In this post, we'd like to share our learnings from the recent Sportel America. Hopefully, these insights will be useful for all the companies involved in sports broadcasting.
Attending the conference, there were hundreds of leaders in the sports vertical that came there to network, share experiences and strike deals. We were impressed by the panel discussions in particular. The panel discussions greatly benefitted from the variety of guest speakers that touched on multiple aspects of the entire OTT industry as a whole.
Our VP of Sales, Salvatore Romana, was a guest speaker at the "OTT Sports and the Americas" panel, hosted by SVG.
So, here are the top 10 trends we noted are developing currently on the other side of the pond.
- Live sports remains huge in the eyes of the viewers.
- Number one priority for live broadcasters online is the user experience. A close second is the way how to monetize the live content.
- Outside the U.S (read LATAM and APAC markets), mobile is becoming the primary, first screen. The quote was really bold: "Mobile is the Swiss army knife, TV is the pocket knife.”
- Monetizing short-form video is very challenging, and its great use lies in event promotion and fan engagement.
- Facebook Live is seen as a complimentary marketing tool rather than the main monetization platform.
- The biggest challenge for sports organizations is how to design the customer funnel for stable revenue streams.
- Enriching live sports games with real-time sports data (statistics, action tracking, pre and post-game material etc.) is increasing the value to the OTT offerings.
- Seemingly because of cultural differences, LATAM and APAC are more willing to adopt new technologies like VR. The Americas are not as aggressive with virtuality.
- Technology opens up a myriad of opportunities, but it also carries risks. Publishers should focus on innovation that only boosts their revenues and improves viewer's experience.
- End-user support can be a key competitor differentiator for vendors selling live OTT technologies.
Here is what Salvatore noted on the last trend:
S. Romana (@cleeng): "Ticketing support is probably the best way to assist #OTT subscribers; support teams must be active 24/7" #sportel
— SPORTEL (@sportelmonaco) March 15, 2017
