OUR SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT PREDICTIONS FOR 2019
CHANGING LANDSCAPE CONTENT & MEDIA OWNERSHIP E-SPORTS SHIFT & VIRTUAL SPONSORSHIP DEALS
2019 will see further a change in the landscape of media and
content ownership. November 2018 saw two major announcements
which signal the change. Firstly, a plethora of mega stars from the
world of football launched the Otro Football Platform, a fan’s digital
dream. The platform allows fans to have direct engagement through
exclusive content from the world’s biggest names such as David
Beckham, Neymar Jr & Lionel Messi. The e-sports gaming industry has seen exponential growth in 2018.
In 2019 we predict the industry will go one step further, 2019 will
see games moving away from the conventional console format and
transferring itself on to the cloud. Electronic Arts (EA) are currently
undergoing huge research into their platform ‘Project Atlas’ which
will look to rejuvenate the industry.
Secondly, the US based ‘athlete content platform’ The Players’
Tribune (TPT) announced the acquisition of rival Unscriptd. This
take-over is contributing to TPT’s dream of becoming the world’s
largest community of athletes by adding an additional 2,500
celebrity names from Aussie Rules, Formula 1, Surfing, Tennis,
Cricket and many more. These two examples are how athlete-
focussed conglomerates are striving for domination in the fan
hungry media space by ring fencing exclusive content. This departs
from the traditional model of individual endorsements or club
associations and could signal a significant change for how brands are
planning their sports marketing campaigns.
Moving gameplay onto the cloud will give developers the
opportunity to deliver far more immersive gaming experiences
through ‘transformative technologies’ like Ai . In other words, game
environments will start to evolve, so when you come back to the
virtual world the next day, the game may have changed based on
the input of other players. This will see gameplay moving away from
the static manager modes that we’ve seen in games like FIFA since
the 90s. The new ‘Project Atlas’ will allow developers to update the
gameplay with ease, which will also grow the opportunities for
brands to secure ‘Virtual Sponsorship Deals’ as seen by Coca Cola
and KFC last year.
ECO FRIENDLY & RENEWABLE ENGERY PARTNERSHIPS SPORTSMAN OR ENTERTAINER?
As the world becomes more ecologically conscious, we will see
rights holders taking an ecologically conscious approach. In 2019 and
beyond, partnerships involving renewable energy companies, with
an ecological focus are appearing more and more. We have, as a
society, now realised the need for a change to a more sustainable
approach, as tangible evidence of the negative effects are visible
around the world. Romelu Lukaku made headlines in late November when he revealed
he was teaming up with rapper and childhood friend thecolorgrey
on a track documenting his difficult upbringing. It shows an
interesting move in pushing the blurred lines between being just a
person who kicks a ball and a multi-talented entity.
Arsenal are a rightsholder that are already setting the pace in this
space, in 2016 they partnered with renewable energy firm Octopus.
This month they announced a new energy storage facility at the
Emirates stadium which will be able to provide power for an entire
match. With global viewing figures of 27.1 million average per race,
Formula E is a sport which has seen large growth this year as well.
The big prediction for 2019? More and more stars taking advantage
of the ‘rules’ that social media broke about who could be an
entertainer. Neymar has caused uproar by forgoing the Ballon D’or
awards to stream Call of Duty and Petr Cech has posted many videos
showcasing his talents as a drummer to his YouTube page. We think
this is only the tip of the iceberg as we become more exposed to
footballers secret passions, which were once kept behind closed
doors.