AGLOBAL GOLD RUSH IS CHANGING SPORT / THE ECONOMIST

Game changer

A global gold rush is changing sport

Fans may be cooling on the Olympics, but elsewhere technology is transforming how sport is watched

Abrawny armada of athletes from more than 200 countries will sail down the Seine on July 26th, as part of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic games. 

From the Mongolian team in embroidered kaftans to the Canadians in Lululemon bomber-jackets, the procession is designed to symbolise the gathering of every corner of humanity. 

The message to audiences (and corporate sponsors) is clear: in a fractious, divided world, nothing unites people like sport.

The idea is inspiring—but, to a surprising extent, untrue. 

Though the quadrennial Olympics and the men’s football World Cup both have audiences that span the planet, most of the world’s most valuable sporting properties have stubbornly resisted globalisation. 

America’s National Football League (nfl), the biggest of the lot, makes 98% of its media-rights revenue at home. 

India’s cricket Premier League, whose media rights are worth more than those of the Olympics on an annualised basis, makes 96% of its money inside its host country. 

In European football, only England’s Premier League makes more money abroad than at home.

But now, at last, globalisation is limbering up. 

Technology is transforming how sport is broadcast and how fans enjoy it, giving leagues of all kinds a shot at going global. 

This represents a big opportunity for businesses—billions of dollars await those that conquer foreign markets—and an even bigger one for audiences, as spectacles that already delight fans in one country start to thrill those in others. 

An influx of foreign sports will cause some to boo and hiss. 

Leagues and media companies should take no notice, and shoot at an open goal.

Sport’s failure as an export—and the scale of its potential—is best illustrated by a comparison with other entertainment industries. 

Since around the turn of the century, Hollywood has earned more than half of its box-office income abroad. 

American musical artists rely on foreign listeners for nearly a third of their streams and a big chunk of their concert-ticket sales (as Taylor Swift, who is touring Europe, can attest). 

In video games, meanwhile, Japanese consoles and Chinese apps have players hooked worldwide.

Two shifts are helping sport go global. 

The first is a supply-side revolution, as sports broadcasting belatedly moves from national broadcast and cable-television channels to global streaming platforms. 

Netflix, which got its worldwide audience glued to South Korean horror and French comedy, is now doing the same with sport. 

Its “Drive to Survive” documentary series introduced Americans to Formula 1 (imagine nascar with right turns). 

In December it will give many of its 270m subscribers their first taste of the nfl (think rugby with shoulder pads). 

Apple last year began streaming Major League Soccer (mls) to more than 100 countries. 

As distribution goes global, fans will have the chance to watch new sports.

The second revolution is on the demand side. 

The biggest obstacle to a sport’s foreign adoption is that, unlike other forms of entertainment, audiences want to watch their home team, rather than the best one. 

But fans’ attachment to teams is slowly giving way to their devotion to individual athletes. 

Social media let the best players cultivate global personal followings, drawing in fans with no connection to their team, or even their sport. 

Star players have drawn worldwide fans to England’s Premier League. 

Lionel Messi has brought new audiences to mls not only because of his six Golden Boot awards, but also his half a billion Instagram followers. 

Women’s basketball is booming thanks to Caitlin Clark, a player whose record-breaking performance has drawn fans who had never watched the game, let alone attended the University of Iowa, where she started.

It helps that young fans, whose preferred medium is short-form video, are more likely than older ones to watch highlights and summary shows of the action across a league, rather than a single match featuring their favourite team. 

Sports betting, recently legalised in much of America and growing rapidly, is further encouraging league-wide consumption instead of a focus on a single team. 

As fandom becomes more promiscuous and less tribal, it is being decoupled from geography.

Who stands to win at this new game? 

Among media companies, the best-placed are those with the widest distribution. 

Leagues want reach above all, and are willing to accept less lucrative deals with streaming services that can put their games in front of audiences everywhere. 

Netflix, Amazon and the other global platforms have an advantage over incumbents (though Netflix’s recent comment that its nfl matches each cost the equivalent of a new movie was enough to make unsporty cinephiles weep).

Among sports organisations, the biggest leagues will benefit most from wider distribution, just as music streaming has funnelled listeners to megastars like Ms Swift. 

But streaming also fosters healthy “long tails” of niche content. 

Women’s sport, long neglected, makes up nearly half of espn’s streaming output. 

The sports most at risk are between the hits and the niches; an anaemic media-rights deal agreed on recently by France’s football Ligue 1 shows how competition squeezes average leagues. 

There are signs fans are cooling on the Olympics , with its emphasis on countries over famous individuals—some of whom, like Mr Messi, choose to skip it.

As they globalise, sports will face a complaint once directed at other entertainment industries: that unworthy foreign content is pushing out treasured local favourites. 

A century ago politicians worried that radio broadcasts were tempting listeners to tune into big-city bands rather than local troupes. 

More recently, European politicians have complained that American television is distracting viewers from local programming.

Expect to hear more of the same as fans root for faraway sporting celebrities rather than local stars—and prepare to ignore it. 

It is for fans to choose what sports to follow, just as they pick what music to listen to or which films to see. 

In sport, of all things, competition is what counts. Sporting organisations worried about losing fans in this new global game should heed the Olympic motto: time to get faster, higher, stronger.