How Can OTT Sports Players Convert Promising Signals into Success?

We list four strategic elements that budding sports OTT players can leverage to spur growth and enhance their commercial success in an increasingly competitive arena.

The sports industry and OTT go hand in hand, that's a fact.

With seemingly infinite niche as well as global content potential and highly-engaged fans looking for flexible, value-driven ways to watching exciting sporting spectacles, this sector of the industry continues going from strength to strength.

“Die-hard sports fans spend up to three times more than casual fans on streaming and 1.5 times more than casual fans on broadcast subscriptions.”
- Deloitte 2019 | The Future of Sports Broadcasting

But, despite growth and prosperity, OTT providers in the sporting world still face their fair share of challenges, according to the new report by PwC.

At present, it seems that user perception seems to be the biggest roadblock, with a great deal of consumers feeling let down. From this chart, it’s clear to see that the bulk of OTT-consuming sports fans feel that providers often fail to deliver.

Poor streaming quality, service-based shortfalls, and unsustainable price strategies are among the main challenges OTT sports providers currently face⁠—issues that are having a direct impact on the consumer experience:

But, despite these major challenges, there are ways that OTT sports players can utilise the digital advantages of their subscription-style streaming models and transform promise into tangible commercial success, maximising their return on investment (ROI) in the process:

Based on these clearcut benefits or advantages, here are four strategic elements that budding sports OTT players can leverage to spur growth and enhance their commercial success in an increasingly competitive arena:

1. Invest more in operational as well as analytical infrastructures to squeeze more value from key consumer data to gain insights that will help to troubleshoot key issues and make pivotal service and communication improvements.
   
   
2. Rather than focusing on turnkey solutions, explore a mix of knowledge and platforms from experts, based on specific areas of specialisation. For instance, cloud-based API solutions might make the best option for your sports OTT business.
   
   
3. Take time to strike a seamless balance between compelling paid and free content to funnel fans’ attention and drive them towards viable, value-drive forms of direct or indirect monetisation.
   
   
4. Explore ways to solve the problem of content seasonality, placing more focus on such events to boost brand awareness, create more engagement, and increase fan loyalty.

"Sports streaming platforms can expect to see a 24% increase in active subscribers on average following investment into enhanced features and functionalities."
- Deloitte 2019 | The Future of Sports Broadcasting

While it is a challenge, sports OTT will continue to blossom into next year, and beyond. Tackle these common challenges imminently and you’ll push yourself ahead of the pack, earning a great deal of long term success in the process.

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