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As sports pundits gorge on the FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar, broadcasters are already looking at the numbers. Audience figures in many countries have been soft but, of course, it’s still early. The supreme sports event will run for another three weeks. There have been surprises and there will be more. Meanwhile, every rights holder is eying every cost against slipping ad revenues and subscriber pick-up.
Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) chairperson David Zaslav spun a few heads recently saying “we don’t have to have the NBA,” reported the Wall Street Journal. He was speaking to the RBC Capital Markets conference in New York City. The company spends a small fortune on sports programming, including right fees. Sitting on US$50 billion in debt, Mr. Zaslav is under investor pressure to watch each and every cost.
US pro-basketball league NBA rights cost WBD, roughly, US$1.3 billion per year. Turner Sports - once part of WarnerMedia, now known as Warner Bros Sports - has held NBA rights for more than three decades. The NBA rights deal expires after the 2024-2025 season and, of course, the NBA wants more money. Sports rights - NBA in particular - have always been lucrative; recently not so much.
Reinforcing this was Liberty Media chairperson - and significant WBD shareholder - John Malone. “If you can buy a sports event exclusively you can always gain users,” he told the Liberty Media investors conference. “But given marketing costs and churn, in the long run the service with the best bundle and the lowest costs will be the most profitable.” On the streaming video business, he offered: “There is a lot of blood flowing down the gutters of people who are streaming.” (See more about Warner Bros Discovery here)
NBA broadcast rights are equally split - for now - between Turner Sports (WBD) and ESPN (Disney). Everybody paying attention knows that Bob Iger returned over the past weekend as Disney chief executive. On his exceedingly long to-do list are NBA (and NFL) rights negotiations as well as the future of ESPN. While Mr. Iger has not tipped any decisions he has made clear that cost control is paramount (not to be confused with the TV company). The NBA has already indicated tripling the annual rights fees is its goal. (See more about the Walt Disney Company here)
ESPN revenues make up the biggest part of the Disney broadcast business. Sports pundits are already mooning over possible transactions with Apple, Amazon or, even, Google for ESPN or, at least, currently held sports rights. These would be big calls, something Bob Iger does very well.
We hear tales about media bosses acting inappropriately, their employers looking the other way until too much news filters out or just sending them on holiday. Two stories, entirely unrelated (winkie blinkie), reflect the interesting nature of Australian media. Remember, too, it’s moving on summertime in Australia. It’s hot.
Editor-in-chief of The Australian Chris Dore abruptly resigned. He had been hard at work during his four years in the job. Subscriptions had nearly doubled. “I couldn’t keep going on like this,” he said, quoted by online news portal Bandt (November 21). “I have long-standing personal health issues I need to resolve and am leaving to concentrate on restoring my health.” That announcement came just after News Corporation Australia pushed out about a dozen employees across several outlets.
That’s not quite the whole story, reported Sydney Morning Herald (November 20). While attending a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) event in California last month he made “lewd comments to a woman who was attending the meeting.” The “senior executive team” at News Corp - and everybody knows who that might be - “agreed” that he should step down. (See more about News Corporation here)
Also making the media beat in Australia was, first, abundantly satirical publication Crikey editor-in-chief Peter Fray heckling award winners last week at the annual Walkley journalism awards. He went on about the three honorees - all investigative reporters with public broadcaster ABC - not giving due credit, he implied, to a Crikey reporter. “What about Crikey?” he shouted before being told to pipe down, noted the Guardian (November 18). He briefly continued the tirade on social media. (See more about media in Australia here)
“Peter’s behavior is unacceptable and does not reflect the standards we aspire to at our company,” said Private Media, Crikey publisher, chief executive Will Hayward in a statement announcing Mr. Fray would be taking “indefinite leave.” Afterward, Mr. Fray apologized. Private Media is undergoing a defamation lawsuit (SLAPP) from News Corporation co-chairperson Lachlan Murdoch.
Big events are absolutely made for TV. So many people have spent so much time in front of screens in the home over the decades nobody but nobody - in the media world - things about anything else. Oh, but yes, the small screen is overtaking the home-bound one but, admit it, what you see on your mobile phone is designed for the original size. Sports is now even more important.
So, here comes the 2022 FIFA World Cup, football’s worldwide event that should be filled, if not with non-stop happiness, at least with delight. Somebody will lose but it will be glorious. The event hosts will not be among the losers. The Qatar organizing committee has extracted billions in a variety of currencies - probably including crypto - from sponsors, media providers and fans. Lessons well-learned from past experiences, every part is scripted and stage managed. (See more about sports and media here)
The Qataris set a few rules for media outlets covering the 2022 World Cup. As reporters and news crews pushed the limits, authorities began taking a harder line. Virtually any subject other than football on the field is off limits. For some news editors, this became a problem as many elements of this World Cup have been a problem from the first announcement 12 years ago.
Finland’s biggest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat is no longer sending reporters to Qatar. Their reporters had been assigned accomodations from which migrant workers - who build them - had been evicted, explained sports editor Erkki Kylmanen to Reuters (November 18), who refused to be drawn into “sportswashing.” Treatment of foreign workers in Qatar has been an enduring theme. "It is quite an unsound situation if we go there to write critical stories but go to bed in a place where people have been evicted from our way,” he said. "These are the kind of games that should never be organised again.” The newspaper will cover the World Cup remotely from Finland.
Producing set-pieces ahead of the World Cup, a reporter from Irish public broadcaster RTE and another from Danish television channel TV2 were, at the very least, harassed by security officers. Over the weekend, the BBC’s premier sports reporter Gary Lineker introduced the channel’s World Cup coverage with a damning five minute prologue. “It’s the most controversial World Cup in history and the ball hasn’t even been kicked,” he opened before sharing a litany of “big questions.” Cluing in viewers to what to expect, he added, “Against that backdrop there’s a tournament to be played, one that will be watched and enjoyed around the world. Stick to football say FIFA, well, we will, for a couple of minutes at least.”
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