Concerns about the current downtrend in sports viewership are “a lot about nothing," according to SBJ's John Ourand, who closed out the Media Innovators virtual event presented by Leaders and SBJ with a discussion about some of the most pressing topics in sports media. Ourand said comparing ratings in the COVID era, with the amount of competition that has been out there, "makes no sense whatsoever.” Ourand: "The numbers as compared to the rest of television are still doing great. And that's what live sports does.” SBJ's Abe Madkour pushed back some, saying there does seem to be “less of a sense of the importance of sports programming.” Looking ahead, Ourand believes decreased revenues and more remote broadcasting will lead to further belt tightening in sports media. “Companies have been in a cost-cutting mode ever since this took place,” he said. “There are going to be a lot more layoffs at media companies because you don't need as many backend people. And you're going to see a lot of on-air talent also, I think, getting pay cuts," he added.
Below are more highlights from Ourand during the conversation:
*On the NHL's media situation: “I am very, very bullish on the NHL. The NHL is going to have three media partners. They're going to have NBC, they're going to have to either Fox or ESPN, and they're going to have a streaming service that has some games as well. I think that they are undervalued right now. I think that their demos are very good even if their TV numbers are not.”
*On RSNs: "The long-term future for RSNs is not great, but the short-term future, they print money.”
*On league-owned networks: “You should've sold on those two years ago. The problem right now is that they're all independent networks. They're not tied in with anybody.”
*On ESPN+: “I think ESPN+ is something that is set up for if the whole cable bundle implodes, like we've been suggesting. They want a placeholder to get out there. That's one that I would buy now. And the payoff is going to come well into the future.”
*On DAZN: "The sports marketplace right now in the United States is so mature. It's impossible for DAZN to get in, get right at a level that they can profit from. But DAZN in Italy, DAZN in Germany, DAZN in a lot of international markets is doing fine."
*On what Amazon will do in the next round of NFL rights deals: “They're going to get a package, but it's not a Sunday afternoon package. Not even the Monday night package. They're going to do what they did with the EPL in England. … It was a unique deal. They're looking for deals like that.”
