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15 To Watch : Decade in Review Tech & Media

15 TO WATCH: DECADE IN REVIEW 

RICK HORROW’S TOP SPORTS TECHNOLOGY & MEDIA ISSUES OF 2010-2019 

with Tanner Simkins

It’s hard to believe, but we have reached the end of yet another decade. And in the business of sport, it’s been a busy one. Here are Rick Horrow’s top 15 sports technology and media trends and issues of the decade just ending. Stay tuned throughout December for most influential philanthropic/corporate social responsibility actions in sports, and an early look at the year and decade ahead.

High Definition (HD). The most essential element for the sports consumer? Watching the game. High definition pushed the envelope this decade so much that now anything non-HD seems archaic – just think about what those old “Wide World of Sports” clips look like. The first major sporting event broadcast nationwide in the U.S. in HD was Super Bowl XXXIV, broadcast by ABC on January 30, 2000. By the 2014–2015 television season, every network show producing new episodes had transitioned to high definition. And virtually all HD technology was developed by global sports league partners, with broadcasting live sporting events that delivered almost the same immediacy as being there a top line goal for developers. Over 90% of U.S. homes have an HD television, and nearly 30% have a 4K TV. 4K (UltraHD) is here and 8k coming, virtual reality is next, the envelope is still being pushed. 

Second screen. It’s hard to imagine a world without tablets, phones, and the many other connected devices we carry around with us. But this too was an advent of the 2010s. Now, second screen technology is so prevalent that we are plugged into a screen in one way or another every single day. A study by Strategy Analytics shows for around 33 billion total devices on the planet by end of the decade, this is about 4.3 smart devices per person. In sports, especially among the younger next generation of fans, it’s almost unheard of to watch a live or televised sporting event without engaging in a simultaneous second screen experience – to share with friends or fellow fans on social media, check stats and scores from other games, and participate in fantasy sports. 

Smart phones. Yes, Virginia, there are smart devices galore, but still the most core to our use is the mobile phone. iPhone and Samsung are the champions here, with Apple really being the pioneer. Sports properties have utilized apps to benefit their content, communications, data, and marketing efforts.  Fans use their smart phones for all of those second screen tasks just listed, as well as to take pictures and videos at live events and watch parties. In and around sports venues, smart phones are now used to find parking, get in via mobile ticketing, and order and pay for food and drinks. What didn’t survive, however – dedicated mobile devices from sports brand partners. Remember the short-lived Mobile ESPN? It didn’t even make it to the 2010s, dying a premature death in 2006 after losing ESPN a reported $150 million.

Content. In media, content is king. Text, audio, video, and all their possible creative combinations powered the 2010s to call claim to everything from viral memes to over the top (OTT) programming. The 2010s saw an explosion of broadcast and digital sports content. NFL Red Zone, for example, debuted in 2009 via cable but soon found a much wider audience as a mobile streaming option. Disney acquired the media assets of FOX for $71.3 billion and then sold, by government mandate, the FOX RSNs to Sinclair for $10.6 billion. Bill Simmons went from being an on air personality at ESPN to editing the acclaimed online sports magazine Grantland to founding The Ringer, a sports and pop culture website and podcast network, in 2016 and still serves as its CEO. The 2010s saw Grantland go under but subscription-based The Athletic rise in its place – the site and app, which has poached many of the best sports writers in the biz from traditional newspapers and magazines, is expecting to reach one million subscribers by year end. Pro athletes, finally, are developing media empires of their own, with LeBron James’ Uninterrupted leading the way.

Cameras. Cameras being built into devices was seen as a value add to tech products, especially mobile devices. The more cool tech things a gizmo could do the better, so cameras started appearing everywhere. We’ve already touched on how sports fans use their cameras, but advancing HDTV technology and ubiquitous mobile cameras also pushed the commercial broadcast tech to also improve. Other advances like aerial drone photography and augmented reality came from the pressure to innovate. The aerial camera technology was first introduced to Super Bowl fans in 1984, but didn't become regularly used by the NFL until around 2001. Now, aerial cameras are almost standard fixtures in stadiums, covering everything from football to soccer to tennis. In the 2010s we began to take drones for granted, starting at outdoor sporting and concert events and spreading outward. And launched in 2016, the Drone Racing League is currently in its fourth season, featuring seven races worldwide and broadcast on Twitter, NBC, SkySports, and other global media partners.

Wearables. Sport and fitness wearables emerged in the last decade and are here to stay. The ability to measure both performance and biometrics data proved to be big business for serious athletes and weekend warriors alike. Wearables are not limited to on your person, they have been implemented in game equipment and apparel. Top wearable device companies include FitBit, founded in 2007, which now reports to have sold more than 100 million devices and have 28 million users (and is being eyed by Google at a cool $2.1 billion purchase price); Apple, which now leads the market after entering in 2015 with its first smartwatch; Samsung; and Chinese giant Xiaomi, introduced in 2010, which includes earphones and VR headsets among its wearable offerings. And speaking of headphones, pro athletes remain one of the marketing cornerstones of Beats by Dre, which now boasts a market share north of 64% in the U.S. for headphones priced higher than $100, largely thanks to its partnering with athletes, hip hop artists, and other celebrities to develop and market co-branded products.

Connectivity. WiFi, Bluetooth, mobile data plans, cloud services, the Internet of Things (IoT) and getting devices communicating with other devices has created opportunities limited only by creativity. When devices can interact and share information, the smarter decisions media and tech companies can make. From minor league ballparks to arenas, soccer-specific stadiums, and the almost completed $4.93 billion SoFi Stadium and entertainment complex in Los Angeles, the “Connected Facility” over the last decade has become the absolute standard in sports stadia, empowering teams and vendors every bit as much as fans. At SoFi (named by a tech company, of course), according to CNBC, “Technology that will make the stadium experience unique includes a 70,000-sq-ft Oculus display board that will have 4K double-sided video; 5G communications network; Wi-Fi 6, the next generation of wireless to deliver faster speeds, and digital ticketing provided by Ticketmaster.

Social media. Social media has changed the world. While we all are understandably focused on the impact that social media has on global politics these days, outside of politics, there is nowhere that social media has made more of an impact than in sports and entertainment. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram remain the big three here (RIP MySpace, Friendster, Vine, and Google Plus), but with dozens of other players, social media and social media marketing specifically has given a voice to sport – everyone from players to fans. Witness the rise of social media influencers inside and outside of sports, who can command seven-figure paydays from brands eager to reach their followers. Pro athletes are only as good as their Instagram Stories – just ask Cristiano Ronaldo (158.91 million followers); Neymar (112.71 million); David Beckham (54.89 million); LeBron James (47.91 million); and Gareth Bale (38.95 million). And it’s no coincidence that one of the main arguments for NCAA amateur athletes’ Name, Image, and Likeness ownership fight is the desire to capitalize on their own social media followings.

Esports. Esports events sell out arenas, it’s a Division 1 intercollegiate sport, professional leagues are continuing to grow, and there are countless other upward trajectories. The overall esports economy now tops $1 billion and 500 million viewers. All this for a sport (based largely on tech) that didn't exist prior to this decade. As we noted last week, by 2018, according to the Motley Fool, esports viewership grew 13.8% to 380 million people worldwide. And analysts expect this number to reach 557 million by 2021. U.S. pro sports leagues and team owners are investing in esports operations at all levels.  At baseball’s Winter Meetings in San Diego, for example, the operators of the minor league Albuquerque Isotopes on Sunday floated the idea of holding nightly esports tournaments at Isotopes Park to introduce a whole new fan base to baseball. And just this week, Astralis becomes first esports firm to go public. The esports organization plans to raise between $18-22 million, with shares priced at $1.32.

Sports gaming. Whether it’s traditional gambling, fantasy sports, or a fusion of the two; media companies are covering it. The last decade brought us Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS), which paved the way for legalized sports betting as slowly, sports leagues realized that sports gaming enhanced their product rather than threatened it. Founded in 2011, American DFS contest and sports betting provider DraftKings allows users to enter daily and weekly fantasy sports–related contests and win money based on individual player and team performances in five major American sports (MLB, the NHL, the NFL, the NBA, and the PGA), Premier League and UEFA Champions League soccer, NASCAR, and more recently, MMA and tennis. DraftKings’ biggest competitor was FanDuel, founded in 2009, before the two agreed to merge in 2016. And over the last decade, the smooth proliferation of sports gaming and legal sports wagering also removed the Las Vegas taboo from American sports leagues – Vegas now has the NHL Stanley Cup-competing Golden Knights, and next year, the NFL Raiders.

Sport for cause, online. Brands and leagues should always be compelled to give back, but this past decade provided extra motivation. As a happy consequence to the decade’s proliferation of digital media, the demand for sports content stretched the box score and media companies began covering the social impact of sports. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) became a buzzword for brands in the space as an overall sense that sports should give back increased. Olympic athletes successfully raised the money they need to compete via GoFundMe campaigns, and sports cause-related organizations such as LIVEStrong (which lives on despite founder Lance Armstrong’s downfall), the V Foundation for Cancer Research, and Oklahoma City-based Fields & Futures owe the vast majority of their reach to digital fundraising, marketing, and educational initiatives. Sport, finally, used the power of digital communication and texting functions to raise funds to help when disaster struck, from hurricane devastation in Puerto Rico to flooding in Houston and deadly fires in Northern California.

Media rights. This past decade was defined by mega deals in sports media rights. Whether it’s new networks, broadcast rights, digital rights, streaming rights, on demand, or over the top, the media rights deals now are now not uncommon to be in the billions. U.S. sports rights are estimated to be worth a total of $22.42 billion in 2019, about 44% of the total worldwide sports media market, according to SportBusiness Media. And a rising number of major sporting events available via streaming services is set to drive the revenue for global broadcast rights beyond $85 billion by the end of 2024, according to a recent Rethink TV report. The Sports Rights Forecast to 2025 paper shows the global value of sports rights currently at around $48.6 billion, though the report predicts an increase of 75% over the next five years due to a growth in audiences choosing direct-to-consumer (DTC) content.

Ticketing. Going to a sporting event is still core to the sports experience. In this past decade, the ticketing business saw tech related advances like dynamic pricing, paperless tickets, and digital second market sellers, all of which backed by data and CRM. As with so many things in our lives now, your mobile phone is now your sports ticket. At that Next Big Thing sports tech lab otherwise known as SoFi Stadium, CNBC notes the SafeTix digital ticketing provided by Ticketmaster “uses a rotating entry token that refreshes an encrypted barcode every 15 seconds to prevent counterfeiting and improve security. The digital ticket will also send customized messages to the ticketholder on a host of things — from VIP events to updates on parking information and merchandising offers.” And just last week, Swiss ticketing firm Viagogo agreed to buy StubHub for $4.05 billion, looking to leverage the brand globally.

Paywall. We saw the closing of many physical newspapers this decade, with the media companies behind them opting instead for digital content on their website. Different revenue models emerged like premium content paywalls for example. We’ve mentioned the success of The Athletic – and now venerable Sports Illustrated, under new millennial-focused ownership, is considering a paywall for its revamped short form content. DAZN, a London-based OTT subscription sports streaming service, first launched in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Japan in August 2016 and now has former ESPN chief John Skipper as its chairman as it is halfway to its magic number for an IPO. In the last few months alone we have seen the launch of ESPN+, Apple TV, and now Disney+, all subscription based Video on Demand streaming services. And YouTube, for years a free platform for literally billions of videos, is now making moves to segregate some of its sports and entertainment content behind a paywall.

Data analytics. Whether it is a team front office employing a cap room specialist, a coaching staff utilizing predictive analytics, an apparel company using purchase data to better understand consumer behavior, or the like, data analytics left its mark this past decade. What originated with sabermetrics and Bill James’ “Baseball Abstracts” that originated in 1977 by the 2010s had evolved to the point that most pro sports teams, in baseball and otherwise, have a full analytics staff working year round. And the tools have been simplified enough that they are now fully accessible to public school systems, volunteer youth sports coaches, and individual athletes looking to gauge and improve their own performances via stats, wearable tech, and other smart data-producing devices.