There is an excellent, thought-provoking article in the current edition of the Sports Business Journal about tablet computers. The piece examines what effects the popularity of these devices have been across a number of sectors in the sports business. Sponsor rights, media distribution, and on-field use are just a few of the areas in which tablets are having an impact. Disruptive doesn’t begin to describe it.
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One thing I did notice as the article ran through the issues (which I’ll discuss in a minute) is that the way in which many of the parties involved have tried to deal with this new round peg is to try to fit it in the same square holes as other things without much success. Let me explain.
With roughly 23 million of these devices out there (and one suspects that after the holiday season that number will increase substantially), there has already been a big impact on the sponsorship and media rights issues that leagues, sponsors and rights holders deal with on a daily basis. Having lived through many of these at a sports league while digital was exploding, I can tell you that many hours are spent internally debating the “right” answer (which usually means “how can we slice the pastrami a little thinner to sell a bit more”). As the article says about just two cases:
Is a tablet just another TV in the home? If so, should it cost any more for your cable TV provider to stream programming to it? (For the NFL), Verizon controlled rights to mobile phones. Motorola’s NFL rights include the branded headsets, which aren’t a retail product, but include sideline exclusivity for “handheld devices.” Currently, that includes mobile phones, but does not include tablets.
There are many other issues discussed but one can see where this is heading. As more companies compete across multiple categories, either the deals will have to grow impossibly large so only a few companies control many more categories or the traditional notions of “exclusivity” will disappear. Media deals, which traditionally focus on channels of distribution rather than the type, volume, and duration of content across all channels, will have to change as well, although that’s been coming for at least a decade.
Nothing like a little disruptive thought to start the week! What’s your take on this?
Consult Keith 