Selling Sports

Entire industries and legions of smart people are dedicated to attraction and extraction – that is, drawing our attention, and money from our pockets. Some sells are easier than others. Think, anything related to Taylor Swift at one end of the spectrum and Afghan vacation time-shares on the other. 

Sports are a reliable draw. First-world country, leisure time, disposable income, and all that. Tastes have shifted over time – sixty years ago, the country’s major sports were baseball, boxing and horse racing – but overall Americans love us some games and those who excel at them. 

Present and future taffy pulls are about which sports folks find appealing, how they choose to engage, and how invested they are, since there are only so many hours in a day and dollars in accounts. A recent survey suggests that viewing habits and engagement are changing the way people connect with sports. A Norwegian-based outfit called Vizrt commissioned a study of thousands of sports fans across the U.S. and United Kingdom and found that only 58 percent of Generation Z’ers watch live sports from start to finish. Sixty-seven percent of Gen Z’ers surveyed prefer to watch sports on their phones while doing other things, compared to 54 percent of Millenials and only 23 percent of Gen X’ers. 

Many respondents across all demographics said that watching live is their preferred method for experiencing sports, but that all were watching full matches and games less frequently. (For ID purposes, Gen Z’ers, also known as Zoomers, are those born from the mid-1990s to 2010; Millennials or Gen Y were born from 1981-95, Gen X’ers from 1965-80, and Baby Boomers from 1946-64.) 

Other survey results: 74 percent of Gen Z’ers get most of their sports content from social media, another blast at traditional media. Seventy-nine percent of respondents said they were more likely to watch sports broadcasts that included such things as augmented reality (AR) graphics, virtual studios, live data analysis and enhanced replay. For example, using virtual sets in sports commentary enhances the viewing experience for 65 percent of Millennials. Sixty-three percent of Gen Z respondents said they were more likely to watch longer if virtual elements were used, and 57 percent of all respondents said they were likely to watch longer. Twenty-nine percent said they’d be more inclined to watch future broadcasts by certain outfits or studios if they knew snazzy graphics and virtual elements are used. In other words, many sports fans want nothing to do with nine innings of Braves-Marlins, but if you can drop them virtually into a Wembenyama fast break or a Pulisic dash into the box or Verstappen at Monaco, now we’re talking. 

All of this is in Vizrt’s wheelhouse. The company’s name is short for Visualization in Real Time, and it creates content production and tools for digital media, 3D graphics and maps, visual analysis and media management. As much as they thought they were well positioned for the future, even they were a little surprised by the survey results. 

“The data that came back on the importance of an immersive experience using additional graphics for audiences was astonishing. It’s clear (that) enhanced visuals and graphics are vital for capturing the attention of younger viewers and enhancing their engagement,” said Vizrt exec Andy O’Neil in a release accompanying the survey. “Millenials and Gen Z desire shorter, engaging content that they can consume on the go. They expect augmented reality graphics, real-time data, and exciting analysis to enhance their immersion in the game, and any broadcaster not considering these elements within their content is already falling behind.” 

Visual bells and whistles dovetail nicely with another pillar in the fan engagement playbook: gambling. If one has a little skin in the game, one is more likely to pay attention to the game. At last count, 33 states and the District of Columbia have legalized sports betting, and 24 states permit online betting. Sites such as FanDuel and Draft Kings are partners with major leagues and specific teams and media outfits. Any site worth its pixels has an app. With youngsters (and some oldsters) increasingly tied to their phones and mobile devices, wagering is easy. Winning, less so. 

Some folks, such as YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, are trying to tap into the instant gratification, social media angle with sports betting. Paul and his partner launched Betr, a site devoted to micro-betting – moment-to-moment wagering, next at-bat, next drive, next shot, next pass, etc. He raised approximately $50 million in start-up funding and said he wanted to create a “TikTokification of gambling,” where betting is like scrolling through videos. He might just do it. 

A J.P. Morgan study guesstimated that $9 billion per year will be spent on U.S. sports gambling by 2025, with almost $7 billion of that on micro-betting and game-in-play wagering. As a baby boomer of limited vision, I have no idea what sports or fandom will look like 10 or 20 years from now. I hope the landscape isn’t littered with the tech enslaved or dispirited souls who view sports through the lens of profit and loss and have no appreciation for the time and toil expended on their diversions. I don’t need augmented reality or a financial stake, but the numbers say I’m a vanishing breed. Some athletes and matchups will draw my attention regardless, while others will remain a tough sell and a hard pass. Though I hear Kabul is lovely in the Spring.

Go Home UCL, You're Drunk

This morning, UEFA will draw the matchups for the semifinals of this year's UEFA Champions League. Usual suspects Real Madrid (two-time defending champions) and Bayern Munich are joined by a lively Liverpool side and a most unlikely participant in Roma.

We know, man

Liverpool buried favored Manchester City under a sea of red (and a questionably overturned goal), winning 5-1 on aggregate across two legs in what was perhaps less of an upset than has been portrayed. Jurgen Klopp's men have now beaten the Citizens three straight times.

Roma, though, came out of of nowhere. Drubbed and left for dead by Barcelona in the first leg of the tie, the Italian side came home trailing by a 4-1 count. That lone away goal turned out to be decisive, though nobody asked before the game would've given I Giallorossi a tosser's chance.

The American-owned Romans gave their fans early hope on a sixth-minute goal by Edin Dzeko, but went into the half up only 1-0, and down 4-2 on aggregate. Captain Daniele De Rossi buried a penalty in the 58th minute to bring the crowd to the edge of its collective seats.

And then, in the 82nd minute, this happened:

Roma commentator Carlo Zampa's call for Kostas Manolas' winning goal: 👌🏻#UCL #ASRoma pic.twitter.com/aGrHWJApPG

— Peter Galindo (@GalindoPW) April 10, 2018

It's gonna be hard for the final legs to top this week. Not only did Roma deliver a comeback for the ages, Juventus came from three goals down to tie Real Madrid on the road before that bastard Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty kick in stoppage time to rescue the holders. 

We're hoping Liverpool draw Roma so we're guaranteed one of those two clubs in the final. But we'll take anything at this point. Sports!

Spanning the Globe

Throughout the past week, national soccer teams the world over have been engaged in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. Predictably, at this stage of qualifying, results varied dramatically. Spain, for example, belted poor Liechtenstein, 8-0. The German Mannschaft rolled to its eighth consecutive final round victory, improving its goal differential to 35-2 with a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic and a 6-0 drubbing of Norway.

But keeping things in Europe, tiny Luxembourg drew mighty France, 0-0 to put a monkey wrench in Les Blues plans for Russia. The Faroe Islands, which might be imaginary, beat Andorra, which definitely is, by a 1-0 score, rising to striking distance of third place in their group, a moral victory in the making.

Closer to home, our Yanks were four minutes away from goose-egging this international break, trailing Honduras, 1-0, on the heels of a dismal 2-0 home loss to Costa Rica. Had Bruce Arena's squad failed to equalize, the U.S. would've fallen to fourth place in the final round of CONCACAF qualifying, and put our hopes in real jeopardy. Great American Bobby Wood let us breathe for a few more weeks by doing this:



The U.S. plays its final two matches against minnows Panama and Trinidad and Tobago, but at this point in the process, nothing is guaranteed, given both the USMNT's tepid form and the fact that fucked up stuff happens in CONCACAF on the regular. The top three teams in the region qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, while the fourth is forced into a playoff.

In far less sublime global soccer news, FIFA ruled today that Senegal and South Africa must replay a qualifier originally contested in November after finding that the match official, Ghanaian Joseph Lamptey, "unlawfully manipulate match results'. Lamptey awarded the South Africans a penalty kick on a phantom handball in the Senegalese penalty area, which keyed the home team's 2-1 win.

Since sports are nothing if not redemptive, we'll close on an amazingly emotional note. Syria, a nation that's been through some of the worst trauma imaginable, has made a surprisingly competitive run through the Asian Football Federation's qualifying process. More than 50 Syrian professional players have been killed during that nation's six-year civil war, and 13 others are missing or detained. Top talents have left the country in fear for their lives. Nonetheless, the Syrians entered play yesterday with an outside chance to guarantee a World Cup berth.

Into stoppage time, Syria trailed Iran, 2-1, and results elsewhere meant that the underdogs would be eliminated with a loss. And then this happened:



Syria now play a home and away series against Australia, with the winner advancing to take on CONCACAF's fourth place team. Which, as we've learned, could be the United States of America.

And how'd you like that for some geopolitical intrigue?

The Test 34: Elitist Stuff

This week on The Test, I quiz the ladies on some highbrow shit . . . and they perform admirably. If you listen closely, you'll notice that Stacey not only invents a jazz musician, but also cracks a number of hysterical jokes that Cunningham and I completely ignore.

I have some trouble "taking stuff from my head," but the Voice of God comes to the rescue. Cunningham corrects me on-- of all things-- a sporting quotation, and I come up with an extemporaneous bonus question and then refuse to let the ladies answer it because I want to answer it myself. It's astounding that they put up with me.

Take a shot, keep score, and see if you know as much "elitist stuff" as we do.

Jerry, this one is right in your wheelhouse.

Finally, a SPORTS post...

....sorry, I couldn't resist...