应对体育广播的挑战与策略

© Oliver WymanSPORTS IS A VERY VALUABLE FORM OF CONTENTSports content reaches a large portion of the population. It is hard to find a person thatdoesn’t like a single sport. In Europe and the US typically more than 70% of the populationis engaged with Sports. It commands very high engagement from the fanbases, and itcarries emotional attachment to teams, players and leagues. Even if people don’t follow thetop leagues everyone knows Leo Messi, Tom Brady and Roger Federer to name a few sportscelebrities. Finally, sports is one of the very few types of content that must be watched livewhen the game is on. All these key attributes make sports broadcasting a very high valueasset for media companies, streamers, MVPDs and recently Big Tech.However, the competition for sports rights has intensified in recent years and has createdsignificant challenges for incumbents as well as new entrants. In this article we explore whatare these challenges, why the traditional way of investing in sports rights is under severepressure and finally we elaborate on alternative strategies that players in the industry canapply to strengthen their position in the market.THE SPORTS BROADCASTING MARKET HAS BECOMEMORE CHALLENGING10 years ago, the sports broadcasting market was dominated by traditional media playerswith linear TV distribution. Beyond sports the rise of OTT video has been a major headwindfor these players where cord-cutting has put pressure on revenues and generated margincompression. Sports has been firmly anchored to linear TV and it is one of the mostimportant drivers to keep a pay TV subscription. In many European markets at least 40%of respondents said that sports were the main reason for paying for TV.But the sports broadcasting market has been changing in recent years and is becomingincreasingly challenging. We observe three key trends that have been shaping the market.Exhibit 1: Key trends that have been shaping the marketThe cost of sports rights has risensignificantly over the last decadeSports is the last battleground for streamingplatforms, and the shift from linear TV is onlya matter of timeBig tech have entered the sportsmarket and could further disruptthe competitive landscape123Source: Oliver Wyman analysis © Oliver Wyman1. The cost of sports rights has increasedsignificantlyOver the last 10 years the value of sports media rights has systematically increased at anannual rate of ~7% across major leagues in the US and Europe. The value of top-tier leagueshas increased above inflation. This indicates that players have been willing to pay increasingsums of money to access and hold key sports rights.Exhibit 2: Sports rigthsinflationSelected leagues, increase in value of rights, 2012–20233.1xUnited StatesNFL2012202320122023201220232.7x1.8xUnited KingdomPremier LeagueSpainLaLigaFranceChampionsLeagueSource: Oliver Wyman analysisSeveral factors can explain the sports rights inflation. First and foremost, tier-1 leaguescommand high consumer reach and very high engagement levels which makes themessential to have in a premium sports proposition. On the demand side, we have observednew entrants aggressively bidding to access rights and build their sports propositions.Streamers and Big Tech players have driven this additional demand pressure. On the supplyside, Leagues have enabled more players to access rights in core markets through packagingand slicing of rights.2. Big Tech have entered the marketDuring the last 5 years Big Tech firms have make inroads into sports through differentstrategies. The three main approaches used are the following:•Opportunistic— by acquiring important rights packages when the bidding conditionsare the right ones and use it to strengthen their video value proposition. Amazon hasled this approach and has used it to improve Amazon Prime Video. Google has also usedthis strategy with YouTubeTV acquiring the NFL Sunday Ticket as a powerful customeracquisition tool for its vMVPD proposition•Slicing— by acquiring small number of games of top-tier leagues and leveraging a verylarge consumer base. Amazon has pursued this strategy and has leveraged the highimpact of these games as an opportunity for cross-monetization on its e-commerceplatform. For these slices Big Tech has paid very high price premiums, ranging from5xto 60x pergame•Alternative entry— by acquiring rights of a second-tier league and building a DTCproposition powered by technology. Apple signed a 10-year contract with the MajorLeague Soccer in the US for $2.5 billion and has developed an exclusive App for thegames. A key question is whether this has been a first step of a more ambitiousplanfor Apple to get into Soccer worldwide 20232012202320124.0x1.5xItalyChampionsLeague © Oliver Wyman3. Sports is the last battleground forstreamingIn the streaming space, sports content is seen as the last battleground as it’s still dominatedby linear TV. Over the last 5 years we have observed major streaming platforms moving intosports and building th