Us Enhancing Digital Fan Engagement
Us Enhancing Digital Fan Engagement
Us Enhancing Digital Fan Engagement
Contents
Introduction 4
There’s nothing like live sports 5
Your sport, your channel, wherever you are 6
Watching the game with your three (million) friends 7
Broadcast innovations: Path to the future 8
Conclusion 9
2
The future of sports broadcasting:
Main headingEnhancing
| subhead digital
goes here
fan engagement
lorem ipsum
3
The future of sports broadcasting: Enhancing digital fan engagement
Introduction
In a broadcast media landscape where consumers are cutting the •• While sports content is a major part of total broadcast and
cord from traditional cable at ever-increasing rates,1 consumers streaming media consumption, fanatics spend up to 3 times more
often no longer find themselves tethered to broadcast schedules than casual fans on streaming, and 1.5 times more than casual fans
to catch their favorite shows. Sports is one of the few remaining on broadcast.4
content types/genres that many consumers believe they must
•• Sports streaming remains a social experience, though the desired
consume live, which not only can provide the opportunity for the
experience depends heavily on demographics and the sport
ever-coveted advertising impression but also the opportunity to
in question.5
catch viewers’ attention in an authentic, compelling manner. Yet, in
such a competitive and dynamic media landscape, chief marketing •• Overall satisfaction was only 39 percent for the broadcast and
officers (CMOs) of sports and broadcast/over-the-top (OTT) OTT experience, leaving significant opportunity for continued
organizations still should work to keep fans engaged. technological advancement for fans looking to consume sports
across devices and integrate augmented reality (AR), virtual reality
When it comes to sports content—whether through OTT streaming (VR), social media, and gambling into their viewing experience.6
or broadcast channels—the Deloitte Fan Engagement survey
found that: Ultimately, improving the broadcast and OTT experience has the
potential to improve overall fan satisfaction, resulting in increased
•• The single most important factor for sports fans remains the
opportunity for better financial outcomes. In fact, more than 60
quality of the broadcast or stream.2
percent of fans surveyed related a great broadcast experience to
•• Sports fans who stream also value viewer controls and becoming more engaged with the team and being more likely to
functionality such as the ability to select the main view or both watch and attend a game, and nearly 40 percent felt closer
announcer set for the stream.3 to team sponsors.7
4
The future of sports broadcasting: Enhancing digital fan engagement
Of course, live broadcast is only part of the picture. To get a Additionally, broadcast and streaming rights deals account for more
true sense of the impact sports has, the share of broadcast and than 33 percent of total league revenues today.13 As sports teams
streaming hours fans spend on sports should be examined. and leagues continue to look to increase the value of their rights,
Deloitte’s Fan Engagement survey found that approximately 45 it will likely be critical for them to maintain the high share of total
percent of sports fans consume more than six hours of broadcast sports viewing hours and the strong subscription rate and spending
or streaming content per week. Nearly half of these fans watch at level from fans.
least six hours of sports content for an individual league on a weekly
basis.9 For fanatics, the weekly broadcast and streaming share
dedicated to sports is even higher. While there is little change across
fan types in the overall hours of broadcast content watched, more
than 60 percent of fanatics watch at least six hours of sports content
per week, far ahead of both casual and love it fans.10
In recent months, Hulu has run a series of ads, highlighting their entry to the live sports market through
the use of NBA stars such as Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.16 Most recently,
21 regional sports networks have been sold twice—first as part of a broader deal from Fox to Disney, and
then on their own for $10 billion to Sinclair.17
5
The future of sports broadcasting: Enhancing digital fan engagement
6
The future of sports broadcasting: Enhancing digital fan engagement
7
The future of sports broadcasting: Enhancing digital fan engagement
Broadcast innovations:
Path to the future
While the story thus far has been one of the relative strength increase their likelihood to watch, and more than 54 percent of fans
of sports in the broadcast and streaming ecosystem, this does indicated that VR front-row seats would increase their likelihood to
not mean there is no room for improvement. In fact, among all watch a game.27 With the legalization of sports gambling becoming
age groups surveyed, average fan satisfaction across broadcast more prevalent and the integration of statistics and lines, the ability
and streaming attributes was only 39 percent, a full 15 percent to customize what appears on the screen will likely only become
lower than fan satisfaction with the in-stadium experience.25 This more important and drive opportunities for new revenue streams
dissatisfaction is something that could drive fans away from sports, for content providers as they integrate with gambling partners,
particularly in the competitive entertainment landscape of today working to drive more viewers to their platforms. Additionally,
with proliferating streaming platforms and sports alternatives. gambling interest can allow the development of segmented
offerings, capitalizing on viewer desire to watch segments of “late
The single most important factor for fans is picture quality, followed and close” games that they may have wagered on.
closely by the ability to watch by the “best available device,” and the
ability to do the basic fast-forward, pause, and rewind functions. As important as these innovations are to keeping fans engaged as
Beyond these three core factors, fans expressed interest in having they watch the game, they also tie to the bottom line of leagues,
the ability to customize options for their viewing experience, with teams, and broadcasters—drawing more eyeballs as fans move
more than 25 percent of fans indicating that this was the primary from casual to fanatic, engaging new partners for personalized
aspect of the experience they would like to see improved.26 These advertising, and offering new products such as purchasable
customizations include anything from the ability to choose their segments of out-of-market games.
announcers to choosing the camera angle they want to use to
watch the full game. While streaming platforms should first focus on As the personalization trend continues across all parts of the fan
getting picture quality right, the introduction of these customizations experience, and as other broadcast and streaming entertainment
can help drive users from casual fans to fanatics, increasing their options continue to grow more personalized and customizable,
platform stickiness, and generating significant potential returns. the bar for the great sports experience will likely only rise, meaning
teams, leagues, and broadcasters should work together to continue
Customization and personalization isn’t limited to these basic innovating, drive the fan experience, and push fans slowly from
changes though. More than 40 percent of fans indicated that the casual fans to fanatics, working to realize a 1.5 to 3 times increase in
presence of real-time augmented reality (AR) stats on-screen would spend that comes from that progression.28
8
The future of sports broadcasting: Enhancing digital fan engagement
•• Augmented reality: The MLB has used Statcast to continue to advance their batted ball and pitch-tracking capabilities,
enabling the increasingly popular launch angle and home-run tracking. 29
•• The LA Clippers and Second Spectrum announced CourtVision for this season, allowing local subscribers to choose
between viewing modes ranging from “player,” where expected shooting percentages are overlaid on players, to “mascot,”
where animations such as thunderbolts and flexing giants appear on screen at relevant moments in the game.30
•• Virtual reality: The NHL announced a partnership this season with NextVR to create new, exclusive VR experiences for fans,
debuting at the All-Star game.31
•• Subscription model: This season, the NBA debuted an option through League Pass where fans can purchase the fourth
quarter of games for $1.99, and it is working toward an even more flexible purchase model.32
•• Announcer choice: Amazon debuted a choice of announcers for its slate of Thursday night NFL games, with viewers given the
choice between the Fox crew and the Amazon team, made up of the first-ever all-female NFL broadcast team.33
Conclusion
There are many similarities in how fans want to consume sports •• Working to establish social interaction points for use during
content from the stadium to broadcast and OTT streaming channels. viewership;
Fans today are looking for even more technologically advanced and
•• Developing technologies that allow fans to select key elements of
personalized solutions that will get them high-quality content, at
their stream—AR and VR enhancements, announcer choices, and
the right time, through the right channel, and that will be paired
camera angle options, among others;
with an authentic sense of being a part of a broader fan community.
As teams look for developments to maintain the broadcast and •• Exploring new revenue streams through gambling partnerships
OTT–streaming viewership numbers necessary to sustain and grow and the development of subsegmented offers that allow users the
their media rights revenues, they should learn about their specific flexibility to choose not just the games they wish to view, but the
fans and preferences. As they learn about their fans, they can specific parts of the game they wish to watch.
consider focusing on taking action across a few key areas:
Moving on this path will likely not be easy but has the opportunity
•• Providing high-quality viewing access to fans, where they are to drive significant returns for both teams and broadcast/OTT
based and on their preferred device; platforms.
9
The future of sports broadcasting: Enhancing digital fan engagement
Authors
Adam Deutsch Kat Harwood
Managing Director Senior Manager
Deloitte Consulting LLP Deloitte Consulting LLP
+ 1 203 423 4598 +1 213 996 4924
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Brandon Maiello, Tyler VauDell, Grant Lewis, Michael Varraveto, Jon Ou, Drew Hubbard,
and Chris Arkenberg for their contributions.
10
The future of sports broadcasting: Enhancing digital fan engagement
Endnotes
1 Sarah Perez, “US cord cutters to reach 33 million this year, faster than expected,” TechCrunch, July 2018.
2 Importance was determined by having fans rank multiple subset attributes that make up the broadcast experience to determine relative attribute importance.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Anthony Crupi, “Network TV Can’t Survive Without the NFL,” Adage, January 3, 2019.
10 Ibid.
11 Ibid.
12 Ibid.
13 Brett LoGiurato and Scooby Axson, “NBA announces 9-year TV deal with ESPN, Turner Sports,” Sports Illustrated, October 5, 2014.
14 DAZN press release, Live and on demand sport OTT service DAZN to screen 22 Bellator MMA events per year in seven markets worldwide, June 26, 2019.
15 Nat Ives, “Hulu Ad Campaign Spells Out That Its Influencers Get Paid,” Wall Street Journal, February 15, 2019.
16 Cynthia Littleton, “Disney Nears $10 Billion Sale of Fox Sports Networks to Sinclair,” Variety, May 2, 2019.
17 Darren Rovell, “Fans can purchase 4th quarter of NBA games on League Pass,” ESPN, September 27, 2018.
19 Ibid.
20 Ibid.
21 Ibid.
22 Ibid.
23 Ibid.
24 Ibid.
25 Ibid.
26 Ibid.
27 Ibid.
28 Ibid.
29 Joe Lemire, “MLB Reportedly Changing Ball Tracking Technology Provider for Statcast,” SportTechie, May 14, 2019.
30 Kevin O’Connor, “Pictures at a Basketball Revolution,” The Ringer, October 19, 2018.
31 NHL press release, NextVR Partner on unique virtual reality experiences, January 31, 2019.
32 Darren Rovell, “Fans Can purchase 4th quarter of NBA games on League Pass,” ESPN, September 27, 2018.
33 Field Level Media, “Amazon Prime announces all-female NFL broadcast team,” Reuters, September 25, 2018.
11
This publication contains general information only and Deloitte is not, by means
of this publication, rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal,
tax, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute
for such professional advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any
decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or
taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified
professional adviser.
Deloitte shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person who relies
on this publication.
About Deloitte
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK
private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”), its network of member firms,
and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally
separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”)
does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one
or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate
using the “Deloitte” name in the United States and their respective affiliates.
Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and
regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn
more about our global network of member firms.