Weekly Column: Adjacent Entertainment Content Essential to Sports TV

California Sports Lawyer® Founder and Managing Attorney Jeremy M. Evans column about the need of sports leagues to create adjacent entertainment and media content beyond the game to drive interest and engagement.

You can read the full column below. (Past columns can be found, here).

In many professional sports leagues, it is no longer the case that simply licensing copyrighted content to broadcast and streaming leads to high viewership numbers. The National Football League, NCAA men’s basketball (specifically March Madness), and international soccer still obtain some of the highest viewership numbers, but other sports like basketball, hockey, and baseball are seeing dips in viewership numbers. How can sports leagues combat this alarming trend?

First, sports leagues and teams need to create adjacent entertainment content that drives viewers to the underlying season or league. As an example, consider how Drive to Survive about Formula 1 racing drove viewership ratings to the Formula 1 racing series. However, the content does not have to be non-fiction in a docuseries style. Shoresy is an example of how content can be fiction about a sports product, but it still drives interest and viewership to the National Hockey League (“NHL”) games.

Second, content helps drive moments on social media that are shared. When content is adjacent or even tangential it drives engagement. It also attracts fans that might not watch every league game or team match, but the same person will not miss an episode of their favorite series and may in turn create interest in watching more league games.

Third, there should be, as Front Office Sports has entitled an old phenomenon in sports, “must-see appointment viewing”. Must-see appointment viewing occurs when a league match creates so much buzz and excitement that people cannot stand to miss watching. It is the fear of missing out in action. The NHL’s 4 Nations tournament was must-see appointment viewing that was created by placing nation against nation where there is more built in competition at stake versus the best players skating for a seemingly ceremonial purpose. Leagues must attempt to create must-see matches throughout the year by using new exotic venues, international locations, and rivalries to keep peak interest.

Major League Baseball’s (“MLB”) exit from its television deal with Disney-owned ESPN is a prime example of how securing rights no longer leads to striking gold. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred defended MLB leaving ESPN and cancelling the deal three years early because of reduced viewership numbers and lack of interest by on-air talent and producers from wanting to talk about the love of baseball or baseball in general during the broadcasts. In today’s world, the on-air talent is as important as the product on the field as it can drive viewership. Consider the impact Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and their colleagues have regarding interest and viewership in the National Basketball Association (“NBA”). Their presence is so important that NBC is licensing the show from a competitor (Warner Bros. Discovery) even though NBC won the NBA broadcast rights.

Going forward, it might be wise for sports leagues to utilize artificial intelligence (“AI”) to help create program and script ideas much like Hollywood and the music business are doing. It is clear that content around the game is as important as the play during the game. Social media and highlight culture have changed viewing habits, so sports leagues need to adapt to move with the times.

About Jeremy M. Evans:

Jeremy M. Evans is the Chief Entrepreneur Officer, Founder & Managing Attorney at California Sports Lawyer®, representing entertainment, media, and sports clients in contractual, intellectual property, and dealmaking matters. Evans is an award-winning attorney and industry leader based in Los Angeles and Newport Beach, California. He can be reached at Jeremy@CSLlegal.com. www.CSLlegal.com.