Member Insights: Broadcasting Behind-Closed-Doors: The Role For Live TV In Sport’s Impending Return

With elite football set for resumption this weekend with the return of the Bundesliga, David Sim, Head of Football & Broadcast at CSM Sport & Entertainment, looks at the role broadcasters are playing at this time.

In the late 20th century, live broadcasting revolutionised the world of sport. Be it ESPN in the USA, or BskyB in the UK, the revenue generated through major broadcast fees turned sport from a largely amateur pastime into the world’s most powerful cultural platform. 

In the wake of Covid-19, though, the source that feeds this entire ecosystem has come to an abrupt halt, posing an existential threat to stakeholders across the industry.

With sports broadcasters a critical component of that network, how will they respond to the challenges that lie ahead? As the industry toys with the ethical, logistical and financial conundrum of getting live sport back in action, here are a few ideas on the role they can play in navigating this turbulent period.

Win together, lose together 

The financial model of most major sports properties is, in large part, sustained by the income generated by broadcast contracts. But Covid-19 has robbed these two stakeholders of their most precious commodity: live sport.

For rights holders, though, TV revenue is often the lifeblood of its industry. Without it, the entire ecosystem is faced with a financial black hole.

For broadcasters, it means a loss of subscribers and a loss of advertising revenue. That is the rationale behind DAZN, BeIN, IMG, Sky Italia and Eurosport all opting to withhold rights payments for events either cancelled or indefinitely on hold. 

For rights holders, though, TV revenue is often the lifeblood of its industry. Without it, the entire ecosystem is faced with a financial black hole. In the Premier League, the cost of repaying broadcast rights for unfinished fixtures is estimated to be £38m per club, a figure that would leave many staring down the barrel of insolvency. It’s a catch-22 that requires resolving. 

From BBC and Wimbledon, to CBS and the Masters, the history books are littered with mutually beneficial relationships between rights holder and broadcaster. Now, more than ever, the two need to work together to share the burden of Covid-19. If broadcasters can absorb some short-term financial losses, they will safeguard the immediate future of much of the industry and, in turn, the product it sells. What better way to demonstrate your worth as partners than acting as true guardians of the game? 

The role sport plays in filling our desire for excitement, jeopardy and community has only been heightened by the trauma of coronavirus and our enforced separation. Its value is greater than ever before. Those who choose to ride out the uncertainty will be best placed to capitalise on that. 

When it comes to renegotiating next season’s fees, broadcasters will be able to agree increasingly favourable terms in a buyers’ market; a hitherto unfamiliar negotiating position but just reward for their continued investment. 

On that front, we are already seeing signs of progress. Canal+, the chief broadcaster of Top 14 Rugby for 25 years, has committed to paying its final fee instalment for this season to help clubs ease cash flow problems. In the UK, Sky Sports will not demand a £36m rebate from the ECB despite the postponement of The Hundred. And in Germany, Sky Deutschland reaffirmed its commitment to the Bundesliga with an early rights fee payment, in return for a reduced fee next year.

For their part, rights holders should consider how they can maximise the value of existing contracts. Be it extra fixtures for next season, or increasing advertising space during the live broadcast, there are a number of “make goods” that rights holders can offer to help alleviate any loss in value of the original contract. 

The popularity of Amazon Prime’s The Test, or Sky Sport’s World Cup Final Watch Along, demonstrate that fans respond positively to the greater level of insight provided by player-led content.

Match footage and highlights from the Bundesliga will be shown free-to-air on Sky Konferenz this weekend, and Sky Sports and BT Sport remain in talks with the Premier League to show unsold games on their free YouTube channels. The BCCI has granted Star India – its domestic broadcast partner of the postponed IPL – free access to its wealth archive cricket footage, while the Olympic Broadcasting Service, meanwhile, has offered all its media partners the opportunity to carry Olympic Channel 1 until 2021. 

While the temptation for broadcasters to switch off the life support is understandable, a more pragmatic approach to avoid biting the hand that feeds them bodes well for those with a long term view.

Keep fans at the heart of the action

As live sport begins to re-emerge, it is evident it will do so in empty arenas; a reality that may be in place for some time. Nevertheless, the fan can still play an active role in enhancing the product that broadcasters choose to present back to us.

Where motorsport can rely on the noise of machinery to provide an atmosphere, the echoes that reverberate around cavernous football stadiums often devalue the product. The obvious solution in offsetting that is to pump simulated crowd noise through PA systems, increase “sound capture” and incorporate music into the broadcast offering. In Taiwan’s domestic baseball league, robot drummers have been deployed to that effect.

But why not put fans back at the heart of the experience? Modern sound technology allows us to record ourselves cheering on our team from home. If broadcasters and clubs can embrace virtual watching parties, they could collect that noise and feed it back through the broadcast channel or stadium PA, enhancing that connectivity with the fan.

In terms of the aesthetic , “tighter” camera angles is one routine method used to mask the lack of fans. Elsewhere, cardboard cut-outs – personalised in the case of Borussia Monchengladbach – are being deployed to replicate the presence of a physical crowd. I’m old enough to remember the mural Arsenal used at Highbury when the North Bank was under construction. It worked well at the time, but the evolution in technology in the 30 years since allows us to aim higher.

Rather than attempting to conceal the visual deficiencies of playing behind closed doors, clubs and broadcasters would be better served exploring fan engagement initiatives. Inviting your global fanbase to share artwork or messages of support –which could be collated and crafted into a CGI-friendly, digital mosaic –  would be a more meaningful, compelling and interactive way of both elevating the visual presentation of the broadcast, while ensuring supporters remain integral to the action. 

Shift to player-first coverage

Without the atmospheric presence of a crowd to augment the viewing experience, there is scope to recalibrate broadcast output towards developing a more intimate connection between player and fan. Typically, access to players during the window of play has been off-limits, but with athletes operating in radically altered circumstances, it’s a great chance to educate the audience around a unique challenge.

The popularity of Amazon Prime’s The Test, or Sky Sport’s World Cup Final Watch Along, demonstrate that fans respond positively to the greater level of insight provided by player-led content. Broadcasters, together with rights holders, need to consider how to best serve that interest.

That Sky Sports, BT Sport and the Premier League are reportedly discussing in-game interviews with substitutes and coaching staff is welcome news. But they could go further still.

It would be an opportune moment for the Premier League to introduce a ref mic – an innovation that has done wonders for rugby. Recording the communication between referee and the Stockley Park team will provide spectators with some much-needed clarity and transparency around the VAR process, in a far less hostile environment. 

With that data in mind, will the likes of Fox Sports continue to broadcast esports series’, such as the eNascar Invitational, when the real life version reappears, or will esports return to the fringes?

When the PGA Tour returns to our screens in mid-June, rather than cutting away to vast green expanses, why not spend more time following the journey of player and caddie as they discuss their strategy to an upcoming shot. In a “fanless” era, the focus of the coverage needs to shift from atmosphere to athlete, taking us viewers into uncharted territory. By doing so, they will deepen the relationship we have with the sport.

Learn the lessons

There are lessons to be heeded from this crisis. For several sports broadcasters, this pandemic has exposed a gaping hole in its content offering. Expect them to invest time and money into creating more evergreen content to help diversify their programming, particularly off the back of the recent success of Netflix and ESPN’s The Last Dance.  

While the move towards direct-to-consumer OTT platforms will not fade away entirely, the financial repercussions of Covid-19 will see rights holders continue to opt for the low-risk strategy of partnering with major broadcasters – not least for the comfort of a big cheque. 

And esports, the alleged winner in all of this, will be a fascinating sector to keep an eye on. It has been tempting to assume that esports – that is, competitive multiplayer video gaming in front of spectators – has flourished during this pandemic as an alternative to live sport. But the data from McKinsey tells a different story. Just 3% of consumers over the age of 18 have started watching esports content as a result of Covid-19. In reality, it is online gaming – the umbrella term that includes esports – that is booming, with 16% of consumers surveyed by WARC, across 25 markets, having taken it up in the last two months. 

With that data in mind, will the likes of Fox Sports continue to broadcast esports series’, such as the eNascar Invitational, when the real life version reappears, or will esports return to the fringes? The answer to that will be pivotal to esports’ endeavour to sustainably grow its audience base.

Covid-19 has, at least, granted rights holders and media partners pause for thought. How they choose to respond could reshape sports broadcasting for the better.