A written narrative from Kit Rosen’s Sports Loft’s 2023 London Showcase presentation on digital media as currency. Watch the full-stage presentation (including live Q&A) in the video above.
I’m willing to bet that no two people here have the exact same idea about how to save, manage, and spend your money.
Now, we can probably agree on a couple of things. We all work very hard for our money, and we all take pride in our careers and being able to provide for ourselves, and for our families, and for our companies. And we can probably all agree that however we do spend and invest our money, we need to diversify it. We cannot put all our eggs in one basket.
So some financial advisors will tell you to keep a certain percentage of your investments in index funds or ETFs. These are more stable; maybe this is your vessel for retirement or maybe your kid’s education. Maybe you want to be a bit riskier with some of your money and keep some of it in stocks for a higher upside. Maybe you’re thinking long-term. You want to keep a big chunk of your investments in real estate or bonds. And then of course, hopefully, you’re keeping some of that money in savings, should a health crisis or a pandemic come up.
Whatever you choose to do, however this allocation looks to you, you got to diversify what you’re doing with your money to have your money work for you.
At Greenfly, we think of content as money.
Digital Media as Currency
Content is the currency of sports organizations.
Take this video right here of the second goal in NWSL history to ever be scored by a goalie:
It’s a fun video if you haven’t seen it — the recent Portland Thorns versus Angel City game.
This right here is currency.
This is currency for the Portland Thorns, this is currency for the NWSL, and this is currency for anybody who cares about women’s football and women’s sport and wants the world to start paying better attention.
If you’re reading this, you are likely coming from an organization that has a team — whether a two-person team or a 100-person team — working really hard to pump out digital content. So you’re creating pre-game content, mid-game content, post-game content. You’re working around the clock — more hours than a lot of us — to create this currency for your organization.
How Sports Organizations Can Diversify Content Investments
What’s concerning to us at Greenfly is that a lot of times when we first start talking to an organization, we hear that you are not investing your digital media currency wisely.
You’re keeping it all in one place. So maybe you have this team doing a great job creating digital content, but you’re only using it on your own social media channels, or you’re only sending it to your top athletes, your top scorers.
We think that’s a waste. It’s putting all of your eggs in one basket. You’re not letting your currency work for you.
So at Greenfly, we have a different thought: Why not diversify where you’re putting your content? Why not empower, for example, your broadcasters, with your best post-game content, so that they can connect with fans on digital?
Activate Your Athletes and Partners With Digital Media
We know that 48% of Gen Z sports fans are not watching sports on broadcast. They’re accessing all their sports content on their digital channels. By empowering your broadcasters with your digital content, you’re opening them up to that audience of new sports fans.
Sometimes we talk to clubs who are thinking the squeaky wheel gets the grease. They’re only sending their content to their best players. Again, that feels wasteful. Be more equitable. Share it far and wide. Your stars are not the only folks with followings. Your entire organization will grow their following if you’re spreading this content far and wide.
The list goes on. We have customers who send their content to OTT platforms and to sponsors.
This is a new offering that you’re able to give your sponsors. When that deal rolls around next year, you’re able to renegotiate at a higher price because you’re now providing them with a tailored feed of digital content.
Greenfly Multiplies Sports Digital Media Value
At Greenfly, our idea is really simple. We help you create and collect better, more unique content. We help you to aggregate it and manage it all in one place. And we help you power your entire ecosystem with this digital content.
In other words, we’re helping your money make more money for you. The content is there, invest it. Let’s multiply its value.
Artificial Intelligence To Streamline Content Distribution
So how are we doing this? The first is our AI platform. Greenfly’s integrated our AI platform into our entire system. We’re able to tag faces, jersey numbers, sponsor logo, even scene recognition — pass, catch, goal. This helps your team save time. There’s no manual tagging and no manual distribution — we’re doing it.
And it helps every stakeholder that you’re sending content to — your broadcast, your sponsors — they’re able to receive it that much quicker. And they can meet fans while they’re watching the match, and while they’re partaking in the game.
As an example, the National Hockey League in the U.S. is automating their entire matchday social feed program. So the content they’re collecting down on the ice, that is all automated so folks can upload a 10-second or a two-minute video. Greenfly will tag every player and every play and then they’ll distribute it to all of the clubs. Because the clubs have their own preferences, they then go ahead and choose which videos to distribute. But from a league standpoint, that time investment is so minimal, thanks to our AI.
Integrations To Optimize Content Flow
Secondly, organizations can harness the power of our integrations. I think of our integrations in two parts. The first is the input. We’re able to take in Getty Images content, imaging content, any sort of cloud-based system. The more content we’re able to ingest, the more stakeholders you’re able to provide that content to, to bring more eyes to all of your matches.
In terms of output, we’re able to get content to many different sources. This makes it easier again for your broadcasters, and for some of your content teams who might be using Slate — they can add custom stickers — to make all of this more unique and creative to fans.
Metrics To Maximize Content ROI
And then lastly is our integration with Blinkfire. This helps with this sponsor piece. If you’re sending your players a piece of content with a sponsor logo, Blinkfire and Greenfly help you report back to that sponsor the numerical value of that post. Again, when that sponsorship deal rolls around the next year, use this as a resource to renegotiate.
For a lot of sports organizations who are focused on the broadcast piece, the first metric they think about is, “Are broadcasters using this content?” Because if they’re going to take the time and collect it and distribute it, they want to make sure their broadcast partners see the value in it and are using it in their own channels. So a lot of times, it’s just usage by the external stakeholder.
Start Making the Most of Your Digital Media Currency
The other thing we see a lot when we’re talking to clubs rather than leagues is they want to buy Greenfly just to create better content. There’s so much time savings when an organization adopts Greenfly from the AI and all of the different automated features. The creatives on their team and their social media managers can spend time doing what they’re good at rather than scrolling through content and tagging it.
At Greenfly, we’re really proud to be part of the world’s largest sporting events. And this is really global. So we’re talking about the IPL final. Both of the teams who competed in the final used Greenfly to power their entire ecosystem.
UEFA, Premier League, all the leagues in the U.S. — we’re helping them make the most of their content currency.
Reach out if our team at Greenfly can help you make the most of your digital media currency. And if you’d like to attend next year’s event, contact us or Sports Loft.
