Im not much of a sports buff so the only real action Ive viewed in a stadium in the UAE is the Dubai Tennis Championships. It wasnt until we held a roundtable on sports infrastructure in the MENA in conjunction with Avid and brought together people from different parts of the chain that we realised […]
Im not much of a sports buff so the only real action Ive viewed in a stadium in the UAE is the Dubai Tennis Championships. It wasnt until we held a roundtable on sports infrastructure in the MENA in conjunction with Avid and brought together people from different parts of the chain that we realised that there was a lot more to be offered on home ground, not just to provide a more enriching experience to fans but also to further monetise the content, for which regional broadcasters have secured the rights at an exorbitant price.
It became clear that the stadiums we have at present are unable to attract fans because we do not provide the kind of sophisticated extended experience that could appeal to an entire family, from apps to make parking and ordering food convenient to good Wi-Fi connections and fantasy gaming, which is already a $6bn industry in the US. Secondly, everyone reiterated that it isnt important to invest in a lot of fancy technology to cover sports; it is more important to have an experienced creative team to cover the matches and tell the story well. There was also a lot said about customised advertising on the perimeter and how it could be monetised across different regions as well as remote productions, still quite rare in the MENA. Have a look inside this issue for more details from the roundtable.
We also went to watch the UAEs first feature-length sci-fi film. Although the plot could have been tighter, we loved the visual effects in the film. What this team is doing in post is exceptional.
But I wont tell you more, other than that were preparing for the IBC issue.
