A new report by NAGRA has underlined the growth of OTT platforms amongst the world’s most highly regarded sports clubs.
The report, detailed the different approaches of both traditional pay television platforms and OTT platforms, outlining that TV platforms place a far greater focus on tier one rights. Whilst growing OTT platforms, such as DAZN, Eleven Sports and FloSports are aiming to utilise tier two and three rights to provide deeper value for money.
Nonetheless, according to a ScreenThink study, tier one rights continue to be prosperous element, which found that 36% of subscribers to Sky and 34% of subscribers to BT TV are paying for the platforms’ sought after sports content.
In terms of the offerings of leagues, providing a personalised OTT platform is something that has experienced far greater acceleration in the US than in Europe. However, La Liga this year joined the list of leagues offering an OTT platform, which despite it not offering live coverage, did pursue deeper fan engagement for the league.
Of the top leagues, in North America MLB, the NBA, the NFL and the NHL have all enjoyed success and heightened engagement with the OTT platforms.
Looking ahead, the report also detailed that Amazon provides arguably the most significant threat to the sports broadcasting sector, with the media giant making its debut on the Premier League broadcasting sector this season.
Amazon’s entry in UK Sports broadcasting was much anticipated, with many predicting that the group can play a key role in altering the shape of UK sports broadcasting.
The report also emphasised the need for a solution on the issue of live sports piracy, specifically of tier one sports, which remain a key offering for pay TV providers. Collaboration remains at the heart of any solution on the issue, with it being vital that rights owners, distribution platforms and policy makers for a united front in terms of combating piracy.
To download the full report, click here.
