The Future of Watching Sports Report
COVID-19 Pandemic Forces The Sports Industry to Reimagine the At Home Fan Experience
Led by their 2019 Immersive Media Leadership Board, Sports Innovation Lab has released a report that examines the accelerated evolution of the at-home fan experience. Titled “The Future of Watching Sports” the report exposes the cracks in the foundation of the broadcast model and provides actionable insights on how to enhance the viewing experience.
BOSTON Boston, MA. (July 29th, 2020)- As fans are left with no choice but to watch sports from their homes for the foreseeable future, sports organizations are faced with an immediate need to enhance that viewing experience. Sports Innovation Lab has examined the current state of the linear viewing experience, and published a groundbreaking report on its fundamental flaws and what sports brands can do to survive and even thrive in this new fan reality. Titled “The Future of Watching Sports” the report is free and can be downloaded here.
The report examines why, for almost a century, innovation of the fan experience at home has focused on just “watching sports”, finding that the continued increase in media rights deals and comfort with the status quo has resulted in a lack of motivation or urgency to innovate. Enter the pandemic, which upended the entire sports media ecosystem, and exposed the industry’s vulnerabilities, mainly the reliance on broadcast. But with this exposure also came a forcing mechanism to rapidly enter new digital markets, test emerging technologies, and re-focus on what matters most to fans. To create media experiences that drive fans to not just watch sports, but participate via behaviors that ultimately create revenue for sports businesses, Sports Innovation Lab recommends the creation of a Fluid Fan Studio.
“This report is about how we watch sports, but "watch" is a euphemism for so much more,” said Angela Ruggiero, four-time Olympic medalist and Co-Founder and CEO of Sports Innovation Lab. “The Age of The Fluid Fan is all about the transition from the lean-back days of sitting on the couch, to creating a viewing experience that fulfills the needs of the future fan.”
Sports Innovation Lab worked in partnership with its Immersive Media Leadership Board, a panel of senior executives and thought leaders from across the immersive media ecosystem, to produce the report. Along with Sports Innovation Lab’s proprietary research, the board evaluated case studies, reviewed best practices, and provided personal accounts of success and failure to inform the data and generate the tenants of the Fluid Fan Studio.
The report details how an organization can put a Fluid Fan Studio that produces compelling media experiences for fans into practice using these guiding principles:
1. The Studio Needs to Be Interdisciplinary with a Focus on Interactivity
You’re going to need a team of experts with media design and development experience from outside of sports. Specifically, you’ll want to get experts who understand experiential design and interactive media.
2. Your Studio Must Focus on Rapid Iterative Design
Iterative design is a well-established method that relies on rapid prototyping, testing, analyzing and refining. Give your Fluid Fan Studio the freedom to experiment and get feedback early and often.
3. Give Your Studio The Latitude to Find Technology Partners
Empower your Fluid Fan Studio to explore technology partnerships that will help them get to their vision quickly. Make sure they are aware of what technology is out there, and have the right tools for identifying potential technology partners to help fill the gaps in their development.
The board members and industry leaders who contributed to this report include:
● Double Seven Sports - Jeb Terry, Founder (Co-Chair)
● Cox - Luis Avila-Marco, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Corporate Development
● Cox - Matt Kogan, Senior Manager, Strategy & Corporate Development
● Deutsche Fußball Liga - Andreas Heyden, CEO, Digital
● Dow Jones - Simon Greenberg, Head of Dow Jones Sports & Global Head of Rights
● DraftKings - Sabrina Macias, Vice President of Global Communications
● Intel Corporation - Ranajit Gangopadhyay, Digital Strategist
● LiveLike - Miheer Walavalkar, CEO & Co-Founder
● Nikkei Innovation Lab - Yamada Takeshi, Senior Fellow
● Octagon - Dan Cohen, Senior Vice President, Global Media Rights
● Sportradar - Brian Josephs, Vice President, Digital Sport
● Verizon Media/Yahoo Sports - Ishwara Glassman Chrein, Head of Sports Partnerships
Sports Innovation Lab continues to push the industry forward during this unprecedented time through their Fluid Fan Leadership Board, which is currently focused on the resurgence of live sports, the evolution of sponsorship, and the acceleration of athlete-driven media. The executives from the Immersive Media Board join an exclusive roster of thought-leaders from the Fluid Fan Leadership Board, including executives from companies including: DraftKings, Kinduct, MediaLink, MGM, NASCAR, NHL, NFLPA, Panini America, ShotTracker, Titletown Tech, Veepio, UFC, Wave, Whoop, World 1 League, Drone Racing League, the Bundesliga, Columbia University, Athletes Unlimited, Blinkfire Analytics, Brizi, Cisco, Coca-Cola, FIFA, the LA Rams, MasterCard, Nielsen Sports, Promethean TV, Rover, Spartan, the Vegas Golden Knights, TD Garden, CLEAR, Legends, Oracle, JMA Wireless, and Visa.
About Sports Innovation Lab:
Sports Innovation Lab is leading a sports research revolution. We exist to educate our clients on the technological possibilities for their brand and how to ultimately drive value to the end consumer: the Fluid Fan. We inspire brands to create breakthrough fan experiences through data-driven technology insights and industry-leading research.
Media Contact:
Gina Waldhorn gina@sportsilab.com