THE RISE OF EVENTISED SPORTS. I think ‘eventise’ is a word we’ll hear a lot of in the next 12 months as the sports media battleground heats up. If the NFL and Netflix have hinted at anything it’s that they identify value in eventising sports inventory and I think it offers a fascinating opportunity for rights owners looking to eke out value from media rights that are under pressure.
Look at what the NFL is doing.
The NFL knows that it doesn’t just sell games. It’s sells cultural events – and the likes of Netflix and YouTube know how to leverage events BETTER than they know how to leverage leagues, tournaments and seasons.
Event content is their wheelhouse.
This signals a big shift in how streamers might buy, and rights holders might sell sports media. Why package an entire season when you can sell a run-in? Why sell a tournament that no-one cares about when you can sell a historic rivalry package?
Netflix doesn’t want a Tuesday night EFL game, but it might want a 3-part doc about the famous rivalry leading up to streaming El Clásico – the defacto ‘season finale’ – now THAT offers a bingeable narrative and shoulder content PLUS a live payoff. Both Netflix and YouTube have VERY effective playbooks for that kind of thing.
Stop selling seasons. Start selling stories.
I often talk about how nowadays, in an attention economy, exclusivity = anonymity. Especially where younger audiences are concerned being visible everywhere they are spending time is key. However, by eventising sports media packages it facilitates having the best of both worlds.
You see in this sense, exclusivity is no longer about being the ONLY broadcaster or streamer, it’s about being the right broadcaster or streamer with the right lens that appeals to your audience whilst they’re there. The NFL sells Amazon a Black Friday game and it feels bespoke. Amazon makes an exclusive retail AND sports event and the fans watch AND buy.
Platforms crave format innovation as their differentiator, so for rights owners there is value to be gained by giving them something to sell beyond the game. If they construct an exclusive version of the sporting event that also drives value for them, both parties drive value.
YouTube for example, has multi-view and amazing creators that they can leverage to eventise the week one NFL game in Brazil. It has significant value to YouTube-first sports fans, the platform and advertisers alike. YouTube will eventise the heck out of that game.
For Netflix they don’t want a ton of boxing inventory; but they DO want sports IP they can eventise. See Paul v. Tyson. And the Christmas Day games one of which included a Beyonce halftime show. Netflix eventised the heck out of that game.
See a pattern?
Eventisation. Eventise.
Who will be the European league brave enough to sell in this kind of way?