When was the last time you did nothing but watch a live athletic event? It would have been a long time ago, most likely. The typical sports fan of today flips between screens, gadgets, broadcast streams, and social media sites because they have so many options. Younger consumers want a variety of cohesive, captivating experiences together rather than just a passive one. Having grown up in an interactive world, these digital natives won't settle for anything less.
With such demanding viewers the sports broadcasting sector is also going through a tremendous upheaval in 2024. According to the SportBusiness Global Media Report 2023, the value of global sports media rights approached $56 billion, a record high. The incorporation of cutting-edge technologies into sports broadcasting is one of the main reasons for such tremendous growth. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are transforming the way people watch television by providing immersive and interactive programming that puts viewers closer to the action than ever before. This blog seeks to explore interactivity rights in sports, the creative tactics being used to traverse this changing terrain, and how it is quickly gaining attention.
What do we mean by Interactivity?
Interactivity is essentially how audiences can interact with content on screens in ways that go beyond mere viewing. It may entail purchasing something from a show they watch on television or discussing something with friends. In terms of sports, viewers can access real-time content and interact with the same on screen.
Why Interactivity Rights Are Gaining Attention?
The sports and entertainment sectors are paying close attention to interaction rights as a result of both changing customer tastes and rapidly advancing technology. These are the main explanations for why these rights are becoming more and more crucial.
Increased Interaction with Fans
With the help of interactivity, fans may interact with content in real-time and develop a closer, more intimate bond with the sporting or entertainment event. It encourages a more lively and interactive encounter.
Personalized Content and Interactive Features
Delivery of content that is customized according to user preferences is made possible by interactive rights. The ability to select from a variety of camera angles, study in-depth statistics, and take part in interactive narratives allows viewers to customize their viewing experience and make it more interesting and relevant for them.
New revenue streams for sports organizations
Sports organizations can generate additional revenue streams by utilizing interaction rights. These include of pay-per-view events, microtransactions for unique content, and interactive elements that can be offered as add-ons to diversify and boost income.
Technological advancements
The advancement of technology across multiple fields has increased the feasibility and appeal of interactivity. With faster internet and better mobile connectivity, streaming interactive information is made possible with greater speed and dependability from mobile networks and the internet. This guarantees that fans, wherever they may be, may interact with top-notch, live features without any interruptions.
Interactivity Rights in Play
Major Sports Leagues are now leveraging interactivity rights: A fintech company, Play Anywhere, has been making headway in this domain by developing an AI engine and clearinghouse that provides an analytics platform, clearinghouse, and engine for iTV compliance. Recent agreements between Dentsu and La Liga suggest that Play Anywhere could have a significant impact on globally dispersed interactive television experiences and signal a more unified future. The La Liga agreement serves as an example of a new strategy for interactive services, transparency is given to commercial participants through real-time dashboards, and new revenue streams such as sponsorships, advertising, e-commerce, and, where allowed, gaming advertising, and affiliate fees benefit all parties involved in the content-distribution value chain.
Play Anywhere’s CEO Yaacov Ben-Yaacov shared that interactive rights in sports consist of highlight, VOD, or live video snippets combined with interactive or contextual advertisements that feature QR codes or that let users wager or make purchases. They provide those rights to the right holders but also specify the compliance layer, who gets paid, and other details. Indeed, Play Anywhere is not the first business to add live odds overlays to broadcast feeds. What sets it apart is that its technology allows viewers to place bets directly from the screen they are viewing. There's no need for the fan to go to a second screen or change apps. The clearinghouse of Play Anywhere links the real-money transaction pipeline between OTT platforms and sportsbooks, e-commerce suppliers, advertising agencies, DFS providers, and other third-party partners.
Similar to this, Fubo, a new vMVPD highlights its extensive lineup of sports-related content and has added features like adjustable overlays for betting integrations and metrics.
Another player in the market, StreamLayer, a VEOS startup from Chicago is exploring new interactive options to integrate sports betting with live broadcasts. Given that gambling is quickly becoming popular and shedding any negative connotations it may have, the CEO of StreamLayer John Ganschow, and his colleagues are especially interested in the appeal of betting as a means of boosting live participation. Now that sportsbooks are allowed in an increasing number of states, leagues, teams, and content owners have a profitable chance to include that kind of material in games. There is a sizable market to profit from by enabling bets within the viewing experience.
OTT platforms driving change: Sports streaming via over-the-top (OTT) services is starting to become more and more popular. Consider the news that UEFA and Amazon had reached an agreement on a new Champions League rights agreement. This comes after Amazon's previously disclosed 11-year agreement with the NFL to stream live Thursday Night Football on the Amazon Prime Video app, as well as its current agreements with the English Premier League in the UK and the ATP tennis tour. With an eight-year agreement with the US Soccer Federation, HBO Max entered the race in 2022 as well. Additionally, FuboTV secured a three-year exclusive rights arrangement to stream Premier League games in Canada. The OTT platforms have stepped up their game as they fight for limited viewers' attention. Thus interactivity can play a wider role here as well.
There is a lot of potential for the streaming market to change how we watch live sports. This might involve on-demand options, real-time social media interaction between players and fans, and various camera feeds overlayed with live player statistics. And that's merely a cursory examination. Sports rights-holders are searching for new ways to communicate with fans in both directions and streaming platforms are a key component of this.
Another player in the industry is ‘In the Game’ making headways with their flexible interface which makes it easy to create interactive experiences on any screen. Their Interactive overlay technology allows for seamless integration with today’s smart TVs. The company has launched its interactive features on Dude Perfect's streaming app Roku, marking significant advancements in the fields of on-stream ad units and audience interaction.
Revolutionize the Game with Data Sports Group
For any sports operator, broadcaster, or content owner, developing a platform and infrastructure to distribute and monetize live content at scale is a significant task. DSG (Data Solutions Group) can offer a range of services and technology to make this task manageable. Here is an in-depth look at the contributions that DSG can make:
Live Data Feeds: Player performance metrics, event-triggered data points, and comprehensive match statistics are all available in real time through DSG.
Qualitative Analysis: Improve your viewer’s understanding of the game and offer detailed player performance metrics by utilizing advanced analytics to transform our raw data into useful high-quality insights.
Include Dynamic overlays: Dynamic overlays are customizable for live broadcasts and can provide player data, real-time statistics, and other pertinent information instantly. These overlays are effective and offer quick access to qualitative data. It also improves the viewing experience.
Offer Interactive Features: By letting viewers choose and see particular data points while the event is happening in real-time, interactive data overlays can keep viewers interested.
Deploy Ready-to-Use Graphics: Broadcasters can effortlessly incorporate a collection of pre-designed graphic templates from DSG into their live broadcasts. These templates are adaptable to various sports and occasions. You can even customize the graphics, it enables the creation of graphics according to certain specifications, guaranteeing a distinctive appearance and feel for every broadcast.
Campaigns Triggered by Events: Use match event data to automatically launch marketing campaigns. For instance, a sponsor's advertisement or a special offer may appear in response to a noteworthy achievement or milestone. Advertisements and campaigns that are pertinent to the ongoing events in the game are known as contextual advertising, and they boost both ad effectiveness and audience engagement.
Social Media Integration: To provide a more interactive viewing experience, real-time social media feeds that provide tweets, postings, and comments on the event are displayed.
The Future of Interactivity Rights in Sports
Interactivity rights are becoming increasingly popular across the entire sports spectrum. It is an Ecosystem bringing together stakeholders and monetizing interactive rights. It seems certain that in the future, our consumption of sports and entertainment will be significantly influenced by more interactive streaming. The distribution, monetization, and general quality of live sports broadcasts can all be greatly improved. Data Sports Group can help you improve the viewing experience, opening up new avenues for interaction and income production. Let’s Embrace and explore the future of interactive sports media together.
