Sport Industry Group

22 Aug 2008

Drew Barrand, head of media at the Sport Industry Group, explains how the internet changed his Olympic Games experience…

This last fortnight has changed my life. Okay…so maybe that’s a bit over-the-top but it’s certainly changed my sports viewing habits.

I’m not too proud to say that I was one of the naysayers who claimed that they’d never watch live sport on a laptop. Why would you settle for content on a small screen with badly distorted images that took an age to load up when the TV viewing experience was so rich? Give me my widescreen TV any day. Clearly I didn’t have a clue what I was talking about.

The majority of my viewing of this Olympic Games has been done through the BBC website. And what an experience it has been. The mixture of live text updates and high quality streamed video has delivered a user experience that I had hitherto never dreamed of. All from the comfort of my desk.

Nor am I alone in my addiction to the online service. For the first weekend of the Games, 3.3m unique users were logging on to the Olympic coverage every day – close to half of the TV audience. Some people I have spoken to even stated a preference to watching the sport online as opposed to via their televisions.

Imagine if someone had told you that before the Olympics began. You’d have laughed them out of the room.

So why has it worked so well? Firstly, you can’t underestimate the effect of a successful British team. With more gold acquired than half of the depository of Fort Knox, the great British public’s thirst for information and updates has reached fever pitch.

Secondly, the format of the Olympics lends itself to the ‘dip in and out’ approach that is the consumption strategy of most internet users.

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, the majority of internet users have now got a broadband speed that allows unhindered live streaming of video footage – a technological advancement that has proved the biggest pull to bringing in regular viewers.

So while the BBC revels in its astonishing Olympic user figures, the wider question is whether the precedent has now been set for all online coverage of sport.

In truth the answer is somewhat mixed. As mentioned before the format of sports such as football and rugby union do not naturally lend themselves to live online viewing. While users would undoubtedly watch a few minutes worth of goal highlights, would they log on to enjoy a full 90 minute match?

Also there is the issue of the online commercial model. The BBC airs uninterrupted Olympic coverage free of charge and with no requirement to bring in revenue as part of its remit as a public broadcaster. For other media owners, the situation is very different.

Investment in sports rights requires a return be it from online advertising revenue or from a user subscription fee – both of which substantially impact on the consumer uptake.

So while the online coverage of this Olympic Games has almost certainly proved a defining moment in the evolution of the medium, there are still a number of barriers before its success can be replicated across the board.

There is one big loser in all this however. Think of the number of companies out there losing money hand over fist because their Olympics-obsessed workforce is too busy logging on to the BBC website to actually do their jobs. The classic flicking from bbc.co.uk to a work spreadsheet as the boss walks past your screen must be the most used trick in the book over the last fortnight.

At least those of us who are employed in the sports industry can claim that following the Olympics online is an important part of our working remit. Come to think of it, I must have been working 15 hour days lately…