STREAMINGWARS-SPORTSEDITION

WRITES EOGHAN O’SULLIVAN | CONTRIBUTOR

There has long existed a close affiliation between the sporting world and money. The unavoidable relationship is complex in nature, and is often heavily criticised for murky backroom deals and controversies In recent years the symbiotic affiliation has entered its newest leg; the battle for sports viewership bragging rights

Accelerated by the pandemic, a variety of laudable streaming services rose to prominence in quick succession Led by Netflix, conventional companies such as Apple, Amazon and Disney have all launched their own streaming services (Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Disney+) in an attempt to gain streaming superiority The corporate world’s gaze quickly turned to sports as they recognised the ‘home run’ potential live sports broadcasting possesses and have gone all in to disrupt the historic domination of cable television with progressive live streaming Driven primarily by the aforementioned American technology companies attempting to diversify their already gargantuan revenue streams, these conglomerates have capitalised on the recent streaming phenomenon craze, all hoping to establish a sizable market share by delivering a competitive service

It is not difficult to see why these companies have entered the market of sports broadcasting after analysing the figures surrounding the industry Taking the domestic television market as an example, recent figures have revealed that live sport dominated Irish television screens in 2022, with nine of the top ten most watched programmes free-to-air sport The Late Late Toy Show being the sole outlier ahead of the pack (1,532,000 viewers) with a compilation of GAA, soccer and rugby programmes sweeping the rest of the top ten The All-Ireland Senior Football Final played between Kerry and Galway netted the top sporting spot (872,000 viewers) and was the second most watched programme overall on national television in 2022

The figures follow a similar pattern in a global context, with sport proving just as popular all around the world as it is here in Ireland Unsurprisingly, the sports with the largest fan bases and viewership levels garner substantial live sports streaming rights packages Soccer is the outright leader when it comes to popularity, with 3.5 billion viewers worldwide This is largely as a result of its near-universal participation Cricket comes in second place, with an enormous global audience of 2 5 billion, largely led by Asian and Middle Eastern interest US sports also dominate the viewership list, with baseball, basketball and American football amassing spectator levels of roughly 400 million each worldwide, concentrated primarily within North America

The numbers involved in live sports broadcasting rights are just as astonishing as the viewership levels they attract A recent Barron’s insight estimates the annual value of TV and streaming sports rights in the U.S. at a staggering $26.6 billion in 2023, up 75% from 2015 These technology giants mean business, committing heavily to the industry In 2022, Apple announced a deal worth $2.5 billion with US Major League Soccer (MLS), giving the organisation the sole rights to stream every game over the next 10 years The California based firm also entered a 7-year contract with Major League Baseball (MLB), worth $85 million annually to bring ‘Friday Night Baseball’ to Apple TV Similar agreements can be seen between Amazon and the NFL, with an 11-year $13 2 billion agreement giving Amazon Prime exclusive media rights to Thursday Night Football Alphabet, the parent company of YouTube have also entered the streaming wars with a $14 billion 7-year contract with the NFL for the exclusive live streaming rights for American football’s prized ‘Sunday Ticket’ to be broadcast through YouTube TV The story is analogous closer to home multi-year deals with DAZN, worth $2 4 billion and $2.5 billion respectively France’s Ligue 1 partnered with Amazon in 2021, in a 3-year contract worth $250 million annually for Amazon Prime to hold live rights to eight fixtures per match week

Taking an alternative approach on the matter, streaming pioneers Netflix have decided to bank on sporting storytelling, rather than live events Focusing on developing top-quality fly on the wall productions rather than streaming live games, their strategy comes in at a considerably smaller cost than licensing rights to live games As previously outlined by Sports Editor, Mark Cooper in a November article on the topic, a myriad of sports docuseries’ have been produced by Netflix in the past five years Shows such as ‘Drive to Survive’ and ‘The last Dance’, documenting recent Formula 1 seasons and the famed 1990’s Chicago Bulls team led by the legendary Michael Jordan respectively, are renowned pieces of picture, near cinematic quality filmmaking.

The impressive quality of the storytelling in those particular shows have allowed Netflix to even attract non-sporting enthusiasts into the audience Although rumours surrounding Netflix’s entry into the live sports arena have been rumbling since the start of the year, with the prospect of an exciting new sporting deal very much on the table, the actions of the streaming giant seem to suggest a commitment to doubling down on their successful documentary-focused strategy, rather than opting to invest heavily in what currently appears to be an over-saturated and over-priced market Netflix’s focus appears to be firmly set on the branch of sporting media currently offered on their platform, especially given the recent investment in two new behindthe-scenes series, “Full Swing” and “Break Point”, covering the world of top-level golf and tennis respectively

The size and duration of the contracts indicate strong intent to commit to live sports broadcasting by streaming networks Only time will tell whether live sports streaming is a commercially viable investment for these companies It is nonetheless imperative to highlight the importance of how we watch the sports we love. Although having no explicit impact on the outcomes of the games or leader boards themselves, broadcasters hold a critical link in the chain connecting fans to the sports, teams and players they love The current transition in the US is evident, and the question appears not to be if, rather how long we must wait until the same can be seen here in Ireland The GAA have already sold the streaming rights to some hurling and Gaelic football fixtures to Sky Sports, as well as launching their own paid global streaming service GAA Go If the trends in the United States are to travel across the Atlantic, how long might it be before the All-Ireland Finals of our national sports are played out behind a paywall? As a lifelong sports fan, one fears it might be closer than we imagine in Europe, with many of the largest soccer leagues in the continent following a similar path to the US Spain’s flagship La Liga and Italy’s Serie A both signed multi-year deals with DAZN, worth $2 4 billion and $2.5 billion respectively France’s Ligue 1 partnered with Amazon in 2021, in a 3-year contract worth $250 million annually for Amazon Prime to hold live rights to eight fixtures per match week

Taking an alternative approach on the matter, streaming pioneers Netflix have decided to bank on sporting storytelling, rather than live events Focusing on developing top-quality fly on the wall productions rather than streaming live games, their strategy comes in at a considerably smaller cost than licensing rights to live games. As previously outlined by Sports Editor, Mark Cooper in a November article on the topic, a myriad of sports docuseries’ have been produced by Netflix in the past five years Shows such as ‘Drive to Survive’ and ‘The last Dance’, documenting recent Formula 1 seasons and the famed 1990’s Chicago Bulls team led by the legendary Michael Jordan respectively, are renowned pieces of picture, near cinematic quality filmmaking

The impressive quality of the storytelling in those particular shows have allowed Netflix to even attract non-sporting enthusiasts into the audience Although rumours surrounding Netflix’s entry into the live sports arena have been rumbling since the start of the year, with the prospect of an exciting new sporting deal very much on the table, the actions of the streaming giant seem to suggest a commitment to doubling down on their successful documentary-focused strategy, rather than opting to invest heavily in what currently appears to be an over-saturated and over-priced market Netflix’s focus appears to be firmly set on the branch of sporting media currently offered on their platform, especially given the recent investment in two new behindthe-scenes series, “Full Swing” and “Break Point”, covering the world of top-level golf and tennis respectively

The size and duration of the contracts indicate strong intent to commit to live sports broadcasting by streaming networks Only time will tell whether live sports streaming is a commercially viable investment for these companies It is nonetheless imperative to highlight the importance of how we watch the sports we love Although having no explicit impact on the outcomes of the games or leader boards themselves, broadcasters hold a critical link in the chain connecting fans to the sports, teams and players they love The current transition in the US is evident, and the question appears not to be if, rather how long we must wait until the same can be seen here in Ireland The GAA have already sold the streaming rights to some hurling and Gaelic football fixtures to Sky Sports, as well as launching their own paid global streaming service GAA Go If the trends in the United States are to travel across the Atlantic, how long might it be before the All-Ireland Finals of our national sports are played out behind a paywall? As a lifelong sports fan, one fears it might be closer than we imagine