CHICAGO — If ESPN, CBS or Fox had launched today, what would they look like? That’s the question Dan Scalia, SVP of Revenue for the new 24/7 Sports Network, Stadium, is presented with.
“What it looks like now versus what it looked like 35 years ago is quite different,” he said Wednesday at SportTechie Chicago.
One way that it looks entirely different is the tracking and valuation of sponsorships. For help in that area, Stadium has announced a partnership with GumGum Sports, which does sports media valuation using computer vision technology. With the technology, GumGum is capable of following advertising placement during live programming, taped studio shows and social media channels.
“Seven, eight years ago our organization developed an AI format for converging technology so we applied that in the ad space with big brands,” GumGum Executive Director of Sponsorship Solutions Ryan Mosher explained. “We provide media valuations across a single platform. A single methodology across social media, streaming and linear broadcasting.”
This is key for Stadium as it will initially launch July 17 but will eventually shift to a true around-the-clock sports network come August.
Mosher laid out the main components from an initial conversation with Stadium as being technology, innovation and consumption. “We wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing without consumption shifts in what the current status is. We wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing without the advancements and evolution in technology and how that enhances accuracy, efficiency, flexibility.”
GumGum will allow Stadium to provide sponsors a transparent view of how valuable the exposure was. For instance, the platform takes into consideration screen size of the user’s device and clarity of the exposure. A logo might be shown during an event, but did the consumer only receive a partial view?
Scalia knows this information is critical for sponsors to build their plans. “Marketers are looking at things saying, ‘I’m not going to pay for the same thing twice.’ So is that a different consumer? If that is a different consumer are you valuing them differently? I think for us that’s what we’ve bought into from a GumGum standpoint is really truly understanding who that consumer is and what the value of that consumer is.”
GumGum’s platform in many ways changes the game in regards to rights holders and sponsors. By providing a holistic view, as Mosher described it, they can spend based on the way users consume the content.
“The partnership with Stadium is a fun one because we’re really aligning very core integrations of both companies,” Mosher said. “So you’re looking at technology, innovation and consumption. Neither of us would really be in the space we’re in without those three.”
