BLAST, MediaMonks And MyCujoo Participate In Second ‘Talking Sport’ Event

BLAST CEO Robbie Douek, MediaMonks CEO Victor Knaap and MyCujoo CEO Pedro Presa took part in Thursday’s ‘Talking Sport’ episode, titled ‘A Pivot to Digital: Enhancing Fan Engagement Strategies in Sport & eSports’. They were joined by moderator Michael Broughton, Marketing, Technology and Fan Engagement Expert and Sky Sports News presenter David Garrido.

“There are years where nothing happens and there are weeks where everything changes and we are definitely in those weeks where everything changes,” Knaap told the audience, explaining how the sports industry can use this situation to accelerate the move into digital. For Knaap, this period of coronavirus lockdown has shown that there is even greater appetite for digital than some might have believed. “The different generations are suddenly behaving more similarly and people my mother’s age start to look at content like Hangouts to have dinner, which was unheard of 10 weeks ago,” the MediaMonks CEO added.

Broughton backed that sentiment up. “I’d argue that we shouldn’t forget about Gen X or the Boomers because they have the money, they’re willing to spend and they’re not so digitally unaware as you’d think they might be,” he stated.

Presa and Douek also agreed that the dynamics of the coronavirus crisis has created new opportunities for embracing Digital. “I think it’s time for rights holders, especially sports rights holders, to embrace the digitalisation aspect and to focus and adapt as well to the different types of content and how they’re being produced,” stated Presa. “I’m still watching football in the same way I watched football 30 years ago, which makes so little sense considering we’ve got so much technology at our disposal,” added Douek.

It was clear that the audience in the webinar and their organisations also agree with the ‘Talking Sport’ experts about the benefits of pushing forward right now with digitalisation projects. A poll was put to the audience with the question: Will the Covid-19 crisis result in a change to the budget allocation for digital for your organisation? 69% said they would increase their digital budget, 21% said it would stay the same and only 10% expected a decrease.

Some key talking points from this week’s episode of ‘Talking Sport’:

Pedro Presa, on why authenticity is as important as production value: “I think it’s time for sports rights holders to embrace the digitalisation aspect and to focus and adapt as well to the different types of content and how they’re being produced. At MyCujoo, we’ve proven that it’s not only about the super high-quality broadcast, but it’s about the authenticity and the easiness of bringing the content to fans, from a mobile phone or a multi-camera production. It’s about being able to basically broadcast and distribute it and be present where the user is.”

Michael Broughton, on involving fans and not simply engaging them: “I think fan engagement as we currently see it is likes, shares and various metrics with various levels of dependability. I like the word ‘involvement’ because when I went away and looked it up in the dictionary, looking at involvement compared to engagement, it talked about a two-way relationship. Fan engagement is ‘I’ve created the content and I’ll send it out to you and you’ll like and share it, comment on it or whatever it is’. Whereas, involvement is saying ‘actually, there’s a deeper relationship here, that there is a two-way relationship and you’re going to be involved with me’.” 

Robbie Douek, on traditional sports not giving the audience enough: “If you look at how much involvement we’ve had in the traditional sports industry since COVID-19, we haven’t had enough. We love football, we love cricket, we love tennis, we love sport. We want to know about these players. We want to know about these teams. And yet, the clubs and the players aren’t giving us enough of our fix. And we need more. Actually, the technology was there and available for them to do that. So, eSports took advantage of that and we’ve been inundated by broadcasters phoning us up for content because there isn’t anyone else providing it. So, we were in the right place at the right time really.”

Victor Knaap, on the need to convince brands that football is not a luxury: “I think the industry needs to start convincing brands that football is not a luxury, that it’s part of life and keeps us sane. Social pressure is getting extremely important, so finding the right message in this time as to why you as a brand are involved in football is going to be super important, because some of the sponsoring is just because the contract is signed and you cannot build from that, but the relevancy is going to be ‘why should you do that?’ and I think that message needs to come from clubs, from players and from the whole industry. If you lose that you will have a setback that is more than 50 percent. If you don’t fix that, football is placed in the luxury spend of a brand and will have a branding backlash.”

The next episode of ‘Talking Sport’ will take place next Thursday, June 4th, and the topic then will be ‘From World Cup glory to Covid-19: The future for women’s sport’. Another group of expert guests will tackle that topic and it’s already possible to register right here.

MotoGP Forced To Cancel British And Australian Grands Prix

The FIM, IRTA and Dorna Sports regret to announce the cancellation of the British and Australian Grands Prix. The ongoing coronavirus outbreak and resulting calendar changes have obliged the cancellation of both events.

The British Grand Prix was set to take place from the 28th to the 30th of August at the classic Silverstone Circuit. Silverstone hosted the first Grands Prix held on the British mainland from 1977, and MotoGP™ returned to the illustrious track ten years ago. 2020 will now sadly mark the first year MotoGP™ sees no track action in the British Isles for the first time in the Championship’s more than 70-year history.

The Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix was set to take place at the legendary Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit from the 23rd to the 25th of October. Phillip Island hosted the very first Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix in 1989 and since 1997 has been the only home of MotoGP™ Down Under – with its unique layout providing some of the greatest battles ever witnessed on two wheels.

The cancellation of the British Grand Prix also obliges the cancellation of the corresponding British Talent Cup track activity at the same event.

Stuart Pringle, Silverstone Managing Director: “We are extremely disappointed about the cancellation of the British MotoGP event, not least as the cancelled race in 2018 is still such a recent memory, but we support the decision that has had to be taken at this exceptional time.

“I want to thank the stoic British fans for their patience and support.  We must now look forward to 2021 when Silverstone will once again host the fastest and most historic MotoGP race on the calendar and work hard to make it a truly exceptional event for all to enjoy.”

Paul Little AO, Australian Grand Prix Corporation Chairman: “We’re very disappointed that MotoGP fans throughout Victoria, Australia and internationally won’t get the chance to make the pilgrimage to see the world’s best riders compete on one of the best circuits anywhere in the world, but the right decision has been made.

“The Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix puts Phillip Island on the global stage and it’ll be back better than ever in 2021.”

Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports: “We’re saddened to have to announce the cancellation of these iconic events after finding no way through the logistical and operational issues resulting from the pandemic and rearranged calendar. Silverstone and Phillip Island are always two of the most thrilling race weekends of the season, with both tracks never failing in their promise to deliver some of the closest racing in our Championship.

“On behalf of Dorna, I would like to once again extend my thanks to the fans for their understanding and patience as we wait for the situation to improve. We look forward to returning to Silverstone and Phillip Island next year for more incredible battles.”

Provisional Schedule Agreed For Return Of 2019-20 FA Cup

We have today agreed a provisional restart date for the 2019-20 Emirates FA Cup, which has been on hold since the outbreak of COVID-19.

Following the announcement that the 2019-20 Premier League season will provisionally restart on Wednesday 17 June, the Emirates FA Cup quarter-finals will now take place over the weekend of Saturday 27 June and Sunday 28 June.

Provisional 2019-20 Emirates FA Cup schedule

Quarter-finals: 27 June & 28 June
Semi-finals: 18 July & 19 July
Final: 1 August

The Emirates FA Cup semi-finals will take place across the weekend of Saturday 18 July and Sunday 19 July, with the Emirates FA Cup Final on Saturday 1 August.

Further information on venues and timings will be announced in due course.

“We are pleased to agree the provisional restart date for the 2019-20 Emirates FA Cup,” said our chief executive officer, Mark Bullingham.

“The competition has been an integral part of the English football calendar for nearly 150 years, and we’d like to thank the Premier League executive and clubs for their support in scheduling the remaining matches during this unprecedented time.

“This has been a difficult period for many people and, while this is a positive step, the restart date is dependent on all safety measures being met. The health and wellbeing of players, staff and supporters remains our priority.”

The schedule for the Emirates FA Cup quarter-finals, which was originally drawn on 9 March, is:

  • Leicester City v Chelsea
  • Newcastle United v Manchester City
  • Sheffield United v Arsenal
  • Norwich City v Manchester United

European Tour To Return In July With String Of UK Events

The European Tour today announces plans for the resumption of the 2020 season with the launch of a new six-week ‘UK Swing’ as well as the confirmation of new dates for four Rolex Series events.

Following the suspension of the season on March 8 due to the global Coronavirus pandemic, the European Tour will return to action initially behind closed doors in July and run through until December. All tournaments will be subject to stringent safety and testing protocols set out in the Tour’s comprehensive Health Strategy which will continue to evolve, aligned with international Government guidance and health guidelines.

The first tournament in the ‘UK Swing’ is the Betfred British Masters hosted by Lee Westwood, which will be played at Close House, near Newcastle in the north east of England, from Wednesday July 22 to Saturday July 25 – a week earlier than originally scheduled.

It will be followed by the English Open at the Marriott Forest of Arden and the English Championship at Marriott Hanbury Manor, before The Celtic Manor Resort in Newport hosts back-to-back European Tour tournaments – the Celtic Classic and the Wales Open.

It is a timely return to the south Wales resort as this year also marks the tenth anniversary of Europe’s dramatic victory against the United States in The 2010 Ryder Cup at the same venue.

The UK Swing will then conclude with the UK Championship at The Belfry, another venue rich in Ryder Cup history, having played host to four contests with Europe triumphing in two (1985 and 2002), the US having won in 1993, with the 1989 match ending in a 14-14 tie.

Details of subsequent tournaments on the European Tour from September through to November will be announced in due course, with a variety of scheduling options currently under consideration as the global situation continues to evolve.

However, rescheduled dates have been announced for four Rolex Series events; the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club which now takes place from October 8-11 and the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club which moves to the following week, October 15-18.

There are also new dates for the final two tournaments of the year. The Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player is now scheduled for December 3-6 at Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, with the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, now due to take place from December 10-13 at Jumeirah Golf Estates, where the 2020 Race to Dubai Champion will be crowned.

All tournaments played in the reshaped 2020 season will be governed by the Tour’s comprehensive Health Strategy which has been developed by Dr Andrew Murray, the European Tour’s Chief Medical Officer, in consultation with health care specialists Cignpost, who will deliver the testing procedure, and advisers in many of the 30 countries the Tour plays. This strategy will continue to evolve, aligned with international Government guidance and health guidelines.

Aside from adhering to the Health Strategy, all European Tour tournaments from July until December will also be part of the Tour’s new ‘Golf for Good’ initiative, a narrative which will underpin the season and one which aims to give back in three key areas:

▪ Supporting the Communities where the European Tour plays.

▪ Rewarding the true heroes, such as the front line workers.

▪ Promoting the many health benefits that golf offers.

The ‘Golf for Good’ initiative will be launched at the new ‘UK Swing’ in July and August, six weeks which will culminate in £500,000 from the European Tour being distributed equally between charities local to the tournament venues and charities chosen by the leading ten players in a mini Order of Merit which will run across the six tournaments.

Keith Pelley, European Tour Chief Executive, said: “Since the suspension of our 2020 season in early March, we have taken a measured approach in reassessing our schedule, informed every step of the way by our medical advisers and government guidance.

“We have consistently said that safety is our absolute priority and that is why today we are announcing our resumption in two months’ time supported by a comprehensive health strategy which has been led by our medical team.

“Without question we have had to think differently about the remainder of our 2020 season which is reflected in today’s announcement. As golf’s global Tour, diversity is ordinarily one of our biggest strengths, but in this instance it has become one of our biggest challenges.

“Initially, therefore, based on the expert guidance we received, playing in clusters, in one territory, is the best option in terms of testing, travel and accommodation.

“I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank Betfred, Close House, Marriott, The Forest of Arden, Hanbury Manor, The Celtic Manor Resort and The Belfry for sharing our vision for this ‘UK Swing’ and we look forward to returning to tournament play in July with this innovative stretch of six events.

“As well as getting golf going again for our players, our broadcasters, our stakeholders and our millions of fans around the world, these new events will also enable us to give back during these unprecedented times, building on some of the community support already given by our players over the past few months.

“I also want to pay tribute to Rolex, BMW, Aberdeen Standard Investments, the Scottish Government, Nedbank, Sun International and DP World, for their continued commitment to the European Tour which allowed us to move four hugely important tournaments on the European Tour into new dates later in the year.

“Not only did they show flexibility, they also showed understanding of the current global situation and we are truly fortunate to have them as partners of the European Tour.”

While the intention remains to crown a new Race to Dubai Champion on Sunday December 13, as part of the changes to the end of the 2020 season caused by the impact of COVID-19, the European Tour’s Tournament Committee recently agreed that all Members’ 2020 Categories, and their ranking within that category, will be retained in 2021 with related playing rights being protected to the absolute maximum possible in the 2021 season.

That decision was passed unanimously by the Committee, as was the fact that there will no longer be a ‘Minimum Tournament Regulation’ for the 2020 season.

Pelley added: “We recognise that when we resume playing golf, each player’s circumstances will be different. We therefore do not want to put anyone in a position whereby they feel they have no choice other than to play in certain events in order to protect their livelihood.

“Similarly, the feeling was that it was not fair to disadvantage any member who might want to play in an event but who might not be able to due to ongoing travel restrictions. Therefore, in consultation with our Tournament Committee, it was agreed preserving their exempt status for 2021 was the fairest solution in these unprecedented times.

“As a consequence, there will be no Qualifying School this year and no formal graduation from the Challenge Tour, although the Tournament Committee has agreed to reward exceptional performance on both the European Tour and the Challenge Tour in 2020, precise details of which we will announce in due course.”

BBC To Broadcast Live Premier League For The First Time As Sky Agree To Make 25 Games Free To Air

For the first time ever the Premier League will be broadcast live on the BBC, with Sky Sports also making 25 games they will be showing free to air as the Premier League looks to televise all of its remaining fixtures for the 2019-20 season.

As well as Sky Sports and the BBC, games will also be shown on the other regular broadcaster BT Sport and also Amazon, who for the first time acquired Premier League action this season over the Christmas period.

The season will provisionally restart on Wednesday 17th June, and as the UK’s leading football broadcaster, Sky will make 25 games available ‘free-to-air’ for everyone in the UK to enjoy, including Everton v Liverpool on the opening weekend.

With 92 Premier League matches of the current season remaining, Sky Sports subscribers will be able to watch 39 exclusive live games with a further 25 available more widely via Sky’s free-to-air ‘Pick’ Channel and simulcast on Sky Sports, allowing the whole nation to be part of the return of live sport.

To celebrate the return of the Premier League, Sky Sports will also launch a host of innovative new features and updates to give fans an even more immersive experience and share the moments live with family and friends on virtual platforms.

Since live football games were postponed in early March, Sky has supported the Premier League’s ambition to restart when Government health and safety advice allowed.

Sky CEO and EVP, UK and Europe, Stephen van Rooyen said: “The return of live sport is a big moment for the country, and we want the nation to join us.  Sky has partnered with the Premier League and its clubs for nearly thirty years, and the strength of our partnership has never been more important. Our commitment to showing 25 matches ‘free to air’ for the first time in the history of Sky Sports recognises the unique times we are in, and our desire to play our part.

“We have developed some terrific new innovations to give football fans the very best experience of watching live sport, when going to the match with family and friends isn’t possible, and we look forward to sharing these with football fans shortly.” 

Rob Webster, Managing Director of Sky Sports said: “Sky Sports strives to be sport’s best partner, and our desire to connect football fans to more of what they love has never been stronger. We can’t wait to bring football back for the nation.”

Official eLaLiga Santander Competition To Return, LaLiga TV Free On Sky Sports In June

eLaLiga Santander’s official eSports competition is set to return in a bid to complete the season and to allow Spain’s leading EA SPORTS™ FIFA 20  gamers to go head to head in the final which will take place in July.   

In light of the current situation and following the recommendations and measures enforced by the Spanish Ministry of Health, eLaLiga Santander has also adjusted its format, with the rest of the campaign to be played out online in a bid to safeguard the health of all those involved.

Under the slogan #BackToWin, created by LaLiga and Movistar to reinforce the idea that the return of football is a victory for everyone, eLaLiga Santander returns stronger than ever in the wake of the health crisis caused by COVID-19. 

Following a break of over two months, eLaLiga Santander will return on 8th June with the Second Online Tournament. Over the weekend of the 20th and 21st June, Mid-Season will take place online, which will see the 16 players to have qualified from the Second Online Tournament face off.

The Third Online Tournament will take place in early summer. In addition to eLaLiga Santander representatives, amateur players from across Spain can also sign up for this competition.

The winner of the second season of eLaLiga Santander will not be crowned until the first week of July (4th and 5th), with the champion set to be awarded a virtual trophy and €40,000 in prize money. eLaLiga Santander is Spain’s most lucrative eSports competition, with a total of €100,000 distributed amongst competitors. 

The heart of eLaLiga Santander keeps on beating

LaLiga has worked tirelessly over the course of recent months to produce content to entertain and help our followers and society in general during the lockdown. The partnership between real and virtual sport has proved stronger than ever, thanks to the participation of current eLaLiga Santander gamers and first-team players from LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank clubs. 

Initiatives have included the #LaLigaSantanderChallenge, launched by Ibai Llanos and which raised €190,000 for UNICEF to help in the battle against COVID-19. Other ideas included Zona eLaLiga Santander, which involved 12 shows broadcast over a six-week period that allowed viewers to get to know their LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank idols and discover the keys to the success of the eLaLiga Santander players.

Meanwhile, 20 eLaLiga Santander stars took part in 30 show matches staged across three weekends that provided endless excitement and no shortage of fan entertainment.

LaLigaTV

LaLiga and broadcast partner Premier Sports have today announced that LaLigaTV, the flagship 24/7 channel offering all live matches from Spain’s top-flight LaLiga Santander, will be made available for FREE to Sky customers across the United Kingdom during the entire month of June. 

Sky UK customers will be able to enjoy the return of Spanish football from next month, including the title race between FC Barcelona (58 pts) and Real Madrid (56 pts) as LaLiga prepares to resume its 2019/20 season in line with a progressive return to everyday life in Spain. 

Sky subscribers in the UK can activate Channel 435 by visiting premiersports.com and registering their details with the promo code BACKTOWIN. In addition to full access to LaLigaTV HD, including ALL live matches, subscribers will also get 24/7 LaLigaTV streaming access via the Premier Player app. From July 1st, subscribers would be charged a standard monthly fee of just £5.99, cancellable at any time.

In addition to the top players and clubs of Spanish football, LaLigaTV viewers enjoy exclusive daily programming including classic matches from the past two decades of LaLiga and the weekly #BackToWin special chronicling the lead-up to the resumption of football in Spain, as well as the Talking Football series hosted by Guillem Balagué, which on Monday 1st June at 8pm BST will air an exclusive interview with former LaLiga player and manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Extreme E And Goodform Partner To Grow Global Audience

One-off race locations, top-level motor racing, powerful messaging, and innovating electric vehicles; Extreme E is stirring new audiences on a global scale, even before its inauguration. Goodform, with a proven track-record of success in the motorsport industry, will help Extreme E accelerate its growth in engaging and capturing new audiences through always-on fan insights.

With a broadcast strategy that aims to penetrate as many markets as possible and to make the sport accessible to viewers globally, Goodform’s insights will enable Extreme E to track direct engagement with fans around the world.

“With a focus on gender equality within sport and a very clear sustainability strategy, Extreme E is an organisation that we have a great deal of respect for. We are excited to join them on their remarkable journey of spotlighting climate change through the power of motorsport, and the audience insights and engagement that we deliver for them will play a key role in their growth,” commented Goodform Marketing Director, Joe Kyle.

Goodform, who have been Formula E’s Data & CRM agency since the start of Season Four, and who run F1 Fan Voice, Formula 1’s official research community, will manage, grow and provide insights on Extreme E’s audience data, utilising it to deliver direct communications.

Ali Russell, Chief Marketing Officer at Extreme E, commented: “We are thrilled to be joining forces with Goodform. As we build towards our first season, all our efforts are concentrated on connecting and building our relationship with the next generation of motorsport fans, through clear activation and engagement.

“Extreme E is a sport for purpose which aims to use its platform to motivate people to tackling all the challenges which exist with climate change. This relationship with Goodform is essential in building a relationship with our fans as we embark on this incredibly exciting journey.”

Extreme E is a radical new racing series, which will see electric SUVs competing in extreme environments around the world, including Greenland, Senegal, the Amazon, and Saudi Arabia, selecting locations which have already been damaged or affected by climate and environmental issues.

Starting early 2021, the five-race global voyage will highlight the impact of climate change and human interference in some of the world’s most remote locations and promote the adoption of electric vehicles to help preserve the environment and protect our planet’s future.

As well as being a platform for electrification and sustainability, the series recently announced that its teams would comprise a 50-50 split of male-female drivers, marking a major breakthrough for gender equality in motorsport.

Teams already signed up to compete in the new electric off road series include US powerhouses Andretti Autosport and Chip Ganassi Racing, Veloce Racing, HWA, Abt and QEV, with more big names to be confirmed in the coming weeks.

Rugby League World Cup 2021 Reveals Kappa As Official Apparel Sponsor

Rugby League World Cup 2021 are delighted to announce global sportswear brand, Kappa, as an official sponsor of the tournament.

The Italian sportswear giant has signed a deal to become the Official Apparel Sponsor of RLWC2021, which will include the brand supplying kit for all RLWC2021 match officials, volunteers and staff.

Kappa has supplied eye-catching sportswear for over 60 years to a wide range of sports including rugby, basketball, athletics, motorsport and sailing, and iconic teams within football such as Juventus, AC Milan, Napoli, AS Monaco and FC Barcelona. Currently Kappa is involved in the UK with the Premier League club Aston Villa FC and are also the proud sponsors of Salford Red Devils in the Super League.

As part of the partnership, the brand will also create a range of clothing merchandise that will be available to purchase online and at RLWC2021 matches, which is expected to be available to fans later this year.

The brand and its iconic ‘Omini’ logo has huge cultural significance historically and increasingly in new contemporary fashion, being worn by some of the most recognisable celebrities in the world.

Jonathan Neill, Commercial Director at RLWC2021, said:

“Kappa share our vision in delivering the biggest and best Rugby League World Cup ever, and will play a hugely important role in doing so. The Kappa ‘Omini’ logo is symbolic with gender equality and community and aligns with our inclusive values and approach at RLWC2021, which will see the men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournaments run concurrently for the first time.

“With a heritage and expertise in sports apparel and lifestyle fashion, and a commitment to being innovative and digitally led, Kappa will help increase the profile of RLWC2021 by transcending the sport of rugby league and driving wider fan engagement.”

Dave Bandell, UK Teamwear Manager at Kappa, added:

“We are delighted to be part of the RLWC2021 and expand our growing reputation in rugby league. It really appealed to us especially with the legacy programme and also the inclusion of the women’s and wheelchair events. We are sure our vast range of product will appeal to the rugby league community and beyond, and help make this the most successful Rugby League World Cup in history.”

Sportfive Returns As Lagadère Sports Rebrand

Lagadère Sports has opted to rebrand globally by reviving the Sportfive name, following the acquisition of the company by H.I.G. Capital.

Lagadère Sports,Lagadère Plus, U! Sports and VIP Sportstravel will now all operate under the Sportfive name, while Rooftop2 and EKS (Event Knowledge Services) are described as Sportfive endorsed brands.

Sportfive’s new website states: Lagardère Sports and Entertainment, following the recent acquisition by H.I.G. Capital has been rebranded to Sportfive. The combination of specialized market leading agencies under one unified Masterbrand will cater to the agency’s ambition to be one of the world’s leading full-service sports marketing agencies.

For years, we’ve been the go-to agency for brands and media platforms wanting to collaborate with rights-holders across the world to reach emotionally engaged audiences.

As we move forward, we will continue with our mission to create and grow long-term value and innovative solutions for our clients, led by our vision to be the most progressive and respected partner in sports.

We are the global agency here to reset what sports and entertainment partnerships can mean. To ignite new possibilities through unrivalled access. And to grow value for all.

We do it by bringing together brands, rights-holders, media platforms, fans and us. Because as a FIVE, we all emerge victorious.

 

Member Insights: Sport Broadcasters And The End Of Coronavirus Lockdowns – “And Now What?”

Jakob Hummes, Head of Sales EMEA for Wildmoka, evaluates how the sports broadcasting model will change thanks to Covid-19.

At the time of writing (May 2020), the Covid-19 crisis has led to an unprecedented pause of sport events and leagues around the world. As a consequence, many viewers of pay-TV cancelled their subscriptions as sports were their main reason for membership. Meanwhile, free-to-air channels have seen advertising rates collapse while the economy has been in lockdown.

At present, several top football leagues (including the German Bundesliga and the Turkish Super League) have already announced they plan to finish their seasons. The German Bundesliga have had their first matchdays since the shutdown and Sky Germany scored an amazing, combined five million viewers on opening weekend. Big sporting events are still planned to go ahead during August and September too (e.g. Tour de France, Roland Garros) and will coincide with the start of new football seasons. Advertisers will come back as the economy restarts and brands try to make up for lost sales.

How should sports broadcasters prepare?

Given the fast-changing situation, trying to predict the future would be foolish but we can learn from broadcasters who successfully adapted their digital strategies.

Increase the number of contents, maximize the return

Not only after the lockdown, but now, even more, customers are desperate for content.

More content brings more audiences which brings more revenue.

Our analysis of the sports broadcasting strategy at France TV for Roland Garros and  Tour de France in 2019 demonstrates this fact clearly. By drastically increasing the amount of live coverage on digital pop-up channels and by creating highlights from sports as diverse as cycling and tennis, France TV benefited enormously:

  • Advertising income from digital channels increased beyond original expectations
  • The digital channels did not cannibalize the linear channels – the tennis and cycling events selected for the linear channel attracted even larger audiences.

The biggest take-away of those analyses is more content brings more audiences which brings more revenue.

More personal, less churn

Another key finding is personalization is increasingly important and can help capture audiences which drifted away during the lockdown.

For example, French pay-TV giant Canal+, whose digital strategy offers viewers a highly personalized experience when following football matches. The expert mode of the Canal+ app puts the viewer in the director’s seat. Our analysis suggests personalization strengthens loyalty and decreases churn.

Widen the net

With customer churn for sports broadcasters likely to be higher during and after lockdown, it will be more important than ever to use every tactic available to capture and bring audiences back.

One strategy we see being very successful for football broadcasters is to capture actions that were happening moments before and publishing them in record time to social media. – This generates much needed awareness and helps boost subscription numbers.

Choice is more important than ever

Another trend we see as crucial for winning audiences in uncertain times is to give viewers maximum choice.

One technique is to give audiences the kind of highlight summaries they want. You can maximize the number of summaries and give your subscribers the choice of different length summaries for each and every football match. – Cater to their tastes if they prefer a short, a medium, or a long match summary, or just the highlights of the matchday. We are seeing global and national sports broadcasters adopting more digital means to keep their subscribers loyal.

Important: To be most relevant, you need to publish the individual highlights and the highlight packages, as soon as possible. Speed is paramount.

The Wildmoka Advantage: Need for Speed – Wildmoka is used by tier-1 broadcasters and pay-TV providers around the world.

Demand for sports content is higher than ever and there is no doubt audiences will return once lockdowns are lifted.

The need for speed

One main motivation of our customers behind their choice for Wildmoka is their need for speed. Wildmoka’s intuitive and easy-to-use user interface makes clipping content from a live stream incredibly easy. Combined with the highlight automation for various sports, the character recognition on the videos to make them searchable, the templating of destination settings, the ability to search on close captions or subtitles and more generally on the metadata – all of those features contribute to the fact Wildmoka can offer an extremely fast turn-around from the creation to the publishing or distribution of clips.

Automation for sports

One of the Wildmoka’s differentiators for sport broadcasters is to offer automatic generation of in-game highlights with distribution in seconds instead of minutes (e.g. “goal alert” to mobile apps). We also offer the generation of automatic highlight summaries at the end of the game. Different summaries for different sets of consumers can be generated automatically and thus increase the value of sport rights.

Reliability and experience

For football matches, Wildmoka’s customers today use our artificial intelligence for the most prestigious European leagues and competitions:

  • English Premier League (EPL)
  • Italian Series A
  • French League 1
  • Champions League
  • Europe League
  • Nations League.

Scalable, cloud-native and remote-working ready

Wildmoka is cloud native. The platform is fully scalable to any number of concurrent ingest streams, any number of editors, and any number of videos produced and distributed. Editors access Wildmoka through a browser from anywhere. The user may be in the offices, in the events venues or even working from home. Remote production becomes the norm rather than the exception.

Highly flexible

Wildmoka supports the quick creation of pop-up channels to offer more live streams to your subscribers via OTT streams. This means you are no longer limited by the number of TV channels, and do not need to invest a large set of OTT encoders that are idle most of the time. What previously was a technical decision now becomes an editorial decision.

Are you prepared for sports broadcasting after the lockdown?

The coronavirus lockdown has caused havoc with sports schedules and created huge amounts of uncertainty. However, demand for sports content is higher than ever and there is no doubt  audiences will return once lockdowns are lifted.

To learn how Wildmoka can help with your post-coronavirus sports broadcasting strategy, contact us today.

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