Sometimes things are not exactly as they first seem.
Back in September 2017, when Facebook made a US$600 million bid for digital rights to the Indian Premier League (IPL), it was widely heralded as the dawn of the social media giant’s global assault on the live sports rights market. Or that, at least, is what the strategists selling those rights wanted you to believe.
At the time, American media mogul Rupert Murdoch labelled the ultimately unsuccessful IPL bid as a “warning shot”. Cue Facebook then being linked to virtually every major league rights package up for grabs in the next year.
Nearly two years on from that supposed watershed moment, however, Facebook is still finding its feet in the live sports market, and hasn’t yet morphed into the big, bad threat to traditional broadcasters that it was made out to be. What is more apparent is that Peter Hutton (right), the man hired last year from Eurosport to lead its live sports drive, has yet to deploy the infinite budget that many believed the company was preparing to splurge.
Instead, Facebook has continued to use global partnerships with lower-tier sports as a means of dipping its toe in the water, while also adding more flagship properties – such as Major League Baseball (MLB) in North America and La Liga in India – through geo-targeted deals in markets where the data is telling the company that it can reach the largest audience. Impressive early steps they may be, but they are hardly the kind of moves that will make established heads like ESPN, Sky Sports and Fox run for cover.
Last month came another indication that Facebook’s sports offering remains some way off the finished article, as reports emerged in South America that the company was set to lose exclusivity on its rights to the Copa Libertadores after viewers in the region apparently complained of streaming issues. Placed in the same context as news that MLB had trimmed its Facebook streaming deal from 19 games to just six for this season, the cynics needed no second invitation to suggest that the company was already in retreat.
Facebook recently agreed a content-sharing partnership with Fox Sports to secure more Copa Libertadores coverage in Latin America
Those particular rumours, though, proved to be wide of the mark. Not everything is as it first seems, you know, but Facebook did subsequently confirm a one-year content-sharing partnership with Fox Sports. The deal makes more games from the South American club soccer tournament available for free on the Watch platform, while the pay-TV broadcaster has gained access to all fixtures that were due to be shown exclusively on Facebook on Thursdays.
“It underlines the fact that we’re trying to learn about what works and what doesn’t work,” Hutton told me last week. “When you work at Facebook you’re constantly surrounded by data that shows how many people are watching online and streaming content, but I think we also have to be aware that there are groups in the population that aren’t doing that, and when you ask them to change to a different way of consuming content they care about, you’ve got to be really careful with making that journey.
It underlines the fact that we’re trying to learn about what works and what doesn’t work.
“So working with broadcasters is pretty normal for FB anyway, but I think particularly in this case you want to be a bit more careful about trying to change the way that people consume.”
As Hutton rightly pointed out, working with broadcasters isn’t out of character for Facebook. For its La Liga coverage in India, the company agreed a one-year sublicensing deal with Sony Pictures Networks to help develop a better understanding of how people adopt the content, where they consumed it, and which demographics watched the coverage where.
“Also from my point of view it’s about taking people on a journey where they’re going to consume in a different way,” Hutton added. “Different people adopt new technology at different speeds, and trying to persuade my dad to use the VHS recorder is still relevant now when it comes down to getting people to watch games online on their phone.
“I’m a big believer in regularity, and getting people to access content on a regular basis makes the whole process easier, and people then go off and use different Facebook tools, whether it be creating groups, watch parties or doing other things with the content, because they’re familiar with the platform.”
Facebook scaled back its coverage of live MLB games for 2019 in favour of a focus on more short-form content
Indeed, Facebook’s venture into live sports is happening against the backdrop of a constantly changing media landscape, and one which is becoming increasingly difficult to predict. A recent forecast from equity research company Cowen claimed that over-the-top (OTT) adoption by consumers between the ages of 18 and 29 has stabilised, and that more generally it is showing the first signs of slowing. It is hardly the perfect storm for migrating large audiences to a new viewing experience.
With that in mind, and no subscriber fees to fall back on, a cautious, collaborative approach is likely to remain the best recipe for a platform that has long been a trend-setter in the realm of social media but is still trying to find the right formula when it comes to sports broadcasting.
It’s about taking people on a journey where they’re going to consume in a different way.
Facebook has repeatedly trumpeted the notion that it can help both broadcasters and sports organisations reach more people, but in truth it is by working with those entities that the company – by seeing whether sports fans are drawn to its blend of short-form video, original programming and live content – will determine whether to throw further financial weight behind its sports drive.
If nothing else, then, Facebook’s moves up to this point have shown that the noise which echoed out of its IPL bid was perhaps a little premature. As Hutton noted, people adopt new technology at different speeds, implying that the company will continue to patiently bide its time before reaching for marquee rights packages in major markets.
For now, Facebook appears content with taking part, rather than taking over. These are still early days, of course, but it seems apt that a platform built on the pillars of friendship is assuming a collaborative stance as it paves a path for itself in the often volatile world of live sport.
Sometimes things are not exactly as they first seem.
Back in September 2017, when Facebook made a US$600 million bid for digital rights to the Indian Premier League (IPL), it was widely heralded as the dawn of the social media giant’s global assault on the live sports rights market. Or that, at least, is what the strategists selling those rights wanted you to believe.
At the time, American media mogul Rupert Murdoch labelled the ultimately unsuccessful IPL bid as a “warning shot”. Cue Facebook then being linked to virtually every major league rights package up for grabs in the next year.
Nearly two years on from that supposed watershed moment, however, Facebook is still finding its feet in the live sports market, and hasn’t yet morphed into the big, bad threat to traditional broadcasters that it was made out to be. What is more apparent is that Peter Hutton, the man hired last year from Eurosport to lead its live sports drive, has yet to deploy the infinite budget that many believed the company was preparing to splurge.
Instead, Facebook has continued to use global partnerships with lower-tier sports as a means of dipping its toe in the water, while also adding more flagship properties – such as Major League Baseball (MLB) in North America and La Liga in India – through geo-targeted deals in markets where the data is telling the company that it can reach the largest audience. Impressive early steps they may be, but they are hardly the kind of moves that will make established heads like ESPN, Sky Sports and Fox run for cover.
Last month came another indication that Facebook’s sports offering remains some way off the finished article, as reports emerged in South America that the company was set to lose exclusivity on its rights to the Copa Libertadores after viewers in the region apparently complained of streaming issues. Placed in the same context as news that MLB had trimmed its Facebook streaming deal from 19 games to just six for this season, the cynics needed no second invitation to suggest that the company was already in retreat.
Those particular rumours, though, proved to be wide of the mark. Not everything is as it first seems, you know, but Facebook did subsequently confirm a one-year content-sharing partnership with Fox Sports. The deal makes more games from the South American club soccer tournament available for free on the Watch platform, while the pay-TV broadcaster has gained access to all fixtures that were due to be shown exclusively on Facebook on Thursdays.
“It underlines the fact that we’re trying to learn about what works and what doesn’t work,” Hutton told me last week. “When you work at Facebook you’re constantly surrounded by data that shows how many people are watching online and streaming content, but I think we also have to be aware that there are groups in the population that aren’t doing that, and when you ask them to change to a different way of consuming content they care about, you’ve got to be really careful with making that journey.
“So working with broadcasters is pretty normal for FB anyway, but I think particularly in this case you want to be a bit more careful about trying to change the way that people consume.”
As Hutton rightly pointed out, working with broadcasters isn’t out of character for Facebook. For its La Liga coverage in India, the company agreed a one-year sublicensing deal with Sony Pictures Networks to help develop a better understanding of how people adopt the content, where they consumed it, and which demographics watched the coverage where.
“Also from my point of view it’s about taking people on a journey where they’re going to consume in a different way,” Hutton added. “Different people adopt new technology at different speeds, and trying to persuade my dad to use the VHS recorder is still relevant now when it comes down to getting people to watch games online on their phone.
“I’m a big believer in regularity, and getting people to access content on a regular basis makes the whole process easier, and people then go off and use different Facebook tools, whether it be creating groups, watch parties or doing other things with the content, because they’re familiar with the platform.”
Indeed, Facebook’s venture into live sports is happening against the backdrop of a constantly changing media landscape, and one which is becoming increasingly difficult to predict. A recent forecast from equity research company Cowen claimed that over-the-top (OTT) adoption by consumers between the ages of 18 and 29 has stabilised, and that more generally it is showing the first signs of slowing. It is hardly the perfect storm for migrating large audiences to a new viewing experience.
With that in mind, and no subscriber fees to fall back on, a cautious, collaborative approach is likely to remain the best recipe for a platform that has long been a trend-setter in the realm of social media but is still trying to find the right formula when it comes to sports broadcasting.
Facebook has repeatedly trumpeted the notion that it can help both broadcasters and sports organisations reach more people, but in truth it is by working with those entities that the company – by seeing whether sports fans are drawn to its blend of short-form video, original programming and live content – will determine whether to throw further financial weight behind its sports drive.
If nothing else, then, Facebook’s moves up to this point have shown that the noise which echoed out of its IPL bid was perhaps a little premature. As Hutton noted, people adopt new technology at different speeds, implying that the company will continue to patiently bide its time before reaching for marquee rights packages in major markets.
For now, Facebook appears content with taking part, rather than taking over. These are still early days, of course, but it seems apt that a platform built on the pillars of friendship is assuming a collaborative stance as it paves a path for itself in the often volatile world of live sport.
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