Companies like Amazon and Facebook continue breaking the mold in terms of gaining live sports rights, and some experts believe they eventually could become the primary rights holders for sporting events. The opening panel on Day 2 of the ’17 NeuLion Sports Media & Technology conference discussed what the landscape would look like in ’25, and Sportsrocket Founder & CEO Brian Bedol said he thinks primary rights holders by then will be “very different than what they are today.” Bedol: “These companies -- I wouldn’t call them cable companies -- own our wallets, they have our card numbers, they make transactions very easy, and I think they’re going to be in the position to pay the most for live game rights.” Bedol thinks primary rights in ’25 will be digital rights, and secondary “will be broadcast.” Bedol: “Maybe Amazon will buy an overall rights package and sublicense to Turner or some broadcaster for a package of over-the-air rights.” Bedol said the challenge for traditional cable programmers and television in the past was that they “didn’t know who their customer was, they didn’t have the ability to be in touch with them.” Loeb & Loeb Partner Arash Khalil said the term broadcast is “going to evolve.” He agreed with Bedol on primary rights being on digital platforms, noting “you’re seeing that now in a lot of the newer deals.” Khalil: “The consumer is going to dictate what happens. Consumers are going to want to be able to access what they want, when they want, how they want. That’s going to drive the market.” Turner Sports Senior VP/Business Valerie Immele said the “element of convenience is what’s going to make the difference.” Immele: “There’s been a lot of talk about the biggest screen always winning, but that doesn’t mean how that content is delivered to that screen is going to change or evolve.”
LOOKING INTO THE CRYSTAL BALL: Poker Central Chief Digital Officer J.R. McCabe said looking ahead to ’25, there will be similarities to today’s landscape, but consumers could also see changes in the types of content deals being made. McCabe said his TV/OTT service in the last year has signed “hybrid deals" with ESPN and NBCSN to carry content and events. McCabe: “You’ll see more partnership out of necessity.” But McCabe said key live sporting events will still be “at the core of everything we do. Consumption habits will continue to morph.” Bedol added of what the ’25 landscape will look like, “The way we experience sports and entertainment will be different. … The experience will change. There are technology providers who probably will have more misses than hits, but I do think that technology is going to greatly impact how we experience sports.” Immele: “There will be accessibility for super passionate fan bases that don’t have a chance to connect with the sports they’re most passionate about. … The core big four or five aren’t changing, but you’ll see more unique events across all sports.”
REALITY CHECK: Intel has inked deals with leagues such as the PGA Tour and NBA for VR content in recent months, and Intel Sports Group VP & GM James Carwana said content consumption on VR is “growing very quickly” and will continue to do so. Carwana: “There’s a huge amount of innovation going on. The amount of time people are consuming is rapidly increasing.” But Carwana also said there remains some confusion about VR. Carwana: “There’s a lot of ‘What is this? How am I going to get it? What is this experience?’ But there’s going to be a moment where people say, ‘Ok, I get it.'"
