Welcome to the third installment of our quick-read content series on D2C streaming. We hope we’ve given you some food for thought as you begin to strategise around meeting this key trend in sportstech for 2023.
This week: non-live content …
Live matches remain the main driver for uptake on streaming platforms. But the growing demand for non-live content was crystallized in the latest Nielsen Global Fan Report, which says that just under 40% of fans who watch non-live content related to a live event will do so digitally, with a small drop-off for non-live content not related to a live event.
Quite simply, this illustrates the huge opportunity that exists for sports organisations to drive transactional relationships with fans by providing access to an array of non-live content options – by offering subscriptions to premium content.
BEHIND-THE-SCENES CONTENT
Documentaries like 2020’s The Last Dance and many that have come after have provided plenty of evidence of the fans’ appetite for content that gives an inside look at their favorite teams and players. Offering behind-the-scenes footage, such as training sessions, locker room interviews, and travel diaries, can give fans a unique perspective on the sport and build deeper connections and loyalty.
Sports organisations that are able to independently produce this type of video content in a sustainable way will have a powerful advantage when it comes to attracting premium content subscriptions and growing your user base.
ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING
Original programming, such as documentaries, talk shows, and analysis, which are usually the preserve of broadcast partners, can provide added value to fans and differentiate your platform from competitors if you are able to produce this type of programming in-house or in collaboration with a production partner.
Production costs can be offset by providing corporate partners with an opportunity to sponsor this type of programming to cover 3rd-party costs and ensure basic production values are met. But high production values are not a pre-cursor to success. Rather, the goal should be to provide unique, original content that leverages a club’s unique access to players, club legends and more.
ARCHIVED CONTENT
Digitizing and making available archive content, such as classic games and historical moments, can appeal to nostalgia-driven fans and provide a new way to engage with your organisation’s history.
As covered in our blog on historical asset value, maximising the value of archived content hinges on the centralisation of old video content in a cloud library like PT’s DAM solution, that ensures the searchability and discoverability of assets.
PLAYER PROFILES
By bringing the player or athlete profile into your streaming platform creates an opportunity for increased player engagement and exposure, while positioning your platform as more than just a streaming platform but a fully-realised video OTT ecosystem.
PT’s Player Profile module can integrate with various stats modules, while linking via player tags to matches to allow for player specific video searches.
STATISTICS
It’s a numbers game … integration with a 3rd-party stats provider to serve relevant match day and player stats in real-time can give your watching fans the full picture and deeper analytical insight as match events unfold.
PT’s Match Centre leverages off our ability to integrate multiple data sources into a single API middle-tier, to cater for multiple providers and subscribers of stats data and provide a truly agnostic stats engine across web and app.
INTERACTIVE CONTENT
Including gamification elements in the form of man-of-the match polls or match predictors for example, can position your platform as more than just a streaming platform, creating engagement opportunities for fans and adding a new dimension to your platform’s offering – while rewarding fans for their engagement with subscription discounts or sponsored prizes that give commercial partners more value
The end goal is to create a community-centric digital matchday destination that offers so much more than a live stream, to foster memorable connections between your brand, fans and sponsors.
FAN-GENERATED CONTENT
Encouraging fans to submit their own content, such as fan-made videos and photos, can foster a sense of community and provide a way for fans to engage with your platform in a meaningful way.
Matchday Fan Challenges can serve to bring your platform alive – while giving at-home fans the digital means to capture the matchday experience and share with the wider watching community of fans on your platform.
This also provides additional digital inventory that can be marketed to sponsors wanting to run branded campaigns on your D2C streaming platform.
PT’s Video OTT Match Centre is a fully integrated D2C streaming solution for leagues, federations, tournaments and clubs that integrates with PT’s DAM, Stats Middle Layer, Fan UGC and Gamification modules to provide an immersive experience that goes beyond expectations of what live streaming should be.
