You wouldn’t ask your Head Physio to cook the pies on a match day, so why do many professional sports bodies ask their media teams to create content that is outside of their core competencies?
Fan-facing content is undoubtedly an important part of any Rights-holders commercial strategy. Not only does it bring supporters closer to the sport and allow them to forge their own narrative, but it also can prove to be a valuable revenue stream – but only if the outputted resource can match the cash coming in.
Let’s take football clubs as an example who are, in the main, leading the line in terms of digital content creation within sport.
For years the perceived wisdom has been that as well as running the day-to-day activities of a football club they should also function as a media house creating video, social and audio content for the fans.
As Roger Mitchell, Founder at Albachiara SAGL pointed out on a recent episode of the Unofficial Partner podcast, that viewpoint is now beginning to change:
“Sports are now starting to say, that’s not my core competence. I will never be good enough to do that because no matter how good I get at it, the management and ownership time that is dedicated to what I do compared to the player side is a fraction. Saving through efficiency, better recruitment better selling on the player side massively outweighs whatever you do on the revenue, it’s not even close. I think smart owners are starting to realise this now and they’re saying, not only shouldn’t I do this internally and how can I get into a partnership way of doing it?”
Roger Mitchell, Founder of Albachiara SAGL
That’s not to say that Rights-holders should just totally abandon the idea of content creation as B2C communication but rather they should find the right partners to deliver it on their behalf to improve efficiency, and quality and allow them to focus on the most important parts of their jobs.
Outsourcing this content also allows Rights-holders to find the right content creators for their target medium and audience rather than relying on whoever happens to be within their content team. Finding content producers that truly understand the medium of delivery and the tone required to reach an audience can dramatically improve the effectiveness, engagement, and impact of any piece of audio.
We need to hire producers that reflect our audience. That relatability between who’s asking the question, who’s doing the filming, who’s speaking to the athlete and brand.
Stephen Sidlo, Head of Media at Airspeeder (Speaking at the Broadcast Sports Round Table)
Outsourcing production can sometimes however be an expensive option compared to using internal resources. This is why it’s important to take a similar approach to the commercial side. Although the digital revenue may not compare to that of player acquisitions and transfers there is still significant money on the table.
At Sport Social Podcast Network, we are a trusted partner of official Rights-holder and our offering considers both sides of this conversation. Firstly, we have a production team that knows how to use audio to connect to fans and audiences, taking into consideration the values and voice of our Rights-holder partners. Secondly, we understand the value of audio/media as official content based on the value of both the content itself and of partnership.
This gives our partner clubs, teams and official bodies total confidence that not only can we create content that connects to their fans and delivers their values but also that they can achieve full commercial value from that content, making it more cost-effective than using internal resources.
It’s time that Rights-holders take the same approach to podcasting as I take to plumbing! I could have a go at fixing that leaking tap, but it would be quicker, easier, probably cheaper and lead to a much better job (and happier wife) if I got a professional to do the job.