1.
Introduction: the winning
combination!
Sports are big for TV. To be convinced of this, just look at the
amount paid by BT to broadcast the football games of the European Champions league:
£900m ($1.5bn/€1.1bn). As BT won the football rights, BSKYB the losing bidder
saw its share price drop 11%[1]
and £1.3bn ($2.1bn/€1.6bn) was wiped off its market capitalisation in one day.
Clearly, the loss of football games rights was seen as a major risk to its
future profitability[2].
According to the Telegraph, BSKYB even lobbied Champions League officials for three
days to reopen the bid after it was excluded from the auctions.
Sports are big for TV because it can draw a huge number of fans who
are ready to pay for content. Together with Hollywood blockbusters, sports form
the basis of pay TV. Contrary to films, sports is also very big for 2nd screen.
Nielsen compiled the below statistics[3]
that shows that sports is the main driver for tweets about TV shows. Forget
about the “X-Factor”, and the US Presidential race--this is all about the Super
Bowl; 50% of tweets about TV are about sports. Why do sports events drive so
much social TV activity? This is due to the nature of fans and of sports events
themselves. Sports fans are really engaged and very emotional about their teams
and players. Sports events are broadcasted live and drive immediate
reactions.
Sports and 2nd screen are a winning combination because 2nd screen
can give fans exactly what they want: an enhanced viewer’s experience:
·
Fans love statistics (how many
aces? how fast was the last lap?),
·
Fans want additional content
(the rear angle for this goal, Ferrari driver’s view for this lap),
·
Fans demand more information (when
is the next race? how many sharp turns?)
·
Fans enjoy more games (test
drive the latest F1, fantasy team)
·
Fans want more interactions
with their teams, players (an app that can make you feel what a tackled rugby
player feels).
All of the above
could not fit on a TV screen and is dramatically improved when delivered within
an app in parallel to TV viewing. For sports fans, second screen is a great
addition to TV content.
Also sports on the 2nd screen is a money-maker. The MLB (Major League
Baseball) app “At Bat” has been the Apple App store’s top-grossing sports app
every year from 2009 to 2013[4].
In 2013, it ranked as the overall 19th top-grossing app for the
iPhone and 37Th for the iPad. We estimate the application generated
$120m of revenues in 2013 (only on iOS). And the MLB is not the only example: the
NHL and ESPN also have very successful paid-for apps that made it to the top-100
highest grossing apps in the Apple app store. Actually, most of the paid-for 2nd
screen applications are sports apps (other notable paid-for apps include Formula1,
English Premier League, etc.).
In this research document we will be looking at trends and
developments in 2nd screen sports apps. We will base our analysis on
publications, research, and interviews with key industry executives,
conferences and industry knowledge. The report will cover an analysis of sports
app functionalities and segmentation of sports app. We will also review
providers of sports apps (sports leagues/federations, broadcasters, IT
providers, etc.) and we will review the sports app business models. First
though, we will clarify the concept of 2nd screen which a very often used word
(but not so often defined).
2nd Screen Society members and research subscribers have access to this 30-page research report and all of our other research from our website, including our 30-page report on monetization, our 250-page report on the industry at large, and all of our quarterly updates and infographics for the past 2 years.
[2] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/media/10442468/Sky-pleaded-with-football-officials-to-reopen-Champions-League-talks.html
[3]
http://www.socialguide.com/sports-fans-amplify-the-action-across-screens/?utm_source=2nd+Screen+Authority&utm_campaign=87ab4f49b0-my_google_analytics_key&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_41ed43776d-87ab4f49b0-87145145
[4] http://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2013/12/17/mlb-coms-at-bat-tops-apples-top-grossing-sports-app-for-fifth-straight-year/
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.