fans
It is, in my opinion, the most important.
Travel is an emotional experience. We often hear about terrifying experiences, but we rarely hear about wonderful ones.
There are many factors that go into planning a trip, and the result is having your bum in a stadium seat cheering on your favourite team or athlete. However, the fundamental elements that must occur for you to sit in that seat are critical.
In a further major legal blow for Setpoint Events S.A., the owners of World Padel Tour (WPT), the Commercial Court No 15 of Madrid this week has completely dismissed the request brought by WPT to stop the new Premier Padel tour and prevent players from participating in this championship.
Since the beginning of this year, WPT has waged an unprecedented legal war against the entire padel community – the professional players, the International Padel Federation and anyone connected to the new Premier Padel tour – seeking to prevent open competition and to maintain its decade-long monopoly over professional padel tours. This week’s ruling in Madrid is just the latest unsuccessful and damaging result for WPT.
In May 2022, WPT brought a claim before the Commercial Court No 15 of Madrid against the International Padel Federation (FIP), the Professional Players Association (PPA), Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), and seven individual players on grounds of unfair competition. WPT sued the defendants for encouraging players to breach the exclusivity obligation in their contracts with WPT and participate in Premier Padel tournaments.
WPT also requested an interim injunction aimed at stopping the Premier Padel circuit, which WPT claimed was inter alia infringing the players’ obligations to participate exclusively in all WPT tournaments under their contracts with WPT. This week the Commercial Court No.15 of Madrid has completely dismissed such interim measures finding that there was no legal basis to do so and also noting that:
WPT’s existing contracts give it an almost absolute control of the sport of padel – due to the combination of WPT’s exclusivity, black-out periods and other legal measures – which makes competition impossible.
Professional padel players have every right to seek opportunities and better conditions on other tours. The fact that Premier Padel has improved conditions for players is not – quite clearly – unlawful.
WPT’s existence as a tour should be reliant on open competition, not pressuring players to be bound by exclusivity.
Premier Padel does not impose exclusivity or restrict WPT, with players regularly playing for both circuits; in fact, WPT has even increased its calendar since Premier Padel launched.
WPT’s new offer to players – with no blanket exclusivity – demonstrates that such exclusivity is neither supporting competition, nor necessary to organize an international padel circuit.
WPT’s offer to withdraw legal actions against players if they renewed with WPT proves – in of itself – that the players’ participation in other tours is not harmful to WPT.
The findings of the Madrid court will also be of significant interest to the European Commission, which is separately considering a complaint in relation to the anti-competitive behaviour of WPT under European law and its exorbitant legal claims against players and others involved in Premier Padel.
In addition, the separate arbitration brought by WPT against the players, seeking €25 million in damages, has been suspended, while Setpoint also lost an interim hearing in that case, with the Court blocking Setpoint’s attempt to group its claims against the players and requiring 70+ separate cases instead, in another blow to the immediate legal recourse WPT has been seeking.
Alejandro Villaverde, General Secretary of the Professional Players Association, said: “The professional players have truly faced unfair legal attacks over the past year. This week’s legal decision in Madrid shows that the rule of law always prevails – the PPA will repel every attack and stand firm in defending the players’ rights to open competition, freedom of choice and basic professional decency.”
Ziad Hammoud, member of the Board of Premier Padel, said: “Ultimately, it should come as no surprise that the request brought by one of the most anti-competitive tours in world sport – to stop another open tour – was completely dismissed. We have faced a year of the fiercest legal threats and media briefings by WPT, but the end result is always the same. WPT’s actions are the antithesis of responsible sports administration and fly in the face of supporting the global development of a sport, player freedoms and player welfare.”
Luigi Carraro, President of the International Padel Federation, said: “This past week has been definitive for anyone in doubt about the future of padel. The ITF lost its hostile vote to takeover padel, and WPT has emphatically lost its latest legal case seeking to enforce its monopoly according to news reports. The International Padel Federation will continue to work night and day to promote the sport of padel – both at professional and amateur level – across the world, while defending the right of the professional players to have the very best opportunities to play and pursue their amazing careers.”
FIFA released a statement said: “Following discussions between host country authorities and FIFA, a decision has been made to focus the sale of alcoholic beverages on the FIFA Fan Festival, other fan destinations and licensed venues, removing sales points of beer from Qatar’s FIFA World Cup 2022 stadium perimeters.
“There is no impact to the sale of Bud Zero which will remain available at all Qatar’s World Cup stadiums. Host country authorities and FIFA will continue to ensure that the stadiums and surrounding areas provide an enjoyable, respectful and pleasant experience for all fans. The tournament organisers appreciate AB InBev’s understanding and continuous support to our joint commitment to cater for everyone during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™️.”
FIFA+, the official digital destination of football fandom that launched earlier this year, is now set to redefine the way in which fans – all over the world – enjoy the FIFA World Cup, as it rolls out its full tournament offering in 11 languages ahead of kick off on 20th November.
Throughout the global event, FIFA+ will become the official companion experience of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, with a reimagined global FIFA app and web platform, available across select connected devices – making it the all-in-one destination for FIFA World Cup fans.
Built to ensure fans have a complete tournament experience, FIFA+ will also compliment the tournament’s broadcasters– helping fans find their favourite team’s live games through the ‘Where to Watch’ feature and sharing behind-the-scenes and Original content created throughout.
The completely free platform, which launched with a slate of Original content, in-depth archive, and extensive live coverage, is transforming ahead of the tournament to welcome a host of new, immersive, and engaging features that will provide a truly game-changing experience for fans around the world.
Among them:
– Full Tournament Coverage
FIFA+ will be capturing the tournament in full across its channels, with an industry-leading live blog running non-stop, capturing the sights, sounds, atmosphere and energy of the world’s biggest football celebration. The FIFA+ editorial team will be on hand to bring photos and video from every match, the FIFA Fan Festival, around Qatar and beyond, while the platform will be the source of all official stats and data throughout.
– Official Highlights
Throughout the FIFA World Cup, FIFA+ will be FIFA’s official home of highlights, with each and every match recapped within minutes of the final whistle and all the thrills, drama and emotion available to fans in every corner of the globe – with a version available to watch in sign language as well.
– FIFA+ Stadium Experience
For those in Qatar, the ground-breaking FIFA+ StadiumExperience will revolutionise how fans enjoy the beautiful game. Available on the app for fans attending the match in the stadium, the function allows FIFA+ users to experience the action like never before – with a live augmented reality overlay of stats, heatmaps, insights, different camera angles, VAR replays as on TV, and much more. The all new viewing experience is designed specifically to complement and enhance how those in the ground celebrate and support.
– FIFA+ Fantasy, Panini, and more games
One for both casual and core gaming fans, FIFA+ will be the official home of FIFA World Cup Fantasy throughout the tournament. Fans can lead their team to glory with Fantasy Classic, or take on each other globally each day to win prizes in Fantasy Daily, both of which are complemented by other FIFA+ Play Zone favourites such as the digital Panini Album, Daily Predictor and World Cup Trivia game.
– The FIFA World Cup Daily, By Hisense
Meanwhile, FIFA+’s commitment to high-quality content will continue apace with The FIFA World Cup Daily, By Hisense, brought to fans live every day direct from the FIFA Fan Festival, bringing celebrities, creators, influencers and legends together to recap the day’s play.
– FIFA+ Collect
FIFA+ Collect, FIFA+’s official digital collectables marketplace, will also go from strength to strength during the tournament, with a special World Cup drop set to launch ahead of kick-off.
– FIFA Store
The newly launched FIFA Store will be available on FIFA+. Fans can enjoy product lines from the 32 qualified nations as well as wider FIFA Member Associations, merchandise, memorabilia and accessories. It will also home a new line of ‘FIFA’ products featuring artwork and designs inspired by storytelling from FIFA’s biggest events.
– Archive, Originals and Live
Outside of the FIFA World Cup, FIFA+ remains the home of 40,000 live regional matches every year, an existing extensive archive featuring every men’s and women’s FIFA World Cup match ever produced, and a slate of Original programming – including the landmark docuseries Captains which intimately goes behind-the-scenes with 6 leading global icons (among them Luka Modric and Thiago Silva) on their journey to qualify for Qatar.
– Personalisation and FIFA ID
All of the above is underpinned by a personalised experience and a rich notifications integration, where fans can register for free, choose their favourite World Cup team, and enjoy a bespoke journey through the FIFA World Cup, with news, highlights, insights and analysis relevant to them specifically. The same login is then used across FIFA+ Fantasy, FIFA+ Collect, and a range of other digital FIFA features.
FIFA Director of Strategy, Digital and FIFA+, Charlotte Burr, said:
“This is a significant moment, as we welcome the entire world to FIFA+ during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. FIFA+ is set to truly change the game by providing a new blueprint for how fans enjoy their World Cup on FIFA’s channels for years to come.
“FIFA+ is set to become the official companion experience for the tournament, giving fans around the world a unique and personal experience and reshaping how they enjoy sport’s biggest tournament now and in to the future.”
This all comes following the initial launch of FIFA+ in early 2022. The world-class digital destination for football fandom is available for free on app or web, and across select connected TVs and devices.
With FIFA catching so much flak for the Qatar World Cup, it’s easy to see the blowback that can result when rights owners overlook the societal dimensions of their decisions.
Indeed, FIFA and the IOC have become perennial targets. For other rights owners that operate globally ‘business as usual’ rarely attracts attention outside the countries that are impacted.
A case in point is the sale of TV rights in the former Yugoslavia, where media competition appears to be endangered, with possible repercussions for news and opinion.
The English Premier League recently concluded a bumper deal in the Balkans that increased its rights fees nearly ten-fold. The new owner of EPL rights for 2022-28, Arena Sport TV, is paying an estimated €100 million per year. The previous partner, Sports Klub, was paying only about €12 million.
Arena Sport TV has also snatched rights to the NBA and LaLiga from Sports Klub.
That’s great for the guys selling the rights, but the back story is not just about sports. Sport Klub belongs to a private telco and media company, United Group, owned by UK-based private equity giant BC Partners.
As part of the programming mix across its many channels, the company is a major news provider in the region.
Arena Sport TV on the other hand is owned by Serbia’s state-owned telco, Telekom Srbija, whose leadership has close ties to the ruling Serbian Progressive Party. The current president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, has a questionable track record in the media space, having been minister of information under Slobodan Milošević, when he was widely criticised for restrictive policies.
It may well be that sports rights in this case are being used as a tool not only to take subscribers from the competition but also to suck oxygen from channels not controlled by the government. It’s hard to make sense of the disproportionate rights fees Arena Sport TV is paying unless there is a wider purpose.
Indeed, during the negotiations for the rights in mid-2021, Peter Horrocks, former director of BBC World Service, sent a letter to Premier League CEO Richard Masters expressing dismay about the situation.
He wrote: “I sit on the editorial board of N1, one of the last sources of reputable, independent news in Serbia. N1 is also broadcast across the region. Independent news and information services in Serbia, including N1, are increasingly at threat from a government intent on silencing its critics and stifling media freedom.
“I am concerned that the broadcasting rights to the Premier League are now being used in the furtherance of this cause.”
The letter said: “Telekom Srbija is using state funds in order to make aggressive bids for major football tournaments. As a state-owned company, Telekom Srbija’s objective in owning football rights is political and not commercial. It is designed to starve competition in the pay TV market by taking customers away from independent providers. By switching to a TV package provided by Telekom Srbija, customers lose all access to independent news channels, like N1. The result is a package of channels controlled by the state that presents little more than party propaganda.”
The letter continued: “The Serbian government’s assault on media freedoms is well documented. Since 2014, Serbia has fallen from 54/180 to 94/180 in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF), World Press Freedom Index. According to the 2021 RSF report Serbia is a country with “weak institutions that is prey to fake news spread by government-backed sensational media, a country where journalists are subjected to almost daily attacks that increasingly come from the ruling elite and pro-government media.”
The former BBC World Service chief concluded: “It is my firm belief that Arena Sports’ over-priced bid to broadcast the Premier League can be explained by the Serbian authorities’ desire to further weaken competition in the media market and exert its control over the minds of the population. I would like to understand what due diligence the Premier League puts on the broadcasters that it chooses to engage with, particularly when dealing with state-owned companies in areas where democratic freedoms are at risk.”
Sport Klub is still number one in the region. Formula 1, ATP and Euroleague basketball remain on a rich schedule. United Group’s operations also extend into Bulgaria and Greece.
But ex-Yugoslavia is the core market and things there have changed.
The winner of the DP World eTour Global Finals was crowned last night, in a live finale at the DP World FLOW Pavilion at Expo City in Dubai.
Four finalists, all from the USA, battled it out on the stunning Wolf Creek Golf Course in Nevada, with gamer Joshua Smithers, screen name Jsmithers, winning all three of his matches and beating Young46 in the final to take home the title. He was presented with his trophy and prize money of $15,000 from DP World Tour star and current US Open Champion Matt Fitzpatrick.
Smith, a father of five and train driver from Illinois, has now won three eTour tournaments in his career and commenting on his victory said: “It’s been awesome. Coming to Dubai, hanging out with the guys in person for the first time has been an unbelievable experience. There were some great shots there on the back nine with Jason (Young46), but I am delighted to get over the line.”
The eTour Global Final was held in advance of this week’s DP World Tour Championship, the final Rolex Series event of the DP World Tour season. The eTour saw 110,000 entries from gamers in 215 different countries, resulting in a total of 1.2million rounds started, 6.4million holes played, and 31.2million balls hit. The competition was launched in August 2022 in partnership with the leading online and mobile game World Golf Tour (WGT) by TOPGOLF, and esports specialists DreamHack Sports Games.
In the first round of matches, Jsmithers defeated the number one seed masterhacker, real name Donald Cox. Smith closed out the match on the 15th hole after rolling in a birdie putt from 20 feet. In the other first round match, defending champion Young46, whose real name is Jason Young, defeated pjbhai, real name Prajwal Prakash, one-up on the 18th hole.
In round two, Jsmithers got off to a fast start against pjbhai, storming to a four-up lead through nine holes before he closed out the match six and five. Masterhacker, arriving as the number one seed, recovered from defeat in his first game to beat Young46 despite the latter making a hole in one at the 11th.
Victory for masterhacker meant that he along with Jsmithers and Young46 could still claim the title heading into the final round of matches, depending on various permutations. But the man with his destiny in his own hands was Jsmithers. Playing his close friend Young46, Jsmithers headed into the back nine with a slender one-hole advantage. However, an eagle by Young46 on the 18th green took the match to extra holes. On the first extra hole,Jsmithers converted from 20 feet for birdie to claim the title.
The FINA Open Water Tour 2023 will feature six events, with the annual series complementing the open water swimming at the 20th FINA World Championships Fukuoka 2023.
As the FINA Open Water Tourreturns for its 17th season, the schedule for the world’s top open water swimmers has been set:
20-21 May, Golfo Aranci, Sardinia (ITA)
27-28 May, Setubal (POR)
5-6 August, Paris (FRA)
28-29 October, Sun Moon Lake, Nantou (TPE)
4-5 November, Hong Kong (HKG)
1-2 December, Eilat (ISR)
The first stop of 2023 is Golfo Aranci, Sardinia, marking the first time Italy has hosted a FINA open water event.
From Sardinia, the FINA Open Water Tour 2023 will head for the familiar waters of Setubal. The Portuguese coastal city hosted the FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier events in 2012, 2016 and 2021, and the FINA Marathon Swim World Series 2022 opener.
The Paris event will then follow the 20th FINA World Championships Fukuoka 2023. This stop in the French capital will also serve as an official test event for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Marking a change from last year’s event in Paris, next summer’s competition will take place in the Seine.
The tour will then move to Asia, with Sun Moon Lake hosting its second FINA open water event. Racing will return to Hong Kong a week later, with the city set to host its 12th event.
The FINA Open Water Tour 2023 will then head to the Gulf of Eilat on the northern tip of the Red Sea in Israel, for the year’s final event. An experienced host, Eilat has hosted four previous FINA Marathon Swim events – including the 2022 finale – as well as the FINA World Junior Open Water Swimming Championshipsin 2018.
Athletes at each FINA Open Water Tour 2023 event will share a prize purse as well as an overall tour winner award, all equally paid out between men and women.
Brazil’s Ana Marcela Cunha comes in as the reigning women’s overall tour champion, while Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieriand Hungary’s Kristof Rasovszky are the co-reigning men’s overall tour winners.
Olympic and FINA World Champion Paltrinieri is among those eagerly anticipating next season’s competitions. “It’s a great feeling to hear that next season we’ll start in Sardinia,” said Paltrinieri. “Racing in Italy is always special. I’m sure we’ll get a lot of fans and friends coming over to Sardinia to cheer us on. Sardinia is a beautiful place, especially for open water swimming. I’m really glad that a FINA event is back in Italy.”
On the women’s side, reigning Olympic champion Cunha is already eagerly looking forward to a new year with new challenges. “While I’m coming in as the two-time defending champion and six-time overall world series winner, it’s a really exciting and competitive time in open water racing,” said Cunha. “There’s a new generation of swimmers coming from the junior ranks, which will make next year’s tour that much more compelling.”
Added Cunha: “As one of the more experienced racers, I like this challenge. From the FINA World Championships to the FINA Marathon Swim World Series, I’m proud of what I was able to accomplish this year. Looking to 2023, I’m ready to take on a new year with new challenges.”
FINA President Husain Al-Musallam also expressed his excitement for next season’s competition calendar. “We have the right mix of familiar hosts together with a new entrant and competition venue to add to our open water swimming racing calendar in 2023,” the FINA President said. “From our start in Sardinia to the season’s end in Eilat, we can continue to see some of the best performances and closest finishes ever in open water throughout the FINA Open Water Tour 2023.”
Oracle Red Bull Racing, its Principal Team Partner, Bybit and Azuki creator, Chiru Labs, have made Formula One history by emblazing a Tezos-based Non-fungible Token, NFT, on the Team cars for the season finale in Abu Dhabi. It’s the first time a blue-chip NFT has ever adorned a F1 race car or taken part in a race.
The NFT, Lei the Lightning Azuki, will ride shotgun for both Max and Checo as they chase a final victory of the season. Lei, a maverick, whose raw power, passionate personality, striking image, and boundless spirit epitomizes all the values of Oracle Red Bull Racing, is a perfect match for the 2022 World Champions.
Lei the Lightning Azuki, builds upon the IP of Azuki #8494, an original Azuki from the anime inspired NFT collection and represents the transcending of worlds, symbolized by the real and virtual world. It also highlights the diverse backgrounds of the partners who came together to create it: Bybit is a leading cryptocurrency exchange and a gateway to Web3. Chiru Labs, creator of Azuki, creates decentralized brands at the intersection of art, technology, and culture. Tezos, is an open-source and pioneering energy-efficient blockchain that has become one of the top platforms for artists and NFT’s. Combined, they form a perfect storm of creativity, innovation, and passion.
An NFT is a unique digital token on the blockchain, corresponding to a work of art or other assets, where the provenance of the NFT is publicly traceable. Much of the current market for NFTs is centred around collectibles, such as digital artwork. They are highly desirable and sought-after creative works — with traditional art houses now carrying them in their catalogues.
To commemorate the Teams’ record-breaking season and unique event, fans will have their chance to own a limited-edition version of Lei the Lightning Azuki. 8,494 NFTs will be minted on Tezos and made available for free on a first come first served basis on the Bybit NFT marketplace.
Christian Horner, Team Principal and CEO, Oracle Red Bull Racing said:“The nature of our sport means we are always pushing boundaries, and to be the first to put a blue-chip NFT on an F1 car is a tremendous feat. Our partnership with Bybit and Azuki has been an ideal way to help us explore the Web3 world. In many ways, it’s been an eye opener for us to the vast opportunities Web3 has to offer. This unique project is the perfect combination of creativity, innovation, and passion which matches our ethos on the track.”
Ben Zhou, Bybit co-founder and CEO added:“This is a unique piece of artwork and a timeless moment. We anticipate exciting things from this unique collaboration and Lei the Lightning Azuki. He’s such a striking character and a bridge linking the racing, crypto, and NFT communities. We know they are all going to jump at the chance to own a piece of history.”
Azuki founder Zagabond said: “We are excited to announce our partnership with Oracle Red Bull Racing and Bybit. Lei the Lightning Azuki reflects the passion, precision, and raw power of Oracle Red Bull Racing. We look forward to telling Lei’s story in the 2023 F1 season.”
Today saw the launch of BLAST.tv, the first streaming platform designed specifically for esports. We spoke to BLAST’s Chief Growth Officer, Tom Greene to speak about the development and why they felt it was important for them.
For those who don’t know, tell us a little bit about BLAST?
Blast is an esports company and we operate some of the biggest events and tournaments in the esports world. We started originally with the game Counter Strike, so we had the BLAST Pro Series that then went to BLAST Premier. Now though, we are working across a wide variety of games, we have FIFA and Valorant. We also do all the competitive Fortnite as well.
Blast Premier still remains the crown jewel for us though. We think of ourselves as an esports entertainment company and doing what we can to sort of elevate the broadcast and consumer experience from the best of esports.
Esports has grown massively in the last few years, how has BLAST adapted to the changing landscape?
I think you are right to identify the huge increase in viewership because of the Covid pandemic. I think BLAST has been successful for a number of reasons. The first would be that we have been quite strategic in the areas in which we have chosen to grow. BLAST.tv is a great example of this.
We have also moved into different games in a more meaningful way. I think we also approach competitive esports with both an entertainment and premium mindset. A lot of the guys who work for us are experienced in esports but also some of them are from outside esports and have more of a background in entertainment. I think this mix gives us a real edge.
The team we have built treats esports like a traditional sports league or media enterprise, where you’re thinking through all the 360 degree commercialisation and the fan opportunities that come from such high viewership.
You have been at BLAST close to 18 months, how has it evolved in the time you have been there?
When I arrived we were still focussed on BLAST Premier and it made up 90 per cent of our revenue. We had done five or six more sort of solo enterprises into different games, but they weren’t necessarily building other leagues, they were more like operating one off events in different games.
I think that was really awesome. It was an opportunity to test the water to see if the BLAST formula resonates across different esports and found that it really did. And that was sort of lucky enough to arrive at a time when we wanted to extend how we reach fans.
So not just being a broadcaster but also having a D2C home, that is BLAST.tv is a big move for us.
We have moved from the one-off events I spoke about earlier to creating leagues and ecosystems, what we have done with Fortnite is a prime example of this. Really since I have been at BLAST the business itself has got a lot more complex and a lot bigger.
You have partnerships with Betway and Maersk, why do you think traditional companies want to invest in esports?
I think we have quite an attractive demographic for these companies. It is as simple as that. We are reaching a young and tech savvy audience, if you think about the penetration of crypto and other technologies within that demographic it’s higher than the average.
I also think that our audience understands that partnerships and sponsorships are a vital way in which the whole system is funded. So I think our audience is very receptive to the right sort of brand entering in the right way.
We give brands the tools they need to be able to enter the broadcast in a way that adds to the experience rather than taking away from it.
Tell us a bit about BLAST.tv and what it means for esports?
The at home streaming experience was probably the last frontier for BLAST to be honest. We have been investing a lot of time, money and manpower really into thinking about how we could take our esports events to the next level and this is what we came up with.
Twitch and YouTube are massive parts of our community and they certainly aren’t going anywhere so you don’t have to worry about that, but they are not engineered for competitive esports.
We wanted to build something that is specifically designed with esports in mind and give our viewers at home the best possible experience. We really want to build something that keeps fans coming back again and again.
We really wanted to design a product for specialist esports, they’re our audience and from their feedback we are going to build this thing from the ground up.
You have a following of 1.4 million on Twitch, how will your relationship with the platform change with this development?
I don’t think it will change at all really, we have a great following on Twitch as you say, and a really good relationship with those guys. But Twitch is not an exclusive distribution partner for us; we use YouTube and even BBC Sport as well. BLAST.tv will just be another option for this really.
Because our platform is specifically designed for esports we aren’t going to be competing with Twitch either. If people want to watch the content on Twitch it will still be there.
There is a lot of talk about the use of a second screen to complement and improve the experience of the first screen, is this something you have looked into?
We deliberately designed BLAST.tv with this in mind. Fans of esports will watch the events and could be using a lot more than two screens to get information. A lot of fans will have HLTV – which is like BBC Sport but for Counter Strike – on one screen and then be scrolling through Twitter for the conversation around what is going on and Reddit as well for some deeper analysis.
Our aim with BLAST.tv is to have the tools to work with as many fans as possible. For example, viewers can vote on things that happen in the game and can even spam the commentators and show whether they are liking or disliking what they are saying. That will be done using a second screen that is very much a companion piece to what is happening on the first screen.
Why was it important for BLAST to make this development?
I think for us it is sort of the final frontier, is where most of our fans watch our content. We thought we should take our technology, esports and entertainment expertise and bring them together and apply them to a fan engagement platform and create the best place for fans to watch Counter Strike and BLAST Premier.
Web3 is something that everyone’s talking about at the moment, what are BLAST doing in that area and how can it be used by esports?
It is an interesting question because, as a company, we haven’t moved into Web3 yet. Other esports teams have done drops but we haven’t fully entered the space yet. We are obviously big believers in technology and we are building this digital home for our fans, so anything that can augment that experience and deepen the level of engagement then we will look into it.
If there is a model out there that we can use in an authentic way, is true to our brand and can deepen the fan experience then it is definitely something we would be interested in. The right partner is probably out there but we haven’t found them yet.
