Broadcast options for Australian Rugby

[Jimmy_Crouch]

It's nothing to do with me 'be[ing] better than that'. How woefully patronising. Especially when you make implicit assertions to justify such statements re RA's intentions not backed up by any evident factual data.

There is simply zero evidence that RA have 'taken the rights to the market to seek out these types of solutions [as @mst and I have been outlining]'. The clear evidence from RA on this media rights-bidding front is that genuine visual and related innovation for the viewer is way down their list of priorities, even if it is on on the list at all as priority no 37. Rather, the evidence in the RA bidding rights process so far is that 'we want max $s for the rights whomever will pay'. The candidates seem to be Optus Sport and Foxtel, with Ch 10 somewhere in the FTA background.

Streaming over IP is not in itself deep viewer-driven presentational innovation, as such it's just another means of shipping out a video signal.

Optus Sport - for example - is principally cast in 720p - dinosauric as a video delivery standard - with very little state-of-the-art visual delivery innovation if any. Fox Sports traditional format delivery of rugby and its appallingly not-innovative tired commentators shows no signs whatsoever that they would invest - for niche rugby - in the kind of presentational and visual display innovation as @mst has been highlighting in the NDRA examples.

There may have been cases where local teams did a certain amt of video deconstruction of the type you suggest, but this is a world away from using such techniques in the form required for mass visualisation, presentation and user selectivity.

Going to market for a solution is the most progressive decision the board has made since 1995. They are not broadcast experts have asked the market to respond. Potshots at RA board is just lazy and I do expect more from a prolific poster on these forums.

You crack at me for making a statement but where is your "evident factual data" that they are not seeking innovative solutions? What "clear evidence from RA" do you have? The evidence I cite is the RFT.

In terms of an actual decision, it is a fine balancing act when your revenue is so strongly tied to the media earn and sometimes the pace of progression needs to be slower than some people would like. Relevance of rugby in Australia after this broadcast agreement if they aren't progressive enough would be something interesting to discuss.

 

[half]

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer...-sports-broadcast-rights-20200303-p546k5.html

A billion-dollar behemoth is wading into Australia's sports rights fight, with DAZN set to launch a streaming service that could emerge as a serious competitor to Fox Sports and Optus.
.

Arguably the best part of this news is a new broadcaster with big big dollars to bid against others.

As I said in the original post this is a growing company with big big big dollars.

I spoke to someone online about the quality of their coverage and they say its brilliant .

A New Kid is in Town. And he has money to spend.

 

[qwerty51]

DAZN is big. Great news.

 

[dru]

DAZN is big. Great news.

Somewhat fortuitous and very welcome.

 

[barbarian]

I can't see any of these companies bidding on the rights this time around, though.

I fear our timing might see us be a year too early for the new streaming services, but a year too late for the traditional networks.

 

[RedsHappy]

Going to market for a solution is the most progressive decision the board has made since 1995. They are not broadcast experts have asked the market to respond. Potshots at RA board is just lazy and I do expect more from a prolific poster on these forums.

You crack at me for making a statement but where is your "evident factual data" that they are not seeking innovative solutions? What "clear evidence from RA" do you have? The evidence I cite is the RFT.

In terms of an actual decision, it is a fine balancing act when your revenue is so strongly tied to the media earn and sometimes the pace of progression needs to be slower than some people would like. Relevance of rugby in Australia after this broadcast agreement if they aren't progressive enough would be something interesting to discuss.

I'm sorry, but 'going to market via an RFT for a media rights deal' is what _all_ even half-decently managed sports codes and their CEOs do re media rights, just par for the course and common sense business.

That RA has not done so in the past is hardy a basis for congratulations and hoopla jumps that they have in 2020 corrected their ways (it is also conceivable that in the past that the informal market soundings they took indicated no party bar Foxtel was interested in the rights at anything like the $ price levels as was Foxtel at those time junctures).

Equally a media rights RFT process per se does not mean that any genuine presentational or technology-led innovation in code delivery is being sought. What you stated in your first post above on this subject was that the RA RFT process assuredly indicated that RA was somehow after the type of solutions @mst and I were discussing and that cannot be established as RA itself has said no such thing.

Your point re 'not being broadcast experts' contrasts with the excellent point @mst was making that increasingly self-modernising sports are indeed having to get into their own broadcast origination and production for many reasons but significantly to drive up and control visual innovation and viewer-led attractiveness in the their 'products' media delivery strategies, especially with large, global mass audience growth objectives in mind. Have a look at what the NBA and NFL are doing globally.

Finally (if you don't mind) I will take 'pot shots' at RA all day long in this context (and others) as I see no evidence whatsoever that either (a) they are coming to grips with the serious negative consequences or meaning of the 'viewers and crowds strike' rugby punters are going on in terms of an overdue deep reformation of Super Rugby as the 'core code product' or (b) that RA has done anything to push for serious visual and viewer-led innovation in the way the code here is delivered via Pay TV or FTA.

IMO both (a) and (b) are serious and costly deficiencies in RA's media delivery MO.

 

[RedsHappy]

I can't see any of these companies bidding on the rights this time around, though.

I fear our timing might see us be a year too early for the new streaming services, but a year too late for the traditional networks.

Barb, yes probably.

But the elephant for RA in this room will remain: all Super Rugby's key media value metics (at least in Aust) are declining badly and unless something is done to correct this 'product deficiency' the competition for its media rights will inexorably fall as will the intrinsic $ value of those rights.

Namely, 'product quality' recovery and enhancement is a huge priority before one becomes too excited about competitive tension to obtain the rights to that product.

 

[qwerty51]

I can't see any of these companies bidding on the rights this time around, though.

I fear our timing might see us be a year too early for the new streaming services, but a year too late for the traditional networks.

Timings already fucked by committing to SANZAAR until 2025. Get. Out. Of. It.

 

[RedsHappy]

Sorry, this is probs paywalled but for those interested (and some here will subscribe to the Oz) in the rapid pace of serious innovation in data-driven and visually exciting, totally new modalities in way sports can be media produced and delivered (and the types of formats for that innovation that @mst and I have been discussing here), have a look at what Oracle and Ellison are doing with SailGP and the way it's being presented to audiences:

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/bu...=Email&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=&utm_content=

 

[RedsHappy]

Timings already fucked by committing to SANZAAR until 2025. Get. Out. Of. It.

Yep. Huge issue.

 

[kiap]

Timings already fucked by committing to SANZAAR until 2025. Get. Out. Of. It.

Yep. The narrow window left for a five year lock in ain't the best.

I can't see any of these companies bidding on the rights this time around, though.

I fear our timing might see us be a year too early for the new streaming services, but a year too late for the traditional networks.

Sign a 3-year deal instead of 5?

Difficult, though, given the other nations already have long deals.

 

[RedsHappy]

Yep. Situation ain't good.


Sign a 3-year deal instead of 5?

Difficult, though, given the other nations already have long deals.

FWIW, I've said before that IMO Castle's single biggest and most pressing challenge as new RA CEO was to address the strategically absolutely essential radical reformation of SANZAAR and especially the crock that Super Rugby has become.

That, as code leader, she has seemingly shown zero appetite to do this will have serious negative consequences for the code in Australia. And 2026 will be far too late to start.

 

[molman]

Sorry, this is probs paywalled but for those interested (and some here will subscribe to the Oz) in the rapid pace of serious innovation in data-driven and visually exciting, totally new modalities in way sports can be media produced and delivered (and the types of formats for that innovation that @mst and I have been discussing here), have a look at what Oracle and Ellison are doing with SailGP and the way it's being presented to audiences:

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/us-giant-oracle-showcases-hitech-cloud-sailing-at-sailgp/news-story/6ac26d16435894ed1d645b26bdae376d?utm_source=The Australian&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_content=Technology&utm_source=Email&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=&utm_content=

I caught the SailGP before one of the Rugby matches the other day and was rather impressed with all the AR like overlays that they used along with all the obviously real time metrics they were pulling from the boats.

No trival matter to to pull that data, pump out the graphics to overlay on the live broadcast. I wonder if there is a slight delay to the feed.

I mean whatever happened to me being able to choose my own cameras. There are times I'd really love to see the wide shot for a play and other times I'd love the close shot to see more of the action. Add in some drones or something giving me an nice overhead shot and I'd be a happy viewer. A lot more they could be doing.

 

[RedsHappy]

I caught the SailGP before one of the Rugby matches the other day and was rather impressed with all the AR like overlays that they used along with all the obviously real time metrics they were pulling from the boats.

No trival matter to to pull that data, pump out the graphics to overlay on the live broadcast. I wonder if there is a slight delay to the feed.

I mean whatever happened to me being able to choose my own cameras. There are times I'd really love to see the wide shot for a play and other times I'd love the close shot to see more of the action. Add in some drones or something giving me an nice overhead shot and I'd be a happy viewer. A lot more they could be doing.

Yes molman, indeed so. Somewhere along the line, in part that's what I have been getting at here. As well as seeking optimum $s and maybe some FTA exposure and so on, RA should be concocting some strong requests - or even requirements - upon its chosen broadcast partner(s) to innovate in visual engagement modalities.

For rugby, as you say, ability to chose camera view is a great example and the allied use of drones over the field, these are major potential viewing value adds.

Yes, there can be a cost, but it's win-win for RA and the broadcaster if they can use visual innovations to drive up total viewership per game or the length of time a whole game is viewed per session per average viewer, etc. Not only that, for those punters actually at the game, on larger phones in real time multi views of the game (from their sub streaming service) can also aid a truly live experience.

 

[Rob42]

Yeah, nah. The hardcore fan may interested in all those visualisations, etc, but that group will be watching regardless.

If you want to draw in new fans, or bring back the lapsed, spend the money on something like F1's Drive To Survive on Netflix - a great doco showing the people and stories behind the action. People want to engage with the stories, the characters - that's when they care about what's happening on the field.

 

[mst]

Come on, be better than that. They have taken the rights to the open market to seek out these types of solutions.

That kind of technology (abeit not in online/cloud format nor at the speed of delivery) has been used by super rugby teams for years. In 1998, the Waratahs were using this type of thing for their team and individual video sessions on Mondays. The analyst would spend all weekend databasing/coding the footage but by Monday you could see anything you wanted. Very basic user interfaces but you could go for left to right passes from second receiver after a lineout or right shouldered tackles by the centre inside the 22m if you wanted.

Key difference is as per what the NHRA and many other sports are doing, they are essentially selling content not rights. They do not put the rights to market. Thats starting to become an old school way of doing things. With websites and social media needing the same content as TV it can get messy and you could end up not being able to use your product on your own website as a TV broadcaster owns it. Then there is the double handing to make content for yourself etc. Thus why sports like the NHRA has an FTA via a deal with Fox but all the prodaction, commentary etc is all done by full time employees to NHRA; not Fox.

As for the tech, it is much more evolved than the simple clipping and bookmarking from the 1990's which is a fair distance from the live editing, cataloging and enhanced packaging and production it does. Simply put, what you're referring to can now be automated via AI and machine learning without the infrastructure overheads. One of the key savings achieved from the past traditional TV deal (with ESPN) was going to remote and robotic cameras to minimise labour cost.

Bottom line is while RA has "put the rights out" other sports like the NRL are on planes to talk to companies who can support in-house production and content delivery simply because of the potential for increase in ROI and revenue streams and also to adapt to a shifting broadcast market.

I'm a pretty sure the NRL / AFL have looked and seen that as the big dollar TV deals seem a thing of the past. So locally its Optus in 720p, Kayo / Foxtel (which is essentially Telstra) and not much more. So if you can produce your own and monetise it via subscriptions and selling content to terrestrial broadcasters you could have a very good revenue stream that your control.

 

[mst]

Yeah, nah. The hardcore fan may interested in all those visualisations, etc, but that group will be watching regardless.

If you want to draw in new fans, or bring back the lapsed, spend the money on something like F1's Drive To Survive on Netflix - a great doco showing the people and stories behind the action. People want to engage with the stories, the characters - that's when they care about what's happening on the field.

Spot on. Go and have a look at the articles at my post post @ #2473. It lays out the strategies they use etc. - how they story tell etc. F1 uses a similar model. This is all from 2017 so it not new. We are just behind.

When we brought our production in-house, we made a concerted effort to do what we call ‘Olympic-style storytelling’. What that means is bringing the drivers to the forefront and really getting to know these drivers - who they are, what they like to do outside of drag racing - and doing more features since we have more hours on TV.

You see a lot more of us going to these drivers’ homes or places of business. We do what we call ‘Walk a thousand feet’. What we do is we actually get on the track and we ask them eight to 12 questions as they’re walking down the track. It takes three to five minutes, maybe, and it’s just casual.

 

[Mr Wobbly]

This article re the AFL is a year old now: https://www.bandt.com.au/afl-rights-amazon-facebook-twitter-pinch-sevens-footy/

And this one from last week: https://www.bandt.com.au/the-afl-ne...tension-amazon-heats-up-broadcast-deal-talks/

It looks like Amazon are going to start producing documentary style content for the AFL.

 

[molman]

Yeah, nah. The hardcore fan may interested in all those visualisations, etc, but that group will be watching regardless.

If you want to draw in new fans, or bring back the lapsed, spend the money on something like F1's Drive To Survive on Netflix - a great doco showing the people and stories behind the action. People want to engage with the stories, the characters - that's when they care about what's happening on the field.

Spot on. . . .

To be fair, didn't RA attempt something similar with their #PartOfMore campaign back in 2018? I mean the issue you might be describing may be one of budget and/or an inability to get you to where the content is (ie. not on Netflix) rather than RA not being aware of some of these options.



It's an interesting avenue for companies like Netflix to have these series that are really cloaked advertising, the next evolution of product placement. It's like those children’s cartoons of the 80's that were really 1/2hr long ads to sell toys and cereal. I mean just look at the Goop Lab rubbish of Gwyneth Paltrow on Netflix, it's like one big ad for her.

 

[Rob42]

To be fair, didn't RA attempt something similar with their #PartOfMore campaign back in 2018? I mean the issue you might be describing may be one of budget and/or an inability to get you to where the content is (ie. not on Netflix) rather than RA not being aware of some of these options.



It's an interesting avenue for companies like Netflix to have these series that are really cloaked advertising, the next evolution of product placement. It's like those children’s cartoons of the 80's that were really 1/2hr long ads to sell toys and cereal. I mean just look at the Goop Lab rubbish of Gwyneth Paltrow on Netflix, it's like one big ad for her.

Yes, RA and the Super teams have tried various types of these campaigns in the past, and yes, no doubt it costs a bomb to create a doco series like Drive to Survive. Of course, there's a variety of ways to do it - the old Tah Talk podcast (way before podcasts were cool) was one of the main things that drew me in to becoming a more engaged Tahs supporter - hearing some of the stories behind the squad players, that regular review of the game, and finding out more of what happens behind the scenes. Very effective when done well.