Consumers Lose when Broadcasters and Rights Holders move the Goalposts

The rise of women’s football – particularly since the 2019 World Cup – has been impressive. So much so, here in Australia Optus Sport has acquired the rights to show Barclays FA Women’s Super League (WSL), to compliment their Premier League coverage.

Source: The FA.com

Which is great news. For fans, it simply means more football, right?

No. No, it doesn’t.

Because the truth is fans in Australia now have LESS access to WSL games than we already did.

Reports positioned it as Optus bringing WSL to Australia, and highlighted the growing appeal of the league as a product, but curiously omitted the fact that it would result in fewer games being available. This is despite Optus including it in their own media release, albeit as little more than a footnote:

As a result of Optus Sport securing the rights, live Barclays FA WSL matches on The FA Player will be geo-blocked in Australia as of November 17, 2019.

Yep. In securing exclusive broadcast rights Optus has blocked streaming on the official FA Player app in Australia. It had shown all games live and offered a (from experience, robust) Chromecast option so watching games on TV was quick and easy.

Optus, however, doesn’t show all games. It offers 2 live games per round and a packaged highlights show to cover the remainder. Which leaves consumers (viewers) with less, despite rights-holders making more money.

Part of the WSL’s growing appeal are the clubs: Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea all have teams, which attract viewers across from the monster that is the Premier League. I’m interested in the WSL as a whole; but my focus and initial reason for watching is to follow Arsenal (for my sins).

The Optus deal means I can’t unless the Arsenal game is being shown – or I find a way around the geo-blocking.

And that raises questions about the real value in acquiring a league that leaves the genuine fans (and realistically, I don’t think we yet have casual WSL fans) unable to watch their team play live.

Especially when they could – free and legally – 10 weeks ago.

Financial support of the women’s game is great. The game will grow, and more investment means the professionalism and quality will increase, while the move of Australian players to the league will only lift its popularity here; as evidenced by Optus securing the rights.

Optus Sport has been a very welcome development for football coverage in Australia, and is being watched by the Premier League as they look at how best to capitalise on their asset moving forward.

But it rankles to see consumers lose out when business intrudes.

Is Sport the Best Game in Town for Marketers?

A (sponsored) piece this week in Marketing Mag looks at sport in the marketing mix. Overlooking my hatred for the term engagement, it raises some interesting points.

For context: I like sport, so I look at this from the middle ground of curious marketing professional AND target audience. This middle ground is admittedly anecdotal, but worth investigating.

Anne Parsons is absolutely right in saying ‘sport is the content choice that will always deliver a mass audience’. It’s demonstrated clearly in the value of broadcast rights, and in viewing figures. In a fragmenting industry offering more and more options for audiences, live sport is a constant.

But is there a high level of engagement for the sponsorship and advertising communications around the action? Surely the audience is sold as ‘highly engaged’ because it is absorbed in the actual game?

Parsons also makes two claims I can’t agree with. She writes: ‘what occurs in the two-and-a-half hours of an AFL match is the stuff that is then talked about at water coolers around the country for the rest of the week’.

With all due respect, this may betray the fact she’s not a sports fan herself.

From experience across sports, countries and environments, the ‘water cooler’ talk is heavily weighted towards the next game. As such, any marketing communications audiences were exposed to during the broadcast are no longer relevant (if recalled at all, which we’ll get to). The focus isn’t on the broadcast as a whole. What matters is the game, and how it shapes expectations for fans as they move towards the next one.

The article also states ‘[the consumer’s] level of animation and care…. is reflected in their attention to the game and their receptivity to the messages they receive as part of that environment’.

Did you spot the contradiction? ‘Attention to the game’ by definition precludes an ability to be receptive to ‘the messages they receive as part of that environment’. Don’t mistake watching the minutiae of the game for focussing on the broadcast as a whole.

Keep in mind the score, timeclock and other statistics taking up screen space. As a fan there’s a lot of constantly updating information to absorb before you can even think about peripherals like in-stadium advertising and broadcast sponsors.

This is borne out in a 2016 study by Ho Keat Leng, with research demonstrating that ‘when spectators were more involved in the…event, there was a significant decrease in the number of brands recalled’.

Not ideal if you’re paying big money.

Sport delivers a vast audience. But you risk wasting your marketing budget unless data reveals your target audience and its sport-viewing habits are genuinely receptive to the execution and delivery of your message. And this is usually only realistic for big brands.

Better ROI for SMBs may be driven by thinking broader than advertising during broadcasts, or at the ground. Consider other options available in your market.

Does a local team offer individual player sponsorships? Do TV and radio outlets in your market have weekly player segments you can sponsor or align your brand with? Look at popular sports podcasts you can partner with.

There may even be more value by investigating grassroots opportunities in markets around you.

Sport is big business, but leveraging it for measurably successful marketing demands an analytical approach and smart thinking.

In this game, due diligence is everything.