Overview:

The internet has long been a significant outlet for sports content; Screen Digest’s first major report on the subject, Sports on the Internet, was published back in 2000. From sports news to live betting and ticket sales, the immediacy and real-time interaction offered by online connectivity has attracted sports content owners and service providers since the early days of the internet. Since then, the explosion in high-speed consumer connections has meant that, for the first time, the internet has become a fully–fledged method of delivering not just sports information and ancillary services, but direct coverage of sport itself, thus beginning to challenge existing broadcast distribution channels as a viable means of content distribution.

This report begins by looking at some of the factors in the growth of online sports video (OSV) in the USA, UK, France and Germany such as the proliferation of consumer broadband connections and online video. The report also provides an introduction to sports media rights which is crucial to understanding the development of the OSV market. The second half of the report explores the business models being developed, providing usage trends data and forecasts as well as case studies on leading OSV service providers and rights holders.

Key findings:
 

• As online sports service providers and rights holders increasingly seek to tap into free web video traffic, the lion’s share of revenue from sports video on the internet is likely to come from advertising.

• OSV will drive the consumption of online TV in major markets in much the same way premium sports was responsible for driving pay-TV subscriptions.

• Subscription business models will continue to play a significant role in online sports video. Transactional business models will form a minority of overall revenues.

• The top 10 list of sports content websites in the US and UK have been increasingly proliferated by the websites of major sports leagues, although third party network websites such as ESPN.com and BBC Sports still command considerable traffic.

• The ‘democracy of distribution’ which characterizes the internet is providing an important outlet for leagues and clubs to exploit their rights directly.

• With primary sports rights holders able to directly distribute their content over their own websites, third party sports networks/aggregators and broadcasters ( the traditional rights buyers) will have to pay ever-rising prices to secure online and new media rights.

• The importance and value of online rights is changing and in most cases while internet distribution continues to play second fiddle to more traditional TV models, internet rights are becoming increasingly valuable.

In the report:
 

• Forecasts of broadband connections, online TV downloads and streams, user-generated online video streams, online TV downloads and streams, User-generated online video streams growth to 2012.

• An introduction to sports media rights including English Premier League rights An introduction to OSV Technology and Infrastructure.

• The OSV market in numbers including forecasts and analysis on website traffic and video usage, online sports video market trends and revenues, as well as the advertising, subscription, pay-per-view (PPV) and Download-to-own (DTO) models.

Executive Summary

Sports video and the internet
The growth in consumer broadband
The online video boom
An introduction to sports media rights
Time Windows
Platform Windows

Online sports video (OSV): Rights structure and technology
Digital media rights: Service model vs.rights model
Service model
Rights model

OSV: Technology and infrastructure
Technical limitations
Consumer devices: Online video enters the living room
Piracy

The OSV market in numbers: Forecasts and analysis
Website traffic and video usage
Online sports video: Market trends and revenue forecasts
Advertising
Subscription
Pay–per–view (PPV)
Download–to–own (DTO)

Tables and Charts

Executive Summary
Online sports video: Total market revenues
Online sports video: Total market revenues ($m)
Online sports video: Total market revenues (€m)

Sports video and the internet
World: Number of broadband households
Video distribution platforms
Online TV downloads and streams
User–generated online video streams
Online TV downloads and streams
User–generated online video streams

An introduction to sports media rights
Digital and new media sports video deals
Digital and new media sports video deals
Service model vs. rights model
English Premier League TV broadcast rights–2007–2010
English Premier League highlights–2007–2010
English Premier League domestic rights break–up
English Premier League domestic rights by time (based on a Saturday game)
Ligue 1 domestic rights by time
Fan packages
Simplified sports video technical chain

OSV: Technology and infrastructure
Sample of OSV service provider and enabler relationships
Content distribution types: Broadcast vs Unicast vs P2P
Transactional TV download services–USA
Sample connected devices user base (m)
Piracy–Sample of sites available Dec 2007

The OSV market in numbers: Forecasts and analysis
Top 10 sport sites by territory (2007)
Sports websites: Site visitors seasonal fluctuation (2007)
Advertising revenues–Total television market spend
Advertising revenues–Total internet market spend
Average daily US video audience online vs TV (m)
Distribution of video users (October 2007): YouTube viral syndication
OSV subscription services–Examples by territory (2007)
OSV online PPV services–Examples by territory (2007)
Online sports video: Usage trends and forecasts
Online sports video: Revenues and forecasts
OSV: Free–to–view (FTV) streams/downloads
OSV: Pay–per–view (PPV) streams/downloads
OSV: Download–to–own (DTO) downloads
OSV: Total streams/downloads
OSV: Free–to–view (FTV) revenues
OSV: Pay–per–view (PPV) revenues
OSV: Download–to–own (DTO) revenues
OSV: Subscription revenues
OSV: Total revenues