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Pew Research says sports viewing on smartphones, iPads has room to grow

October 5, 2011 by

Nonpartisan fact tank Pew Research issued Tuesday Oct. 4 a report that said 20 percent of U.S. adults get sports scores and updates on smartphones or iPads, but only a small percent of Americans use social networks as their primary source of information, sports or otherwise. The research indicates that sports viewing on mobile devices and sports social media is a market primed for growth, but that it is also early enough for new competitors to get into the fray.

Sports information trailed weather (36%), locating restaurants or local business (31%) and news (25%) as a smartphone activity, but outpaced community news alerts (13%) and news via smartphone applications (11%) in the Pew Research study. A total of 16 activities were measured, and 2,251 adults age 18 or older responded.

The report dovetails with research from eMarketer Inc., which reported Sept. 15 that the sports audience must grow in order for sports content providers to expand the number of mobile subscription and ad-supported online offerings to viewers. eMarketer said the sports audience is perfect for mobile applications because they are loyal, passionate and large in number.

“The situation will change dramatically as more fans assimilate streaming into their media consumption routines, which, in turn, will compel leagues, broadcasters and marketers to make better use of digital platforms to reach their target audiences,” said eMarketer senior analyst Paul Verna.

EMarketer said 2010 digital revenues for the top U.S. Sports leagues was $1.295 billion. Courtesy of eMarketer, here is how the NFL, NBA, MLB and the NHL measured up: 

Source eMarketer.com, by permission

 

Filed Under: Sports Social Media, Sports Social Media Data, Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Madonna at Super Bowl exposes SB Nation news gambit

October 4, 2011 by

SB Nation.com, a social-media collective of 300 sports communities, already rates as one of the sports industry’s most innovative mobile applications. And increasingly, it is edging into the arena of breaking major sports news.

On Oct. 3, SBNation.com moved an exclusive that Madonna has signed on to perform at halftime of Super Bowl XLVI. While that may seem like a fluffier scoop than most hard-core sports fans really care about, the Madonna story ranked No. 1 under sports news on Google Results through Oct. 4.  

SB Nation’s ability to move exclusive news ahead of traditional sports outlets is a trend worth watching because it could make or break the sports social media start up. In fact, the traditional media, including the NYTimes, views SB Nation as a blog network with attitude, and Wall Street and others typically value the company as a blog content play. However, SB Nation has more going for it than traditional media and Wall Street give it credit. SB Nation’s publishing platform is specifically designed to make it easy for sports fans to comment and interact. It is certainly an easier place for the average sports fan to get noticed than ESPN, CBS Sports or a hometown newspaper website. So, if SB Nation is consistently able to break exclusive sports news, while continuing to provide social media services superior to established media companies, it could emerge as an unstoppable force as sports on mobile devices and iPads grows and evolves.

On the other hand, if Madonna is a no show for Super Bowl XLVI, as she has been twice previously, then SB Nation’s credibility is thrown into question. Sports fans are serious about their league and team news. And, if SB Nation misses the mark on enough of its newfangled sports news exclusives, consumers may come to consider SB Nation as no better than a secondary source for sports news. In other words, sports fans may continue to choose to interact on SB Nation, but content billed as news on the website would simply drive the audience to other sources for verification.

No matter what happens, the sports social media start-ups are clearly chasing journalistic legitimacy. The Madonna story was reported and written by SB Nation editor Andrew Sharp, one of a growing number of in-house journalists SB Nation has added. And, SB Nation is not alone in its attempt to build a legitimate news operation. Competitor Bleacher Report Inc. has recently stepped up to hire big-league journalists as part of a “lead writer program” launched in August.

Big dollars are involved. In October, 24/7 Wall Street listed SB Nation as the eighth most valuable blog in America at $30 million, behind Perez Hilton at $32 million and ahead of FunnyorDie at $24 million. Gawker Properties was No. 1 on the 24/7 Wall Street list at $240 million.  

 

Filed Under: ESPN, Uncategorized

ESPN Tests Casino Advertising Through Soccer Sponsorship

October 3, 2011 by
In-Running

ESPN agrees to provide advertising space to online casino

Sports betting company William Hill said Monday that it has reached an agreement with ESPN to sponsor Italian Serie A, Dutch Eredivisie and Russian Premier League soccer. The deal marks the most aggressive move to date by ESPN to cater to a sports book, and increases William Hill’s profile among U.S. consumers.

Under terms of the deal, William Hill will sponsor all ESPN television coverage of the three leagues. In addition, it will be the exclusive betting partner of ESPN’s upcoming ESPNsoccernet mobile application. It will also have banner advertising on the ESPNsoccernet website.

In striking the deal, ESPN is tip-toeing into the potentially lucrative arena of selling advertising and providing direct marketing links to people interested in opening online betting accounts with sportsbooks. Although soccer is a niche market, ESPN could eventually enter into similar advertising and sponsorship agreements for football, basketball and baseball coverage.

Based in England, William Hill purchased in April 2011 the Leroy’s and Cal-Neva chain of sports books for $39 million. That deal that is awaiting regulatory approval to be completed. With Leroy’s and Cal-Neva, William Hill will be positioned to compete in the domestic market for legal sports betting on mobile phones and iPads, if federal laws are overturned that make wagering in any state other than Nevada illegal.

Eventually, largely because of the innovations forged by Cantor Fitzgerald subsidiary Cantor Gaming, it is possible that sports fans will be able to conduct on-going prop betting at games they are attending (called In-Running). Cantor Fitzgerald is a Wall Street investment firm that was devastated by large losses to its workforce during the 9-11 Attacks. As a means of survival, the firm branched into proposition sports betting built on the same analytics platforms once used to manage its hedge funds. Today, it provides “in-running” bets for a growing number of Las Vegas casinos, and real-time proposition betting is the largest growing segment of Nevada’s annual sports bet handle.

Filed Under: ESPN, Soccer, Uncategorized

Mobile Football: NBC a No-Show for Live Play-by-Play

October 3, 2011 by


In our ongoing search for the best mobile app for following live football play-by-play, on Sunday night the MSR research team decided to check out the options available from NBC, since the Peacock network carries the Sunday night game live on TV.

The verdict? For an Android smartphone user, NBC’s mobile play-by-play options are about as exciting as a handoff up the middle, far behind the functionality of services from ESPN and the NFL. There isn’t even a standalone app for Android phones — maybe the non-smartphone featured in NBC’s “mobile web” landing page is a tipoff — instead you are sent to a mobile-optimized web page that does give you a live score and can show details of the last play run, but that is all. We didn’t even get our turkey-and-chicken sausages halfway grilled before we switched from NBC’s mobile page back to ESPN, whose Gamecast app seemed to have new life on Sunday, without any of the non-updating problems we’d seen during previous weekends.

Since we are waiting for Tuesday’s expected new iPhone announcement to decide what our phone-upgrade strategy will be for the MSR Verizon account, it may be another week or two before we can check out Verizon’s NFL Mobile app. (Apparently NBC does have a standalone iPhone app, if you have knowledge of how this works please leave a comment below.) Until then we are putting ESPN and NFL 2011 in a tie for first, with Sprint TV a game behind and NBC’s offering at 0-4, looking for a new quarterback and maybe a new head coach.

Filed Under: Android, Apps, iPhone, Live sports via mobile, NBC Sports, NFL, Verizon Wireless Tagged With: , , , ,

ESPN Radio Exec says Smartphone Audio Key to Future

September 30, 2011 by

Marc Horine, VP Digital Partnerships and Sales Development for ESPN Radio, told Mobile Sports Report on Friday that “20 percent of our listening is coming through a digital audio device” and that content delivered through smartphones and iPads rates as key to ESPN Radio’s future.

Horine is the ESPN Radio executive involved in such ESPN partnerships as StubHub and the GSI Commerce Inc.’s ESPN Shop collaboration. He said the goal is to get programming like the popular shows “Mike and Mike in the Morning,” “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” and “The Scott Van Pelt Show” to as many consumers as possible, regardless of the device used to listen in.    
“It comes down to building a great, clean, simple easy-to-use product that works,” Horine said.

Horine’s comments follow ESPN’s deal earlier this month to partner with San Diego-based Slacker Inc. to provide ESPN on Slacker Radio, including premium services priced at $3.99 and $9.99 per month which allow people to store radio programming locally.

For ESPN Radio, the deal signals that The Death Star (ESPN) will be aggressive in licensing digital audio rights to technology partners interested in distributing content. In so doing, ESPN is prepared to tap into the phenomenon of sports fans who are using mobile devices to view and listen to sports, interact via social media and access sports information that provides more insight into the game. If successful in making its content a top choice of the most sophisticated of mobile sports fans, ESPN Radio will be able to capitalize on the coming booms in personalized advertising tied to sports programming and direct-marketing offers tailored to hardcore fans.

For San Diego-based Slacker, the ESPN deal pushes the dot.com toward a much broader base of audio content. To date, Slacker has been a reliable technology platform for music, and has only recently moved into news, sports, comedy and commentary. The push is designed to make Slacker not only a choice for audio content when listening at home or at work, but also when traveling, Slacker CEO Jim Cady told Mobile Sports Report.

Filed Under: ESPN, ESPN Radio, iPad, iPhone, Uncategorized, Wi-Fi Tagged With: , ,

MSR Online Guide: Oakland Raiders

September 30, 2011 by


After their surprising upset of the New York Jets the Oakland Raiders are back in the national spotlight — and no more so than this week when Tom Brady and the New England Patriots come to town. Here is your MSR online guide to all things Raiders. Please add your thoughts, corrections, or favorite Raider links in the comments below.

OFFICIAL TEAM WEBSITE

STADIUM WEBSITE

TWITTER HANDLES
Raider Players
Darren McFadden
Michael Huff
Kevin Boss

LOCAL TV/RADIO COVERAGE
FM 95.7 The Game
Comcast Sports Network
Raiders Radio Network (list of stations carrying the games)
KRON Channel 4/Gary Radnich

LOCAL NEWSPAPER SPORTS SECTIONS
Oakland Tribune
San Francisco Chronicle (SFGate)
San Francisco Examiner
San Jose Mercury News

BLOGGERS
SB Nation
Silver and Black Pride

(Information compiled by MSR intern Brian Nitenson)

Filed Under: MSR Guides, NFL
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