Alistair Taylor | MIDiA Research

Getting serious about esports
Identifying off-season digital engagement opportunities for sports

Cover image for Getting serious about esports

Alistair Taylor

March 2021

Games

Yahoo

COVID-19 has expedited the need for rights holders and teams to generate digital engagement beyond the pure play live broadcast. Games and esports became big attention economy winners during the early...

Is gaming the solution to sports’ Gen Z problem?

Alistair Taylor

8 Mar 2021

gaming

Games

esports

It has been well-documented that Gen Z’s and Generation Alpha’s interest in watching live sports has waned . It is important to dispel the notion that the younger cohorts are less likely to engage...

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Sports audiences
The Gen Z opportunity

Alistair Taylor

February 2021

Apple

Spotify

Digital natives are more likely to consume non-live sports than older, traditional sports fans, which presents rights holders and broadcasters with untapped potential for monetisation by harnessing and...

Watch Together: BT Sport adapts to lockdown, offering synchronised group streaming

Alistair Taylor

4 Feb 2021

BT

BT Sport

telco

The pandemic-enforced prohibition of fans in attendance at sporting events has weakened the viewing spectacle, forcing rights holders and operators to experiment with the viewing experience. The NHL pioneered...

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Football looks to build digital engagement through Fortnite collaboration

Alistair Taylor

22 Jan 2021

endeavor

IMG

WME

Endeavor-owned IMG, acting as Epic Games’ licensing representative, has brokered deals with 23 football clubs to appear in the publisher’s free-to-play battle royale-style game Fortnite. Looking to...

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The Roaring Sporting 20s
India Leads the Way in Innovation and Engagement

Cover image for The Roaring Sporting 20s

Tim Mulligan, Alistair Taylor and Srishti Das

January 2021

Video

Disney

Touted as the home of the next billion online consumers, India’s rapid adoption of digital media services has been driven by the explosion in smartphone adoption over the last few years. While per capita...

Dream11
Dream11 offers monetisation strategy for emerging market fandom

Tim Mulligan, Alistair Taylor and Srishti Das

January 2021

Video

Investment

Fandom

Read the case study …

Why the NFL is targeting ‘cord-nevers’

Alistair Taylor

14 Jan 2021

Sports

Video

Covid-19

For decades, rights holders have prioritised (and relied upon) exponentially increasing broadcast revenues as a mechanism for sustainability and growth, a legacy approach that is in dire need of a review...

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Line change for the NHL: COVID-enforced innovation arrives as ‘D-Day’ commences

Alistair Taylor

7 Jan 2021

D-Day

Year 0

Sporting rights

With 2021 commencing, the start of ‘ D-day’ or ‘ Year 0’ for sporting rights is upon us, as the major domestic sports rights start coming up for renewal. Nowhere is ‘D-day’ for sporting rights...

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English Premiership Rugby gets set for a digital shake-up

Alistair Taylor

17 Dec 2020

English Premiership Rugby

Amazon

tech major

Tech major Amazon is reportedly looking to add to its burgeoning sports right portfolio, targeting the domestic broadcast rights for English Premiership Rugby. London Irish owner, Mick Crossan, confirmed...

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Sports Rights
The Great Reset

Alistair Taylor

December 2020

Spotify

Video

COVID-19 exposed live entertainment as a vulnerable asset class during a global health crisis, rendering services overly reliant on live sports broadcasts as primary churn candidates. A major overhaul...

Discovery enters streaming race with discovery+ and Olympics offering

Alistair Taylor

9 Dec 2020

discovery

Eurosport

discovery+

Last week , Discovery announced it will launch discovery+, ‘the definitive non-fiction’ subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD), on January 4th, 2021. Consumers in the US can expect the largest-ever content...

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DAZN launches globally with advent calendar offering of boxing contests

Alistair Taylor

3 Dec 2020

DAZN

SVOD

subscription video on demand

DAZN’s global roll out is finally here , following an announcement to launch worldwide (including the UK) back in March. The pandemic-enforced postponement and cancellation of live sports scuppered its...

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2021 Predictions
The Year of the Immersive Web

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Alistair Taylor and Hanna Kahlert

November 2020

Spotify

discovery

In this report MIDiA Research analysts present their predictions for what will be the big trends in digital media and tech across music, video, brands, marketing, games and sports in 2021 and beyond. Key...

DraftKings is making its own strategic bet on the rise of the US sports betting market

Alistair Taylor

19 Nov 2020

DraftKings

Sportsbook

betting company

US-based sports betting company DraftKings’ stock value has grown 11% following a strong third-quarter performance in which its revenues increased 98% year on year (YoY) to reach $132.8 million, up from...

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WWE Q3 Earnings – An innovative digital strategy helps WWE overcome COVID-19 disruption

Alistair Taylor

12 Nov 2020

WWE

World Wrestling Entertainment

covid

WWE’s Q3 2020 results provide a fascinating insight into how a live event-focused entertainment business has successfully navigated a global pandemic. In its financials for the quarter , WWE saw a 19%...

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Post-Pandemic Programming Webinar Presentation

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Alistair Taylor, Keith Jopling and Hanna Kahlert

November 2020

Free Report

Video

Music

Games

After a period of disruption to the global entertainment landscape, many businesses have found a way to adapt to the new normal, but the recession and prospect of further pandemic peaks have created an...

Why the sports broadcast model is now under threat

Alistair Taylor

6 Nov 2020

Sinclair Broadcast Group

Sinclair

sports broadcast

The Sinclair Broadcast Group reported its Q3 2020 results earlier this week, which highlighted the detrimental impact sporting investments had on its balance sheet. A 37% year-on-year (YoY) increase in...

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Foxtel, diversifying for reach, launches freemium Kayo service

Alistair Taylor

28 Oct 2020

foxtel

News Corporation

Kayo

Australian pay-TV organisation Foxtel is launching a free version of its sport-centric streaming service Kayo in 2021. This follows a difficult year for the streaming service that saw its subscriber numbers...

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Why DAZN is adapting to German consumer nuances with linear and digital bets

Alistair Taylor

22 Oct 2020

AZN

sport-centric

SVOD

DAZN’s recently-established position as the ‘Netflix of sport’ has been a hard fought one, requiring extensive rights investment in order to carve out a compelling proposition. In the markets where...

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