By Luke Boyle, SVP, commercial, EMEA, ViewLift
When it comes to distributing their own content, it is fair to say that sports federations haven’t always been receptive to the notion of it. Certainly, when digital tools and platforms were becoming more commonplace some 20 years ago, there was often a suspicion that ‘new media’ as we called it, would cannibalise television audiences and therefore mess with the lucrative broadcasting rights that some (not all) federations were able to command for their crown jewel events.
Rather than being complementary, new media content was largely considered to be competitive and the status quo of broadcasting models was not for shifting.
The early pioneers of sports federation-generated content back then tended to be those that didn’t command significant broadcasting rights and/or recognised that there was a lot more to their sports than one day a week or so, or two or three weeks a year of mainstream coverage. They recognised that there was plenty of storytelling to be done, long before anyone even referred to it as storytelling.
Such content produced by those plucky sports federations often included behind-the-scenes insights or coverage of events captured on shaky, mobile handsets. It was raw, but it was able to speak to the vast communities of fans who were not able to curl up on their sofas in front of their television screens to follow their favourite sports, simply because they weren’t being shown on those screens.
Fast-forward two decades, and it is encouraging to see that the majority of sports federations have not only embraced digital and streaming media, but many have now become broadcasters in their own right.
Building relationships
Many recognise that by going directly to their fans through OTT DTC offerings, they can build immersive and engaging relationships that regular, passive television coverage struggles to deliver.
They can achieve this by creating content that appeals to the digitally native, tech-savvy younger generations of sports fans, whether it is short-form, vertical video, data-rich, gamified and/or linked to social media.
Meanwhile, through an OTT DTC approach, sports federations can create or tailor offerings to fans who are based in markets that do not typically get coverage of a particular sport or competition and they can develop distribution strategies that are both local and global.
Sports federations can also build and maintain engagement more easily with their fans on non-match or non-event days, and directly put their favourite athletes front and centre to that engagement. Stories have never just happened on Saturdays in the confines of a stadium or arena after all. Through OTT DTC, stories are more readily a ‘365 days a year’ thing, unrestricted by venues or geography.
As for behind-the-scenes content from sports properties, it is certainly as popular as it was 20 years ago, but now it can be personalised and made to feel more authentic.
Through OTT DTC, sports federations are able to give a voice to their athletes and raise awareness of the issues that affect them or are meaningful to them off the pitch on a deeper level, strengthening the engagement between sports federations and their fans even further.
Whether a sport federation’s star athlete or MVP is actively mitigating the climate crisis through voluntary work, is a keen amateur baker, has an amazing singing voice, or offers any other passion point, then the federation can help that athlete connect with complementary causes or like-minded brands and fans, creating a plethora of feel-good content that deeply resonates.
Reciprocally, sports federations can get to know their fans much better too thanks to rich data about their preferences and interaction being readily accessible through OTT DTC propositions.
As well as influencing content strategies and generation, this data enables federations to commercialise their sports in a highly targeted away, providing sponsors and other partners with tangible intelligence on the fans they want to reach. It can also help them build their own marketing campaigns that are both effective and measurable.
Another benefit is that OTT DTC’s tools and services enable sports federations to manage workflows more efficiently, and also assist them in directing resources when and where they are needed in response to fan activity. This efficiency is set to get even better of course with AI entering the mix.
Simply put, by making digital and streaming experiences the best that they can be, sports federations are more likely to keep their fans engaged for longer.
The most savvy of those federations recognise that they no longer have an excuse for not knowing who their fans are. And that their streaming futures are actually already here.
