Pandemic Effect on Live Sporting Content
Pandemic Effect on Live Sporting Content | Patrick McTiernan
With the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world called to question nations should battle the outbreak, how to limit human-to-human contact, and how to keep all of their citizens safe from this 21st-century disease.
Without hesitation, all professional sports were out of the equation. Even though a massive stream of income, televised sports are not essential to human life. In-person, live sporting events were brought to a halt in March 2020, as the virus had swept from West China to Europe and was making contact with the United States at an alarming rate.
The First to Advance
As all professional sports were on hiatus, the first major organization to return to live streaming was the UFC, the pinnacle organization of mixed martial arts. UFC 249 took place in Jacksonville, Florida with no fan attendance. As other sports (e.g. basketball, football, hockey, rowing) were still adjusting to the challenges that the year 2020 brought to us, mixed martial arts was the sport that won the race to fastest live sports event return after the arrival of the virus in North America. The UFC profited greatly for their safety measures and commitment to holding daily testing and giving the world a live contest in the dark, confusing, early days of the pandemic.
With mobile surpassing desktop in popularity this past decade, much of the UFC fight content was synthesized for mobile and was recycled by apps like YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat for their breathtaking action shots and post-fight speeches, which each winning fighter takes part in while standing in the octagon beside Joe Rogan.
The eight faced of a mixed martial arts cage art distinct from a square-shaped boxing ring or wrestling mat.
Live content catches your audience’s attention. Relevance and prominence, especially in sport, is huge for harvesting interest. Take the NBA Bubble from the 2020 season. The $1B project in Orlando, Florida brought COVID doctors, medical staff, hotel staff, NBA players, coaches, and broadcasters to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex within Walt Disney World. In the name of safety, no one was then allowed to leave their hotel room after negative testing. For the sake of content, the nature of competition, and promoting their brand, The NBA went to tremendous lengths to entertain the masses in the summer of 2020, a time when the supply of competitive sporting events was far beneath the demand. In doing so, the Los Angeles Lakers won their 17th championship in franchise history.
On October 11, 2020, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Miami Heat to win the 2020 NBA Championship. The execution and high intensity of these NBA athletes playing in empty arenas made everyone richer, both monetarily and socially. Brands pay big money to foresee where a large audience will be watching simultaneously. With today’s rapid news cycle, 24/7 access to information, and overcrowding of advertisements, today’s consumers are more hardened and selective with their commitment to pay close attention. When Francis Ngannou knocked out Jairzinho Rozensruik on May 9, 2020, at UFC 249, the UFC and its sponsors (Modelo, Monster, Reebok to name a few) received good publicity as that live sports spectacle, Ngannou’s left-handed knockout, digitally appeared in the mobile device of millions. Viewers and consumers’ attention was instantly drawn toward the UFC’s product, and the opportunity for brands to reach such a high number of engaged consumers is priceless.
Later in 2020, the UFC’s purchase of an island along the shore of the United Arab Emirates, paying for extreme renovations and dubbing it Fight Island was a performance and publicity stunt gone right. The white-sand island was a spectacle, and digital media content, specifically on mobile, did wonders for the UFC and their draw. #fightisland #inabudhabi #UFC all became trending hashtags and prominent topics of discussion.
Time is Money
Strategies on providing live and non-live video content were similar in practice after the pandemic just as they were before any of us knew what coronavirus was. However, the social distancing and cultural concern did have a significant impact on the value of real, undistracted time. More specifically, the time for an analyst to ask questions to someone like Andre Drummond, a center for the Lakers. With the NBA as well as other leagues enforcing safety measures within arenas at all times, journalists and reporters are left with no time to ease their way into asking bold questions. Questions are raised directly and promptly toward athletes during this time of coveted live content.
A billion-dollar company, the UFC profits from their shows primarily in the number of pay-per-view buys. Working with ESPN, a Saturday evening UFC card can be purchased on ESPN+ for $70. People who choose not to pay the handsome fee or risk torrenting an illegal stream can wait a number of hours after the end of the card to see clips, GIFs, memes, commentary, parodies, sketches and breakdowns from the live content on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and other places. The continuity of Saturday evening fights provided by Dana White and the UFC is impressive and the events, which have taken place in the United States and UAE since the pandemic, have increased public awareness, human interest, and digital media content growth in the months since.
Why Stream Your Events Live?
Streaming your events live, like the UFC does through ESPN+ or NBA does through ABC/ESPN, is great for establishing your brand’s hours of operation. With sports fans wanting to be close to the action, there’s nothing more relevant than what’s happening now. Recorded benefits for recording live content is below:
Live Streaming Video Could Generate a Bigger Audience
Live Streamed Video Gives Your Content Urgency
Live Streaming Video Content can Whip Up Human Conversation (in this case, think of a game-winning three, a kickboxing knockout or a stick save by one of the NHL’s finest)
Live Streamed Video Could Open New Opportunities for Revenue
Live Streaming Video Content Could Make You Stand out From the Crowd (especially when in the market of live sports there was zero activity prior to UFC breaking through)
An August 2020 article by Sports Pro Media showed that the UFC has experienced growth over the past year. In fact, 3 of the company’s top-5 most-watched pay-per-view (PPV) events have occurred since the pandemic and the UFC has been around since the 1990s. With digital content surging in popularity, the UFC moved safely and swiftly to cash in and grow their brand in the space of combat sports during a dry time for sporting. Matt Kenny, ESPN’s vice president of programming and acquisitions, stated “What we’re finding is that the UFC continues to grow on our platforms … There is always competition and we want to provide our consumers the most choice.”
Seeking Entertainment
2020 saw a growth in the number of mobile phone users of 2.4%. With now 5.19 billion humans said to be using mobile phones, the capability of reach in content such as viral sports is staggering. Especially for the UFC, an organization that promotes fighters extensively, especially champion fighters who hail from unexpected corners of the Earth (e.g. Francis Ngannou - Cameroon; Israel Adesanya, New Zealand; Jan Blachowicz, Poland). Each of these athletes connects their brand to their national pride. With social media users growing by 9% between January 2019 and January 2020, live digital media content has a higher ceiling of public interest than ever before.
In conclusion, despite the hardships that the pandemic brought to all levels of business, it is inspiring to see sports organizations such as the NBA and UFC step up and set the precedent for rival businesses moving forward.
https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/ufc-espn-ppv-viewership-mma-dana-white-coronavirus
https://www.insider.com/inside-fight-island-the-ufcs-most-ambitious-project-of-2020-7
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/02/18/emerging-change/
https://www.ufc.com/news/ufc-fight-island-where-ufc-fight-island-fight-island-schedule-and-more
https://www.webanalyticsworld.net/video-guides/the-true-benefits-of-live-streaming-your-events