Digital Media and Sport – Thematic Research

Digital Media and Sport Market Overview

Digital media is officially defined as video, audio, software, or any other content that is created, edited, stored, or accessed in a digital form. Among the most popular digital media platforms are sharing websites such as YouTube and Spotify, social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, service-oriented websites such as Uber and Airbnb, and knowledge-sharing platforms such as Quora and StackOverflow. Many of these platforms began their development in the late 2000s, and many now rank among the most visited and used places on the Internet.

Digital media revenue growth is expected to be strong over the next few years, as social media becomes more popular, and streaming platforms become even more of a fixture in the lives of everyday people. The emergence of new platforms has led to them becoming more restrictive in licensing their own content. For example, Disney+ exclusively owns the rights to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, while Netflix has several TV series that it has produced that are unavailable on other platforms. The market essentially forces consumers to hold multiple subscriptions to have access to a diverse range of content, which will naturally increase the number of subscriptions, and therefore, the amount of revenue.

Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and Southeast Asia are seeing particularly rapid audience growth. According to Newzoo, this is due to increased urbanization and advances in IT infrastructure, along with the popularity of mobile games, like PUBG and Garena Free Fire. In terms of recent viewing figures, League of Legends remains the most popular esports game in the world in terms of viewership.

What are the market dynamics for digital media and sport?

The explosion of internet sites, social media platforms, and online media has changed the way fans consume sports content. Many now set up social media feeds to follow their favorite teams and view short highlights, as well as following leagues via streaming services. The strategies that many major sports leagues and teams employ nowadays in the digital age are aimed at winning over new fans across the globe, broadening their appeal, and trying to increase the number of potential business opportunities, and with it, the amount of money that can be made.

There have been several successful examples of sports leagues forming strong links with foreign countries to bolster interest in their games. The NBA’s business ties to China are one such example, while Formula One has seen an explosion in popularity in the US in recent years, in large part due to the massive success of their Netflix documentary series, ‘Formula 1: Drive to Survive’. The gradual rise of OTT platforms has pushed other companies in the field to move towards live sports, as this is seen to be crucial to retain high viewing numbers for many broadcasters. Live sports are an incredibly valuable commodity that is viewed across the world by millions, and it could become the key piece for online streaming platforms to continue their upward growth moving forward.

Esports is another rapidly growing area that is looking to capitalize on the shifting landscape. Some 32% of internet users aged between 16 and 24 and 30% aged between 25 and 34 are esports viewers, according to a 2019 survey conducted by GlobalWebIndex. This demonstrates that ‘generation hashtag’ (which includes anyone born between 1991 and 2005) are the prime consumers of esports. This growth is consistent with the rise in popularity of digital media platforms, with key ecospheres on popular sites such as YouTube and Twitch entirely dedicated to esports.

There are many challenges facing up-and-coming streaming platforms, particularly those looking to make it in the field of sport. Streaming platforms need to ensure they have the technical capabilities to host live streams of events, as they must be capable of providing high-quality streams. Sporting events are likely to attract droves of fans, and platforms must be equipped to deal with the increased traffic they are likely to experience during game time. Both 5G and ongoing fiber deployments will help increase download speeds for platforms, which would address some of the issues regarding the quality and performance of streaming.

What is the value chain analysis of digital media and sport market?

The value chain for digital media in sports market is categorized in to 4 major layers namely content layer, channel layer, end users and revenue generators. Content layer is where content is produced, both by users and third parties. This content is then shared on digital media platforms. The evolution of sports into a global phenomenon is, in large part, due to the media channels that have brought sporting events to audiences worldwide. Industry partnerships and exclusive distribution rights are must-haves for these channels as they compete for audience share. The end users, in a sporting context, are the audience, whether they are watching in person or online.

Digital media and sport market, by value chain

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What are the key companies for digital media and sport market?

The Key companies for digital media in sports market are Amazon, DAZN, Facebook, Spotify, Twitch, twitter and YouTube. Amazon’s growth into one of the most profitable companies in the world has seen the giant venturing into different fields in an attempt to further expand its business. One such area is sports streaming, and they began making serious inroads when they secured rights to some Premier League games in 2018. DAZN, which was dubbed the ‘Netflix of sports’ upon its 2016 launch has achieved remarkable growth in recent years. Initially debuting in Germany and Japan, the network’s newly launched streaming service is now available in 200 countries. Facebook also dominates social media globally, with more than three billion people every month using Facebook’s family of apps, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. However, regulators are becoming increasingly concerned about the tech giant’s influence, while data privacy issues are still a significant concern after years of scrutiny.

Digital media and sport market, by key players

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Market report scope

Scope

• This report provides an overview of Digital Media, and how the industry has grown so massive in the last decade, to a point where people can make a full-time living using these platforms.
• The current trends dominating digital media, as well as the trendsetters leading the industry, and what sports leagues have capitalized the most during the boom of Digital Media.
• The report provides a detailed analysis of the potential future development of the Digital Media landscape, and what challenges it faces it in its immediate future.
• An in-depth look at the value chain for Digital Media, and what generates revenue for the biggest platforms in the sector.

Reasons to Buy

• For those wanting an in-depth analysis the current landscape of Digital Media, and how the sports world has begun to utilize digital media to maximize their own business.
• For those wanting a sense of the current performance of many of the dominant Digital Media platforms, and the difficulties and controversies they are currently facing to stay dominant in an extremely competitive and diluted market.
• Global Data’s thematic research ecosystem is a single, integrated global research platform that provides an easy-to-use framework for tracking all themes across all companies in all sectors. It has a proven track record of identifying the important themes early, enabling companies to make the right investments ahead of the competition, and secure that all-important competitive advantage.