Altman Solon Global Sports Survey - A Q&A With David Dellea
The 2024 Global Sports Survey by Altman Solon highlights the transformation in the sports media sector, emphasizing the need for new distribution and monetization strategies to stay relevant across all fan segments. Key growth drivers include AI, private investment, and geographic expansion, particularly in the Middle East.
In this exclusive Q&A, David Dellea of Altman Solon details the findings from the 2024 Global Sports Survey, with topics including the impact of younger generations' changing consumption habits on live sports, the role of AI in enhancing viewing experiences, the challenges of content fragmentation and monetization, and more.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
David Dellea
Tyler Nesler: What are some primary paths for sports content providers to stay relevant across all fan segments, especially considering the loss of relevance for live sports viewing with young fans?
David Dellea: We need to be relative about what we mean by sports losing relevance. Until a few years ago, when you would ask different age groups what their level of interest was in sports and sports media, the interest was relatively constant across age groups. Now, we start to see some cracks in specific markets whereby younger generations have a slightly lower interest level than older generations. However, these are not consistent across countries.
I think there are different levers that sports rights owners can put in motion. First of all, of course, it's the aspect of distribution, and distribution means, first and foremost, trying to catch people where they are and try to make sure you can funnel them there where you want them to consume and where you have an opportunity also to add enough value for them to be able to share money with you. So that's one area. The second point, however, which we should never forget is the core product.
And I think every rights owner is trying to see where a sport can be tweaked to make it more attractive on the field of play. And we should never forget about that. It's just like any consumer product; everything starts with a product. If the product is unattractive, you can do anything you want to distribute, but people will not buy it right now.
So you've got a panoply of attempts to experiment with the product. Now, take soccer. You've Kings League in Spain expanding to other countries. You also have the Baller League in Germany [with small-sided football]. [There is also the use] of IP in a new context, [with] a lot of sports organizations trying to gamify by having a presence on Roblox, trying to catch younger generations where they are, and trying to build brand equity with them in locations that you wouldn't necessarily expect a sports franchise.
TN: The study found that shorter-form content is becoming a preference for younger sports fans. How can providers best optimize and monetize short-form content?
DD: Short-form content is mostly available for free and non-exclusive across many platforms that are the easiest to access. It's snackable, it's short, intense, it's personable. It's mostly about athletes. The short form will not be about the big arch of the story of a match. It will be mostly about certain personalities that speak to the younger generation's consumer preferences.
In our survey, we try to make the point that we need to be mindful as sports professionals. You'll hear many say that the interest in sports is the same: people consume less live, [but] they consume more highlights. It's a very tricky point to make because monetization happens through live content, not to the same extent as highlights. So that's why I find that statement tricky; albeit true, it generally doesn't translate into the same level of monetization. That's why I think we all need to be very mindful of how we can funnel consumption from snackable content back to live storytelling that works.
Formula 1 and Drive to Survive are prime examples of how you can revive the live product through another kind of engagement initiative. So that's why there is relevance to live sports. People consume it. The question, of course, is whether you need to tell the story in a way that motivates people to engage with it.
TN: How can emergent AI technologies enhance fans' live sports viewing experience?
DD: The immediate use case is around automation, which allows a lot of personalization. One element of personalization that I find striking is AI-generated commentary. If you haven't looked at it, I would encourage you to check a demo of something done with [AWS] called Spalk.tv. It will show you the power of AI for automated commentary. That means any language is entirely based on the data stream. So this is not someone talking and then getting a translation. This is commentary generated from the ground up, native through a data stream. You can also personalize through video. That means automated clipping enables a more personalized viewing experience. Again, by automating the typically manual workflows, you can make them automatic and generate more personalization at scale without ballooning costs.
TN: What are some identified technical and payment issues causing only two-thirds of fans to watch live matches, and what needs to happen within the industry to address these problems fully?
DD: I think the challenges here are less technical and are more business model-related. We are in an environment where we've reached peak fragmentation. I believe the US premium leagues and the top leagues in the US are a prime example. Whereby to be able to follow the whole narrative of the league, you need to subscribe to multiple services, and we're getting to a level where we will reach peak fragmentation. I think that's causing a bunch of challenges. So, for a fan, accessing content is becoming harder and harder.
Fragmentation and exclusivity create enormous obstacles to accessing the content. Many properties have also seen a decrease in viewership, but not all of them. Some continue to escape the trend because they're so premium that people still seek it. It's not a bug; it's a feature if it's done on purpose. But I think it will eventually become more of a drawback [overall].
TN: The report found a need for geographic expansion, especially in the Middle East. What are some reasons the Middle Eastern market is underserved, and what are some ideal solutions to increase reach into these markets?
DD: The Middle Eastern market overall has a level of passion for specific sports. Soccer is one of them. And I think the question is how to serve that best. How can content be localized? So the question is less: how do we get the Middle East to consume more Premier League, UEFA Champions League, or the NFL?
It's more about understanding how to get the local sports ecosystem to an attractive level for them to compete. I think that's the key question that many investors in the Middle East are trying to crack. So, how do you localize the content? How do we ensure that Middle Eastern content drives viewership instead of only exports of premium sports properties from the US or Europe? You see a massive investment by the Saudi Pro League into attracting top-flight players from Europe. That is one effort to create greater attractiveness within the local content ecosystem and try to really bring the level up.
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