January 17, 2024
ScorePlay, in collaboration with LNB, recently hosted its first in-person event, showcasing a series of thought-provoking workshops around digital transformation in basketball leagues, ahead of the NBA game in Paris. It explored new frontiers in sports broadcasting, digital innovation in sports clubs, and athlete brand building. Here is a roundup of all the sessions and takeaways:
Thomas Plessis, Head of Sales at ScorePlay, discussed the evolution of OTT platforms in sports, emphasising the need for quick distribution, content quality, and the integration of various cultural elements to broaden audience reach. There needs to be mutual growth between broadcasts, clients, leagues and teams, as mutual cooperation helps better cater to everyone’s needs. Lilian Baudard from SKWEEK and Moritz Muecke from Dyn Media also debated with Thomas how they benefit from working with ScorePlay and the importance of growing leagues beyond profitability and revenue to expand the media content sphere, creating more reach.
Joining Paul Mingarelli, Business Development Manager at ScorePlay were Alessio Mara from the Swiss Football League and Christophe Charmoile from LFP. They highlighted the shift towards digital strategies in sports clubs and how innovation isn’t budget-dependent. No matter what size the club or team is, what one club needs is 99% of the time what all the others need as well. They may be opponents on the field, but they all have the core aim of helping the sport grow.
Digital is now becoming a mindset and it’s here to change the way revenue is made for clubs. Everything new in the world of content monetisation, ticketing, and match-day in terms of revenue generation comes from digital, especially for the new generations of fans. This is leading to the creation of new(er) and updated metrics such as “Fan Engagement”, “Fan Journey”, and “User Experience”, which will help determine success for evolution. Even though smaller clubs have an increased challenge for CRM and content creation, it doesn’t take a PSG-like budget for digital innovation to be a success - in fact, many “middle tier” clubs are the best at this.
Lastly, Athletico Ventures Founder Arthur Bernard and Etienne Boutan, Co-Founder of DEIMOS joined ScorePlay’s CEO and Co-Founder Victorien Tixier to explore how athletes are building their brands and engaging in sports tech ventures. This highlighted the importance of efficient content creation and the diverse contributions they bring to businesses. Players currently look at investments as a way to build their brands outside of sport - without realising it, a lot of athletes became a business by themselves and with such a limited amount of time, efficiency is key.
They bring a lot more to the table for business than just their image, it has been emphasised so many times by António Caçorino, APEX’s CEO and one of ScorePlay’s investors: last September, APEX announced their new €50 million (US $54.8 million) athlete-driven fund, backed by Manchester United’s Raphael Varane, F1’s Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz Jr., amongst others. According to António, “Professional athletes' individual brand capital is a crucial, often ignored, value driver.” Gen Z engages more with athletes than clubs, so their brands mustn’t get forgotten, as the value of a “sports asset is directly correlated with the level of fan and sponsor engagement”. Read more here.
After the workshop and some networking, all the guests headed to Accor Arena to attend the Nets vs Cavs game, during which Cleveland emerged victorious by defeating the Brooklyn Nets with a score of 111-102. In a digital-first world, getting together with clients and prospects is still one of the best ways to connect on a real level, and use each other’s knowledge to better your sport and league. If you can do so while watching an NBA game… well, even better.
You can find a content roundup of the whole event here.
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