As MENA rewrites the rules in producing and broadcasting sports, industry experts at the ASBU BroadcastPro ME Summit discussed optimum business models, fan engagement strategies and using social platforms to reach digital-first sports fans.
Captivating viewers like no other form of entertainment, sport has pushed platforms to compete harder in an increasingly crowded space. MENA’s rise as a premier sporting hub, along with the growing number of global events on its calendar, has redefined the larger goals for broadcasters.
Moderated by John Nolan, Head of Sports and Commercial Investment and MD of Apex Content Ventures at Publicis Media, the panel comprised Andre Flackel, Executive Advisor, Phygital International DMCC; Barry Kassab, Market Development Manager, Shure; Peter Van Dam, Chief Broadcasting Officer, Saudi Pro League; Ross Munro, Head of Commercial, UK at WSC Sports; and Samah Raydan, VP, Dentsu Sports Analytics, MENA.
The entertaining power of sport continues to push digital consumption higher. Over a short period of time, the region has shifted from a male-dominated, football-loving fanbase to a diverse, inclusive sports economy. As MENA becomes the epicentre of sport, Nolan asked the panel how they were innovating for the future.
“It is an exciting time to work in sport in this region,” said Samah Raydan. “There are a lot of advancements in sport technology, in marketing, CRM solutions, SEOs, sports analytics, predictive analytics, all of which are reshaping fan consumption in real time.”
With everyone competing to capture the same audience segment, innovation is key and regional specifics of differing languages, dialects and cultural nuances drive the need to localise content. It takes fan engagement to new levels, said Ross Munro. “What excites us is the ability to create localised content with the generative tools that are out there for automating highlights, which we have been doing for the past 10 years.”
As broadcast transforms visually, broadcast audio is rising to the occasion with high-tier wireless systems that promise interference-free reliability. “These systems bring wireless connectivity where things can work seamlessly. In live events and sport, interruptions of any kind are a no-go; it is a no-pay even in some cases. Our wireless systems are a staple in the region, and our field production products have been gamechangers,” claimed Barry Kassab.
Another rising segment in the region is phygital sports, a hybrid format that blends traditional physical sport with digital and virtual elements. It combines initial video game performance with a subsequent real-world contest in the same sport, with the outcome based on both scores.
“You play football or basketball or any other discipline such as drone racing in a video console like PlayStation. The same team then goes onto a smaller-sized actual football field or basketball court, and the combined score determines the winner,” said Andre Flackel. “The reason we came here is because of the enormous support from local authorities and the sports ministry. It is the perfect playground for us.”
Taking advantage of the host of opportunities that sport brings, regional governments have facilitated developments through infrastructure building and ownership of strategic sports rights. Regional associations such as the Saudi Pro League incorporate new trends and techniques that go beyond the traditional 90 minutes of play.
“The game is the game, and it will never change. But we want to bring something different to game productions by way of cameras that go on the field in a celebratory moment, through ref cams and in other ways,” said Peter Van Dam. “We made some bold moves in the past few months; we have a new rights holder in Thmanyah and that synergy will pave the way forward.”
From a storytelling perspective and the global relevance of football, the challenges of maintaining the quality of live coverage remain significant. Adopting alternative approaches to graphics, statistics and data to keep fans engaged brings the entertainment factor. Social media and influencers also play an important part in reaching audience segments that are not reachable through standard promotions.
“The world of football began looking at the region when Ronaldo walked in three years ago. Since then, the Saudi leadership has made it clear through Vision 2030 that the Kingdom intends to become an established global player. The quality of the league has risen, and we’re now seeing local talent moving into European leagues,” added Van Dam.
While the leagues are focused on improving the live experience, extending the life of that live product gives younger viewers content they can consume on the go. With AI powering new formats and highlights, it caters to a generation that watches ten games in the time it once took to watch one.
“We are taking live broadcast streams, then slicing and dicing the video and the data, and putting together engaging highlights, compilations and reels. That live metadata feed can create immersive live experiences,” commented Munro. “Everyone has seen catch-up services, rapid recap, key moments that sit within a panel within a live broadcast. We’re effectively powering all of that. The evolution of that will be personalised for each individual user. They will know what type of moments a viewer is inclined to watch based predominantly on first-party data.”
Access to data is vital to personalisation and creating a richer experience. Working through the football pyramid reveals a dearth of first-party data, but there is a big drive for it now. “Without data it is difficult to fuse first-party data with the metadata threads that are coming through a live broadcast,” said Munro.
Van Dam agreed that data is essential. “But it isn’t a group anymore. It’s a person somewhere in the world. And that becomes very important. We have a big data project running, the biggest of its kind. Data is collected from suppliers such as Opta, as well as internal data, which is then segregated into usable data for broadcast, acquisition, talent spotting and many others. This is fed into a system where it is enriched again, giving content even greater accuracy and value.”
In a world where data technology pushes everything forward, the next generation of sports entertainment brings the real and digital worlds together. “At level one, we are collecting basic data and building that up,” said Flackel. “When you develop something from the beginning, you can define it. Our media rights strategy has less boundaries, so it is easier for us, for example, to work with streamers and treat them as media partners. And we have people on YouTube and Twitch streaming our content.”
To appeal to a growing global audience with an average age of 25 that consumes short-form content is challenging. “We cannot translate to 100 languages or even 50, so we rely on partners to help us with AI tools, with localisation and media rights partners and streamers who bring us closer to audiences.” Partnerships are integral to this, added Flackel.
In the digital world, sound has become an important part of the VR experience. While video has seen massive evolution, live sport is stereo content. The shotgun microphone is currently the only engine that can pick up audio from the field, claimed Kassab.
“This technology can be very directional at certain frequencies, but when it comes to noise from the background and the cheering, it is more omni or multi-directional,” he explained. “We have been studying people’s gaming experiences where they must customise sound, customise experience, as well as be in the game conveniently. Shure has created the DCA901 smart microphone, a single element that has eight shotgun microphones that are steerable. It picks up very directional sound from 100 hertz onwards, but it allows me to direct the microphone away from the noise if I need to. From an ROI perspective, I can scale up, get more people attracted to live sport rather than watching from far away.”
To viably market a sport, creating the right contextual data and transforming that into sports intelligence is valuable. “This intelligence can be used to drive a business forward. It drives marketing, strategic storytelling, commercialisation and monetisation,” said Raydan.
The first step is to understand fans beyond demographics – to know their media habits, how they engage with sports, favourite teams, brands and so on, and to personalise and design solutions that respond to these expectations. Data without context becomes impractical, added Raydan.
Growth and innovation are led by enthusiastic young fans. Sports marketing and fan engagement strategy must be responsive to evolving fan behaviour. Organisations must keep up. “If they’re bored with a live game, they will leave or switch to esports or to a platform that is offering better content,” said Raydan. “There are plenty of substitutes available, and brands need to move at the speed of fans.”
The emergence of social media shows how addictive and gripping digital engagement is. “At WSC, we are trying to extract those experiences and replicate them on our clients’ own channels. And if you can effectively migrate a lot of those audiences and bring them to your own, the prospects are better moving forward,” said Munro.
The region is also witnessing the rebirth of audio through the popularity of podcasts. While mastering sound is crucial for live sport, the biggest icons of podcasts use a microphone.
“That quality of sound brings the audiences. If it doesn’t sound good, people will phase away. We have leveraged on quality – ours is plug-and-play with a built-in DSP. It reduces noise, focusing on the audio of the speaker. It allows virtual mixes on a laptop by drag-and-drop through a USB interface or device. From banking to private sector to government, every third podcaster uses a Shure microphone – you can hear the difference,” said Kassab.
Adaptability, merging VR and AR data analytics, podcasts, ultra-targeted content – platforms innovate for the next best thing that can build viewership. “We are always looking to test new grounds that will add value to the league. Thmanyah was one of them,” said Van Dam.
Having podcasts with referees; influencers on a screen together with a viewer; a specialist to give the second-screen experience; these are some of the ideas that the league is working on. “The other part is to bring fans back to the stadiums and get them more engaged with clubs. Getting our infrastructure to a world-class level that viewers come off their seat and come back into sport – that’s an important task.”
Digital infrastructure takes time, but investments are starting to happen. Companies are investing in CRM solutions. “Audiences have passion points that trigger engagement, and advertisers look to invest in or innovate around that commercial potential,” said Raydan. “We help brands and rights holders unlock the full potential of their sports investment through data-driven insights and strategic storytelling, using our proprietary sports analytics tools. It helps them understand fans. We are innovating the way we are thinking and trying to move the behaviour from a relationship-oriented investment to an insight-driven, value-based one.”
The importance of social media and influencers, fan engagement, technology and data remain the basis for all investor-backed decisions. As the region gathers momentum, excitement is building for audiences as well as for those bringing content to them. Rights holders and investors assessing the value of sponsorships and sports assets, measuring their full impact, will drive maturity in sports analytics in the region and accelerate investment in data infrastructure. The mantra remains the same – to deliver sport live, everywhere, instantly.
