Live content capture programs in sports are flourishing among organizations every game day. We’re seeing this year-over-year growth play out in our daily work with customers. This includes many of the world’s top sports leagues — some are now generating multi-million dollar returns through these programs.
With these content programs, professional and collegiate sports organizations have designated mobile-first correspondents at every live event venue. They capture the authentic moments that traditional broadcast media doesn’t for a fuller gameday story. These creators shoot large volumes of these candid, behind-the-scenes photos and videos that fans most want to maximize their engagement. AI-powered technology automatically collects, organizes and distributes this short-form content. It flows across a matrix of broadcast and sponsor partners, staff, athletes and other stakeholders in real time for sharing with global audiences.
Rapid-fire content collection and delivery helps fill sports properties’ non-stop need for more original stories and revenue options.
As one example of the efficiency of these programs for driving fast attention, value and opportunities, we saw 36 percent of uploaded live capture program content during a major league’s most recent regular season downloaded or shared within 15 minutes. Organizations are making the most of this immediately-accessible authentic content across digital, social and broadcast partner channels, direct-to-consumer (DTC) mobile apps, marketing and sponsor programs, and more.
Four Factors Are Converging To Drive Live Content Capture Programs
It’s a fantastic time to be in sports, witnessing the historic confluence of four key elements that are driving the popularity and expansion of these event content capture programs:
- Mobile-centric fan preferences
- Personalized short-form content availability
- New revenue opportunities maximizing short-form content investments
- The technological advancements bringing all these elements together
If you’re looking to secure more engaging and lucrative creator content, read on. Learn more about why now is the time to consider establishing a live content capture program in sports.
1. Fans Are Demanding More Engaging Sports Experiences, Their Way
Sports fans are no longer satisfied with a linear, static experience for consuming content. The ubiquitous use of social media has taken care of that. A new PwC study found that less than 20 percent of fans aged 18-34 watch an entire game at home. More than two-thirds of them use social media while watching, while only 1 percent do nothing else but watch the game.
Many of these younger fans will never know a world without instant, global access to sports events happening simultaneously worldwide. They want to call the shots on how they consume gameday content and what it looks like. And they want an endless supply of it. Mobile-first content capture programs cater to these preferences to ensure more engaging content is created and shared, so sports remain relevant and exciting for new generations.
All-Access Content
With an event content capture program in place, sports organizations can give audiences the up-close, authentic views they crave. If you’re a superfan, you’ve long moved beyond just focusing on the game action. You — and even casual fans — are looking for moments like:
- Activity before and after the game
- Athlete arrivals scenes
- Highs and lows at halftime
- First-person thoughts from the coaches and players
- Ins and outs of a storied venue experience
Live creators with just a mobile phone or even DSLR camera in hand can collect this all-access content. It’s the behind-the-scenes footage, unique venue views, sideline interviews and commentary in the stands that traditional broadcast crews can’t capture in the wild. And it’s the exclusive content that drives value for sports properties.
Second-Screen Experiences
For many fans, mobile devices may be their only gateway to a game. Or, they may be sitting live in the stands while keeping an eye on their phones. They’re engaging in supplemental content, interacting with other fans and more. That same PwC study concurs. Almost 70 percent of 18-34-year-old sports fans use social media while tuned-in to sports at home, and nearly 45 percent use it while they’re at live sports events.
Live content capture programs complement fans’ gameday experiences. Short-form game-side content offers the perfect vehicle for additional commentary, insights and mascot entertainment that draw audiences deeper in. Digital teams can overlay this content with engaging interactive features. These can include elements like live polls and graphics, to provide a more dynamic viewing experience.
Shared Fan Communities
Live creator programs deliver the real-time content that fosters instant fan interaction and discussion on game day and far beyond. That shared experience on social and digital channels bonds global fans to each other and to their favorite team, club and sport. They can dive endlessly into social posts that feature player fits, historic milestones, unbelievable plays and season predictions.
2. Short-Form Has Become the Greatest Storytelling Format
No other type of content is resonating with fans today in quite the same way as what is filling the feeds in the palms of their hands. It takes a lot of creativity to pare stories down to their essence in that environment — to stand out on small screens and give context in the moment, in seconds. However, the sports properties that have short-form content capture programs in place to deliver it are leading the pack.
Personalized Content
Live event content capture programs can help organizations cater to specific athletes for social sharing. And they can help serve particular fan bases, niches and markets, providing new tailored and athlete-specific content that traditional broadcasts might overlook. These target segments could include out-of-market fans, families or college alums. On the flip side, fans can build a following for particular correspondents who may have a distinct style in the venue perspectives they capture or how they present fan reactions.
Both angles offer opportunities for sports properties to enrich the event experience.
Enhanced Storytelling
Creators are often big fans of the league, team or sport they represent. So, their photos and videos can provide deeper insights into the game. These could include capturing locker room context and candid sideline moments that deepen a fan’s understanding of the action.
These correspondents can also share their own video stories and experiences related to the game, adding a human element to resonate with fans.
Innovative Content Formats
With continually evolving social platform features, there is more opportunity to enhance short-form content captured through these programs. Many organizations are doing this with branded augmented reality elements. Multiple creators can also collaborate, offering diverse takes on gameday moments. These capabilities provide more engaging and multifaceted viewing experiences, with the promise of more innovation to come.
3. The New Revenue Upside of Live Content Capture Programs Is Limitless
Short-form content created from live event capture programs has provided sports properties with a new asset class for building added revenue from sponsor, promotion and broadcast partnerships. Technology has helped surface this content from media libraries. And it moves these assets to the necessary endpoints while games are still in progress.
Brand Sponsorships
Branded venue signage and logos on jerseys and equipment are as much a standard part of game day now as the fans and field. Brands are eager to sponsor live content captured by creators. These videos and photos are just more authentic and engaging in consumers’ social feeds. Sponsors love the extra impressions they get when that content featuring brand marks is shared widely across channels, including DTC apps, by athletes, clubs and more. And brands really love it when they have access to that content to spotlight on their own channels. Paid advertising can’t compete with this type of efficient exposure.
Promotional Programs
Sports properties also use this live event content as exclusive added value. It enhances revenue-boosting elements like fan club membership subscriptions and ticket sales promotional programs. Devoted fans love the behind-the-scenes looks into club and player activities on game day and the reveal of special moments they can’t find anywhere else.
Media Rights Deals
Live content capture programs help expand sports properties’ global reach. They do this, for example, through the properties’ networks of worldwide broadcasters. And with always-on access to live and on-demand streams on social and digital channels and streaming services, the market boundaries that once existed have come down. Now, audiences from different parts of the world can tune in and engage with content whenever they want. So, sports organizations are reaping the benefits of more lucrative media rights deals that include short-form content.
4. Technology Is Facilitating the Wins for Mobile Content Capture and Delivery
Technology sits at the center of these changes in sports, driving and uniting them all. Recent rapid advancements, particularly with the help of data-driven artificial intelligence, have driven event content programs’ capture, delivery and playback to new levels. The industry is still in the early stages of realizing how technology can upgrade everyone’s sports experience.
Improved Mobile Capture Capabilities
Advances in mobile, DSLR and internet technology have made it easier and more affordable to build mobile content capture programs with creators to collect high-quality photos and videos during sports events. They’ve also made it simpler to stream live content from anywhere, including stadiums and other sports venues. Organizations don’t have to forego getting the content fans want due to gaps in what broadcast cameras can pick up or internet capabilities.
DTC Mobile App Accessibility
The rapid rise in mobile DTC apps for sports organizations has pushed a greater need for personalized content and exclusive matchday experiences to fill infinite streams for fans. Many sports properties have boosted investments in these owned environments where they can form direct relationships with supporters and further monetize their short-form content. One reason for this shift: They aren’t dependent on third-party social platforms to serve fans this content captured by live creator programs.
AI-Powered Tech
Artificial intelligence has many applications in sports now. One area stands out when it comes to live content capture programs: AI has become the must-have tech facilitating the real-time analysis and delivery of masses of video and photo assets captured through these initiatives.
Greenfly’s own +AI Vision helps eliminate manual organization and curation for creator-captured videos and photos. With its scene detection model, +AI Vision can automatically identify athletes, teams and brand logos. It can also identify and describe any type of core scenes your creators may pick up, such as player arrivals. Your teams can search this content anytime for specific tags like “arrival” to speed up gameday workflows.
As a result of +AI Vision tagging, NHL fans saw 83% more photos and videos in their feeds that were shot by the NHL’s Live Social Contributors. A majority of this lift occurred due to a sharp increase in publishing during the NHL’s critical in-game window.
Sources: Greenfly, NHL; 2022-23 NHL regular season vs. 2021-22 NHL regular season.
Take the Next Step With a Live Content Capture Program in Sports
The coming year in sports will see more advances on all four of these fronts to propel live content capture programs even higher. And look for them to evolve beyond sports to media outlets, entertainment companies and more organizations developing live event content programs of their own.
Greenfly has built specific live content capture program workflows with sports organizations of all sizes. They rely on our platform and mobile app to automate these programs — for faster delivery and monetization to realize the full value of their short-form content.
The tech can eliminate many manual tasks. One way it can do this is by creating pre-event shortcuts to pre-select an asset gallery or event channel destination for captured creator content. Creators can automatically apply tags and descriptions when uploading mobile- or camera-captured content this way. This capability gives them a huge bulk media asset time-saver and busy content teams an organizational superpower.
Contact us today to learn more about setting up a live content capture program for your organization.
