Times change. Demographics change. Preferences change.
There was a report yesterday that not only is ESPN all in for Serie A, the top league in Italy, but it also inked a deal to televise the FA Cup, England's broad in-season tournament that affords opportunities for teams at the lowest club ranks to challenge the heavyweights. And one key aspect of all this is that ESPN was in serious talks with Serie A before Juventus acquired Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid. All these rights are US only.
Fox already televises Germany's Bundesliga in the US, and Bein televises La Liga in Spain in the US. I'm sure at some point someone will purchase the rights to televise France's La Ligue, which basically means the rights to Neymar and the Gang at PSG, Lyon (a fertile ground for developing players) and a few other decent teams (most of the teams in La Ligue just are not all that good, but La Ligue is still the fifth or sixth best league in the world).
More proof that there is pressure on the entertainment dollar in the United States. That pressure extends to how we receive our entertainment, as the investment community focuses on declining enrollment with the major cable companies. Consumer Reports even has gone so far as to advise its readers to move away from cable, get a good internet connection, and then purchase various packages from internet providers -- YouTube TV, Hulu, Netflix and the like, as well as packages from various leagues. Technology increases the pace of change, it increases our options, and it increases the demands on our discretionary spending. All of this means that selective viewers will find ways to avoid the compulsory offerings that come through cable subscriptions and elect to purchase what they really want to watch. That could mean that fewer viewers will watch games that are featured on cable in which they are not interested. My sense is that Major League Baseball could suffer further, as could, among others, college football and college basketball. Ice hockey probably will lead that group.
Oh, I know that football is easy to bet on and will have its watchers, if only because people will seek to recoup from west coast match-ups what they lost earlier in the day. I get that. But imagine a world where you can target what you want to watch and pay for it. Say you live in Boston -- you want a Boston package plus your favorite teams in the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A. My guess is that at some point you'll be able to zero in on those and only those teams. Somehow, the providers will figure out a way to give you only what you want.
The pace of change. . . it will accelerate. Meanwhile, Major League baseball keeps having longer games at a time when attention spans are shortening, keeps on charging more for concessions stands when innovators like Arthur Blank in Atlanta actually cut prices for football and soccer. $100 for parking in Dallas? $10 for a beer in places? $5 for a bottle of water?
The leagues and teams that figure out how to optimize the delivery of their product for those not in attendance will be the ones that thrive in the future. The ones that do not will be left scratching their heads wondering why.
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