Alistair Taylor

Is Cricket the New ‘Greatest Show on Turf’?

Blog post by Alistair Taylor

19 Jun 2019

Even before the St. Louis (now LA) Rams were setting records in the NFL during the 1999-2001 seasons, earning the nickname ‘The Greatest Show on Turf’, the Super Bowl was viewed as an unrivalled opportunity…

2019-2021 | Emerging New Metrics for Sports Streaming Success

Report by Alistair Taylor

14 Jun 2019

The 20,000 Foot View: The clock is ticking down to 2021 when the major domestic sports rights in the US and the UK will start coming up for renewal. Thus far, pureplay sports streaming video on demand…

Battle of the Docuseries: Who Mirrored Who?

Blog post by Alistair Taylor

13 Jun 2019

Leeds United are set to become the latest soccer club to feature in an original documentary series, with tech major Amazon securing a deal for a behind-the-scenes look at Argentinian manager Marcelo Bielsa’s…

Heavyweight Battle for Premium Sporting Rights Dependent on Three Factors

Blog post by Alistair Taylor

3 Jun 2019

The sports rights landscape has changed fundamentally with the emergence of streaming subscription video on demand (SVOD) services. Digital and broadcast rights used to be separate deals entirely, but…

Sports SVOD Services Deep Dive

Report by Alistair Taylor

23 May 2019

The 20,000 Foot View: Sports-centric subscription video on demand (SVOD) services have entered international markets, looking to capture digital-native audiences from pay-TV and other established SVOD…

DAZN Financials Highlight Difficulty in Changing Sports Viewing for Fans

Blog post by Alistair Taylor

14 May 2019

DAZN, the sports-centric streaming service which made headlines in 2018 with several high-profile rights acquisitions , and according to documents seen by SportsPro Media , has managed to dramatically…

Disney’s Latest Earnings Are Buoyed by Growth in Their Theme Park and Direct-to-Consumer Revenues

Blog post by Alistair Taylor

10 May 2019

On Wednesday night the Walt Disney Company reported quarterly earnings for its second fiscal quarter ending March 31 st 2019, beating analyst estimates with a 3% increase in year-on-year (YoY) quarterly…

Opportunistic K+ Swoops to Acquire Premier League Rights for Vietnam

Blog post by Alistair Taylor

23 Apr 2019

K+, the joint venture between VTV and Canal+, has acquired exclusive rights in Vietnam for the English Premier League (EPL). The three-season deal starting this August spans the 2019/20 – 2021/22 seasons.…

Can Disney do a Hulu?

Blog post by Alistair Taylor

12 Apr 2019

Disney finally unveiled to investors during a presentation yesterday its much anticipated direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming service Disney+, announcing a November 12 th 2019 launch . Disney+ will be an…

E-sports
An Alternative Future for Televised Sports?

Report by Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Zach Fuller and Alistair Taylor

1 Apr 2019

The 20,000 foot view: E-sports continue to gain attention, with more brands seeking to enter the space populated as it is by a succession of new leagues, competitions and teams. But for all the hype,…

Fox News to ‘New Fox’: What is Left After Disney Deal

Blog post by Alistair Taylor

1 Apr 2019

On the 20th March 2019 , The Walt Disney Company’s acquisition of Rupert Murdoch’s 21 st Century Fox became official. What did Disney acquire? The $71.3 billion merger significantly strengthens Disney’s…

Mediapro Offers Eleven Sports a UK Lifeline!

Blog post by Alistair Taylor

21 Mar 2019

Streaming service Eleven Sports will now have to table a new offer to maintain its UK La Liga rights, as Mediapro (the agency selling La Liga’s international rights) decides to return La Liga to the…

Why Did Facebook’s EPL Rights Deal Collapse?

Blog post by Alistair Taylor

15 Mar 2019

The English Premier League (EPL) is now back on the market with its rights for Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam following its deal with Facebook collapsing. Back in July 2018 , the social media giant…

Can the NBA Capture the ‘Cord-Nevers’?

Blog post by Alistair Taylor

8 Mar 2019

NBA commissioner Adam Silver, speaking at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics conference in Boston last week, explained his vision of the league’s games, which will look “dramatically different” in five…

Fail Fast, Fail Early – Can Eleven’s UK Struggle Aid Future Growth?

Blog post by Alistair Taylor

21 Feb 2019

Eleven Sports announced last week it had successfully agreed long-term distribution agreements with all four TV operators in Portugal – Altice, NOS, Nowo and Vodafone. Achieving this agreement puts Eleven…

Will An EPL Streaming Service Devalue Domestic Rights?

Blog post by Alistair Taylor

15 Feb 2019

Following the English Premier League (EPL) announcing in November its plans to launch its own streaming service for the next rights cycle (2022-2025), the Sunday Times reported that the EPL is coming close…

ESPN+ leverages UFC appeal to double subscriber base to 2 million in five months

Blog post by Alistair Taylor

8 Feb 2019

Disney announced in its Q1 earnings call on Tuesday that its sports-centric streaming service ESPN+ had surpassed two million subscribers, doubling its subscriber base in less than five months. Launched…

Streaming Video Consumer Trends Q4 2018
Reaching The Post-Peak Attention Economy

Cover image for Streaming Video Consumer Trends Q4 2018

Report by Alistair Taylor

6 Feb 2019

The 20,000 Foot View: With streaming video subscriptions surpassing that of pay-TV in Q1 2018, traditional linear providers are under growing pressure to better understand consumer consumption habits.…

Eleven Sports Loses Serie A Rights As Partnership With IMG Ends

Blog post by Alistair Taylor

1 Feb 2019

Eleven Sports, the fledgling sports-centric streaming service has lost the UK and Irish rights for Serie A and Eredivisie, following a strategic decision to ‘amicably’ end its partnership with international…

UFC’s Debut on ESPN+ Draws In Record Subs

Blog post by Alistair Taylor

24 Jan 2019

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debuted on ESPN+ this past weekend, featuring the highly touted championship fight, which saw Henry Cejudo knockout current Bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw in…