Insights

By Yash Chugh, Associate at iWorkinSport

From the early Wimbledon coverage in colour television in 1967 to massive Super Bowl advertising budgets, the way sports media is consumed has evolved massively over the years. It was definitely a consumer revolution that allowed the sport to reach beyond the live in-stadium audience. Which, in turn, (with a little help from Rupert Murdoch) has allowed the economy of sport to evolve.

Now, big ticket sports events adopted these mechanisms due to the massive interest and involvement of the general public into the sports. But the journey by itself has been an evolutionary one where: If nimble enough, the mechanism of media continues to survive with the newer technology and advancements that come with changing times, layering above the old. Now, there are multiple layers in sports media via the multiple avenues of technology available to us: Newspapers still report match data, Magazines are still making sales and dropping articles but at the same time I can check the Premier League App to check live match scores on the move in my smartphone.

Fig 1.

Today, sports media comes in all types and forms, from instant alerts to long sports documentaries designed to provide an in-depth look into the sports right holders. If there is a parallel to be drawn: the immediate expansion of sport from in-stadium to out of stadium experiences in the 1900s to bring in more of an audience can be compared to the war today to bring out more minutes from each consumer of sport content. Be it over any of the multiple layered platforms.

More minutes = more clicks = more interest = larger audience = more eyeballs = value generation for the holders. Hence, the recent trend of Football clubs evolving into Sports and entertainment brands  a-la Juventus and more recently AC Milan has not been something that is new to the media.  The past decade has seen enough proof of early adopters to different socials and using better strategies to bring in wider audiences. One of the shining examples of this evolution has been Formula 1. Who have transformed themselves after their internal structural changes into a digital-savvy brand that is present and active across all digital media platforms, giving a warmer entry space to hook newer fans, to a sport that traditionally has been so closed that it struggled to open up to the newer generation. Their shining star? Their Original with Netflix: Drive to Survive. An inside look into the frameworks, structures, drama and adrenaline of the number 1 motorsport.

The Documentary View

To make a documentary and share an inside view of the sporting organisation not only brings in the sales rights packages and percentages for the views, it provides a hook for each type of consumers of the content:

Fig 2.

Undoubtedly it has become the go-to trend for super-sport brands such as Man City, F1, and Tottenham Hotspur to bring this sort of media package to the market. Being an internet product allows it also to ride on the success of OTT brands like Netflix and Amazon Prime, who between them can reach 200+ countries. For a brand looking to touch all types of fan-bases and consumers, it is a no-brainer.

What does it mean for Young Professionals in the Sports Industry?

What it means is that the media landscape is ever-changing. As an overarching view: skills acquired now might become extremely useful in the years to come and help entrepreneurs expand their businesses or help employees at these bigger brands bring in newer eyeballs. Or they might become obsolete, but the likelihood is lower. Proof? Go back to Fig 1. and analyse the types of media consumption avenues that exist today out of all those. They all still exist and are active. Maybe not as relevant as before but still functioning positively. It only goes to show that newer media avenues layer over the pre-existing avenues. They don’t kill the one preceding it, they just layer above.

Hence: learning media skills that exist today, in all their relevant types and forms is essential for a younger professional. We’ve listed some of them below and why they are important:

1. Basic Social Media Skillset: It is 2021, it’s time to be social media savvy, aware of the brand’s presence and reach over social media dn how to expand that using the different techniques available. Some of them being graphic creation online for beginners (CANVA shoutout), using some of the free online softwares.
   
   Not only does this make you nimble and ready to attack these platforms, it allows you to build and learn on-the-fly which might help if/when you are to set up your own brand one day.
   
   
2. Differentiating Types of Content: Having a clear sense of what kind of content is best distributed across which platform is a skill that’s very important today. A piece of TikTok content cannot convert to an hour long podcast. It might, but it’s going to take an effort and a whole new type of media. This doesn’t just stand valid for Social Media, but even traditional platforms, broadcast, radio and print do not overlap and must be treated differently.

Similarly, understanding the intricacies between the different social platforms as well as traditional media platforms, broadcast, print and radio allows us to channel the content better, bringing the best numbers.

3. Digital Sponsorship Sales: Rights holders, rightly said by Horizm Co-founder Pedro Mestriner, are content factories. Using this potential of creating all kinds of content and bringing the audiences closer to areas they don’t usually see is an avenue most sporting organisations can do.

            Additionally, making an active sales process for these helps to create revenue for the club that might have been unseen. Almost creating value from very little, big plus to seniors in the organisation. A chance to make your mark!

4. Presenting/Speaking: Now, this one might sound a little bit niche, but the essence is to learn to deliver better across all types of platforms. Those could be many, even for people who are not in the face of the camera/microphone as a presenting duty.
1. Delivering content over zoom: In 2021, someone who has not figured out a clear Zoom/Teams/Google Meet/Whereby strategy to get their point across might be behind the curve. It’s always good to be clear, at a good height and have a neutral background. Besides that, not just visually, but changing the tone of your voice to deliver with a crispness and clarity over the internet comes with time and continual attempts.
2. Recording speaking content: Over Social Media, phone recordings or even temporary stories on apps, they all need and relate with the spoken word of the account host. It brings the profile closer to a follower. Someone who can speak and deliver their niche of content goes far!
3. Presenting in Broadcast: If your space in the industry is that of a presenter, this is probably a skill you already have, but for people not in that space: a good time to take cues from those with a microphone facing the camera. Tone, voice modulation, expressions and timing would be something to look at!

There is no doubt, looking into the past, that sport media evolves. Additionally, there is also no doubt that older media platforms seldom die, although they find themselves less relevant than before. The nimble and quick adapters are professionals in the industry who ride the waves well, learning all the time. The above are some cues to be that type of nimble professional in the sports industry, to be ahead of the curve in 2021.

Yash Chugh is an Associate at iWorkinSport and an alumnus of the FIFA Master in Management, Law and Humanities of Sport.