Live sports broadcasting: how far will the appetite of the digital giants go?

Are the digital giants, grouped under the acronym GAFAM (Google, Apple, Facebook (Meta), Amazon and Microsoft), expanding their territory across all major sports circuits? And do traditional television networks have to dwell on the crumbs they want to leave with them?

However, the trend is worrying for viewers who are still connected to cable, who will have less substance to put in their mouths.

This is a model, unfortunately, that is set to grow, believes Frank Pons, director of the International Observatory in Sports Management at Laval University. The rights (for MLS) exploded. They are very low at $ 65 million and there we are at $ 250 million a year. This is more interesting for the league and the owners.

Apple TV already got its hands on showing a major league baseball game on Friday night and it’s safe to bet that the NFL, NBA and NHL are also in the crosshairs of one or the other of these digital giants. .

We’ve noticed over the course of a few months, a few years, that there’s really been a change imposed by these new broadcasters, who are trying to have their market share, explains Catherine Dupont, first director of Sports and Olympic content at Radio-Canada. . For ordinary mortals, it will definitely change their listening. I don’t know, ultimately, if it’s worth more or less. It depends on the packages that people want to get.

One thing is certain, the market for broadcasting sporting events is changing rapidly, too much, perhaps, for the average consumer to lose his or her bearings.

” You can’t go from one to the other very fast. This creates frustration. The Champions League will only be available electronically this year in Canada on DAZN. Fans will see fewer MLS games next year in traditional media. But it is not true that they will see no fight. They will see less, but some will be returned. But we won’t have the same coverage for CF Montreal as we have now. “

While waiting for another giant move, for the heads of traditional communicators, the phenomenon is interesting from a business point of view, argues Catherine Dupont.

These changes certainly have a bit of uncertainty, he says. Will all the people who watched CF Montreal TV games switch to the Apple TV platform? The future will tell. What we do understand, however, is that live sport remains a very important value for generating subscriptions. If Apple decides to start this adventure, it’s because they believe there are many attractions for sports properties and it’s good to know it.

On-demand entertainment

Undoubtedly, the media world is expecting another explosion from GAFAM. But smart who can guess which direction they are going. One wonders if this movement was created by the growing disinterest of consumers in cable services and found themselves with more leisure money to spend.

Yes and no, it goes both ways, says Frank Pons. Why do people remove the plug? The offer is there. If nothing is offered, people will not unplug. The offer is more interesting. It’s a GAFAM strategy that says to themselves: “I like sports content, because I know people are interested in sports.” People mad at it will switch, stop their cable subscription or replace it. It would be weird for casual sports fans to watch back then, when they had the time or passion, a tennis match for 10 minutes. There, that will never happen again.

This is a new reality, Mr. Pons continues. Everyone is looking for more money, clubs and leagues as well, but you still need to pay attention to this visibility. I think GAFAMs and the leagues have the advantage of ensuring a more traditional television presence, until television disappears. But that’s not for tomorrow.

The Olympics under the magnifying glass of GAFAM

How are the Olympics? Is the big planetary meeting also in the sights of these digital giants? The answer is yes, but their appetite will force them to be very creative in front of a big cake.

At the very least, we were able to secure the rights until 2032, assured Catherine Dupont, who oversees everything surrounding the French-language broadcast of the Olympics on Radio-Canada. Clearly, there is this goal, in the International Olympic Committee, to continue to favor a broadcaster with the largest possible audience. At home, Radio-Canada is a free broadcaster that exposes Olympic content to more people. That’s what the IOC wants and that’s why the deal became possible.

One of these giants, however, entered the Canadian radio network during the Tokyo Games in 2021 and Beijing this year.

” We had agreements with Amazon Prime. This is new and we researched with them the possibility of having complementary digital content on Amazon Prime to what we have on our own platforms. For them, we created a channel that broadcasts 24 hours a day, live and delayed. This is a different partnership that will be possible in the coming years. But we don’t see, in the near future, all rights on the planet being sold to one partner. “

Will this happen? This is far from impossible even if the level of complexity of such ambition is very high.

I think there will always be a challenge in making the broadcast relevant for every country in the world, he added. Of course we have our glasses, when we watch the Olympics, we want to know what is happening in all the competitions, who wins, etc. But we also want to follow the athletes who represent the country. So this is the case for Canada. But we imagine Australia, Sweden or whatever, they also have the same appetite. So a new partner needs to be able to make as many offers as there are markets. This is not an easy task. But can a broadcaster like Apple say that it is replacing Radio-Canada’s offer to do coverage of Games in Canada and that it will be exclusive to our platform? Well yes, I imagine it possible, but not for tomorrow.

The Olympics have a very important cultural and social prerogative and I’m not sure they pass a vector that isn’t available worldwide. Maybe one day, but not in the short termend by Frank Pons.