Sports Distribution and Media Rights

Abstract

The issue of media rights has transformed the nature and process of sport at the elite level. Where once, clubs relied mainly on revenue from ticketing strategy, this has moved to the revenue emanating from the sale of media rights. In essence, this is the way in which sports property owners distribute its sport to ensure that fans have access to live games, events, competitions and also highlights. We note that in some instances, in particular, European football, revenue from this source can generate as much as fifty to sixty per cent of the total revenue stream.

We assess the role played by pay-per-view channels since the early 1990s and the business model which they use to retain control over sports media rights.

We have seen the arrival of the FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google) into the media rights arena. They provide a more flexible and cheaper option for fans and operate a business model which is referred to as “Over-the-Top” (OTT). Essentially, this cuts out the need for a fixed cable or satellite dish.

We consider issues such as piracy, streaming and geo-blocking in the latter stages of this chapter.

Appendix

Discussion Questions

• 1. Assess the strategy employed by the PSA to expand the sport of squash globally.

• 2. Do you think they have done enough to convince the International Olympic Committee to include squash in future Summer Olympic Games?

• 3. Identify other initiatives that could further enhance the profile of squash, particularly with respect to the value of its sports media rights.

5.1 Squashed. Anyone for Tennis?

The sports of tennis and squash are very different in terms of the number of people who participate in these sports, particularly in areas such as the popularity of the sports, the level of exposure that the sports generate in the media and the awareness that sports fans have of the top players. Tennis is a global sport (but not at the ubiquitous level of football). Squash is a niche sport, although played by many people globally.

Squash has suffered traditionally from challenges in making it an attractive sport to watch on television. How can you make it interesting when it involves players repeatedly hitting the ball up against a wall? Due to the speed of the action in such a confined space, it has been difficult for TV viewers to sight the ball.

The 1980s and 1990s could be described as its peak period in terms of popularity. Administrators moved to the use of glass walls which allowed TV cameras to come up with a more diverse and interesting use of cameras and angles. It also had very marketable superstars such as Jahangir and Jansher Khan. It continues to be a very popular sport in the Asian market.

Gaining TV coverage tended to be problematic in key markets such as Europe and North America over the past couple of decades. Audiences declined and sponsors dropped out and were not replaced to any significant extent.

Despite applying on a regular basis for inclusion as an Olympic sport, it has consistently failed to achieve this distinction. This means that the sport misses out on a regular opportunity to showcase its merits (a skilful, strenuous and challenging sport) to a global audience.

In some key markets (in terms of media coverage), it is perceived as an elitist sport. For instance in the USA it is a sport that mainly features in the top universities sports arenas (the Ivy League).

On a positive note, in the US market, because it appeals to the elite segment of the market, it has attracted a number of prestigious brands as sponsors. These include companies such as J.P. Morgan and Delaware Investments.

The Tennis Channel is an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network that is owned by The Tennis Channel, Inc., and a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group. It is devoted to events and other programming related to the game of tennis, along with other racquet sports such as badminton and racquetball.

In March 2015, the Tennis Channel partnered with the Professional Squash Association to cover some of the major events and competitions.

Some commentators queried the rationale for this partnership. Although both sports come under the general heading of “racquet” sports, as we mentioned at the beginning, they are quite different in terms of their global reach and appeal.

From the perspective of the Tennis Channel programming, it did not disrupt or reduce their coverage of tennis tournaments. It simply extended its product line, and in their view, allowed them to cover a complementary sport.

The deal was designed to cover ten Professional Squash Association (PSA) tournaments throughout the year; covering male and female events.

The Tennis Channel reaches out to thirty-five million viewers globally. This rises to around fifty-five million during the four “Grand Slam” tournaments. For the PSA, it provides an opportunity to go beyond their traditional fan-base and give it more coverage. They also hoped that by acquiring a higher profile it would help the sport to achieve its long-running goal of achieving Olympic status.

While it is difficult to assess the potential financial arrangements, the Tennis Channel has stated that the PSA will take a share of any advertising that comes from the squash programming. This would not initially be very high, due to the relatively limited appeal and reach of squash, but both parties are working on the expectation that this will build over time.

This raises the issue of balancing the potential revenue that might be generated from such a partnership, against the need to build the viewer base and widen the appeal of the sport of squash.

The PSA also runs its own online TV channel: Squash TV. This provides live streaming of events to its existing squash viewers.

In late 2015 the PSA entered into a partnership with Eurosport to provide an OTT media rights deal. As part of the five-year deal, which was signed in conjunction with Broadreach Media, Eurosport will effectively migrate the PSA’s Squash TV player onto its own digital on-demand platform, Eurosport Player. The deal guarantees coverage of 500 hours of squash per year.

From 1st January 2016, all Squash TV tournaments will be shown live and exclusively in their entirety throughout Europe via Eurosport Player, while selected highlights from major tournaments such as the British Open, US Open, PSA World Series Finals and PSA World Championship will be broadcast throughout Europe via the network’s mainstream linear channels.

“Eurosport is committed to fuel fans’ passion everywhere by delivering the best sport’s experience all year round and Eurosport Player is the perfect platform to deliver on this commitment to squash fans across Europe.”

PSA chief executive Alex Gough said, “Since taking responsibility for TV rights ‘in-house’ in January, our global television reach has more than doubled as we have added major networks such as BeIn Sport, BT Sport, Super Sports, Ten Sports, Tennis Channel and more to our portfolio and Eurosport is the latest top-class network to join this growing list. The agreement will take our product and the exploits of our players into millions of new homes and expose the sport to an entirely new audience across Europe in what is a massive moment in the history of squash broadcasting.”

Evidence of how successful their arrangements have been is captured in the following quote from the PSA.

“Six months after taking responsibility for broadcast rights in-house in partnership with Broadreach Media, the Professional Squash Association (PSA) has announced record growth in television exposure during the first half of 2015”.

The PSA’s global reach has more than doubled since January with major networks such as Astro, BeIn Sport, BT Sport, Fox Sports Australia, Sky Sports NZ, Super Sports, Ten Sports and Tennis Channel having already signed agreements that sees televised coverage of semi-finals and finals from the sport’s biggest events taken to over 200 million homes across 88 countries worldwide.

With that growth set to continue throughout the 2015-16 season, squash will be taken to more homes around the world than ever before as men’s and women’s professional squash continues to expand its global presence and the sport continues to push for inclusion within the 2020 Olympic Games Programme. (PSA press release; August 2015).

Additionally, the PSA has also announced that squash would become the first racquet sport ever to be broadcast live in UltraHD in the UK.

The historic broadcast occurred during the 2015 AJ Bell British Squash Grand Prix, which took place in Manchester in September, when the semi-finals and final were shown live on BT Sport in HD and UltraHD on Sunday, 13 September and Monday, 14 September.

Jamie Hindhaugh, Chief Operating Officer, BT Sport and BT TV, said: “BT Sport has enjoyed supporting the PSA since our broadcast partnership was announced in January this year. We look forward to bringing squash fans the 2015 AJ Bell British Squash Grand Prix in ultra-high-definition later this year.”

The PSA World Tour began a new partnership with production company MOOV.tv in January introducing many enhancements to the sport’s coverage, including radio and robotic cameras. However, this latest advancement is set to really showcase the sport in a new light.

“UltraHD is 4 times the detail of the current HD format and will bring squash to life on television like never before,” said MOOV.tv Director, Nev Appleton. “The picture quality is stunning, you feel like you are actually at the event, giving the viewer the best seat in the house is always the objective. It doesn’t stop there, The BT Sport UltraHD truck is equipped with the world’s first UHD ChyronHego graphics engines offering razor sharp graphics certainly adding to the ‘wow’ factor.”

Sources: adapted from: Emmett, James (2015) “Eurosport signs landmark squash deal”. Sports Pro. Available at ► http://www.sportspromedia.com/news/eurosport_signs_landmark_squash_deal.

PSA (2015) “Record numbers exposed to squash in 2015”. Available at: 13th August. (Accessed October 2016)