Playfly Sports Expands Local Media Deals Amid Shifts In Sports Viewership
Playfly Sports is selling local media for 83 teams, as leagues consider consolidating local rights into a centralized platform. This move may impact how fans access their favorite teams' games.
Original reporting · digiday.com
Original: “Playfly’s CEO explains why leagues are looking to consolidate local sports rights”
Read “Playfly’s CEO explains why leagues are looking to consolidate local sports rights” at Digiday →
How this was written. GMS Agency Desk wrote this article with a language model from Digiday’s reporting (model: @cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast); it describes that reporting rather than adding to it. The original, linked above, is the full story.
Key points from Digiday’s report
- Playfly Sports is selling local media for 83 teams across baseball, hockey, and basketball.
- The market for sports advertising remains strong, despite changes in how people watch sports.
- The leagues are considering consolidating their local rights into a centralized platform to make it easier for fans to access games.
- Streaming is expected to continue growing as a way for people to watch sports, with over a third of the audience potentially coming from streaming in the future.
- New categories, such as AI and sports betting, are emerging in the local sports market.
The way people watch sports is changing, with a significant drop in cable and satellite TV subscriptions. This shift has led to confusion among fans trying to find their local teams' games.
Despite this challenge, the market for sports advertising remains strong, according to Craig Sloan, CEO of Playfly Sports. Sloan's company represents 83 teams across baseball, hockey, and basketball.
Playfly Sports has maintained its rights and is selling local media for all its teams this season. The company has secured deals with several media channels, including TV station groups and sports streamers.
The bankruptcy of a major sports group earlier this year led to changes in TV and streaming partners for several teams. However, Playfly Sports was able to retain its rights and continue selling local media.
Sloan believes that streaming will continue to grow as a way for people to watch sports. He expects that eventually, over a third of the audience for local games will come from streaming, rather than traditional linear TV.
The leagues are exploring the possibility of consolidating their local rights into a centralized platform. This could make it easier for fans to access their favorite teams' games, but it is still being discussed.
The NBA is considering creating a platform with a streaming partner to consolidate all 30 teams' local games. This would allow fans to access their local team's games in one environment. This article is based on reporting by Digiday.
Questions and answers
What is happening to the way people watch sports?
The way people watch sports is changing, with a shift away from traditional linear TV and towards streaming.
How is Playfly Sports responding to these changes?
Playfly Sports is selling local media for all its teams and has secured deals with several media channels, including TV station groups and sports streamers.
What new categories are emerging in the local sports market?
New categories, such as AI and sports betting, are emerging in the local sports market, according to Craig Sloan, CEO of Playfly Sports.
