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DAZN, Grabyo and Facebook to discuss disrupted broadcast market at Soccerex

Soccerex Global Convention

Soccerex are delighted to announce that DAZN CEO, James Rushton, Grabyo CEO, Gareth Capon and Facebook’s Sport Partnership Lead for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Jerry Newmanwill all be attending the Global Convention, Manchester, 4-6 September, to form a panel discussion on how sport media is currently consumed and the disruption that online streaming services and OTT (over the top) viewing is causing in the broadcasting market. The panel will look at consumer culture and provide an insight into where the future of football lies in regards to media consumption. After The Premier Leaguerights were sold for £5.14bn to television broadcasters Sky and BT over a year ago, a record in football rights deals, delegates attending will gain an understanding into what future rights deal might look like and where the market is headed.

Viewing habits are changing and more customers are moving online to watch football. In the UK Sky has experienced a 14% drop in viewing figures but also recorded a 31% rise in adoption of their online services Sky Go and NOW TV, according to The Times. This trend has been partially attributed to the fact that watching football on-the-go has become much more accessible dueto improved signal coverage and WI-FI connectivity,a large percentage of consumers nowadays would rather watch on a computer or portable tablet. Habits are changing with the improvements of technology allowing consumers more flexibility when viewing sport content.

Jerry Newman moved to Facebook in July 2016 and took on the Sport Partnership Lead role where he is responsible for partnerships with teams, players and sport media organisations across the EMEA region. Newman previously spent eight years at Chelsea Football Club in a number of roles including, Head of Digital Marketing and CRM, Digital Product Manager, Commercial Operations Manager and CRM Manager. Part of Jerry’s responsibility at Facebook is working with publishers to maximise use of the Facebook Live application which allows users to stream and broadcast live. This is something that football rights holders, teams and competition managers can look to partner with Facebook to reach an audience of over 2bn monthly active users. MLS have already seen the potential and now stream some of their content live on Facebook.

Gareth Capon, CEO of Grabyo, is an experienced media professional with over 17 years in the sector. Gareth’s knowledge and expertise comes from his time with BT, Sony and Sky where he held positions such as Commercial and Strategy Director along with Product Development Director (Mobile and Growth Products). Grabyo launched in 2013 and has been instrumental in allowing the online video streaming market to blossom. Their system is used by rights holders and media outlets such as BT Sport, The Premier League, MLS and LaLiga to create, share and monetize video across a variety of social and digital platforms.

James Rushton, CEO of DAZN, is also confirmed to be speaking, bringing with him 18 years of insight and knowledge working in the sport industry. In that time, James has held multiple senior roles within leading digital sports content and media group, Perform, and was part of the teamwho concepted and brought to life DAZN. DAZN first came onto the scene in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Japan last year and has had a significant impact on the global sport broadcasting industry. Founded on the belief that premium sport should be more accessible and more affordable to fans, DAZN has become a big player in the market by providing live and on-demand sport to fans through OTT viewing. With DAZN having recently acquiring the UEFA Champions League rights in Germany, Austria and Japan, this is an important period for the company.Jamesis at the forefront of where this market is likely headed and has insider knowledge and insight that any professional attending will find extremely beneficial.

Those attending will be hearing from these three leaders in the development of online sport media content with the industry set to change dramatically over the coming years as more and more choose online over linear TV. The companies these men work for are all very much involved in shaping the direction of football viewing habits and how football as an entity is consumed.

Jerry, Gareth and James will all be contributing to a thought provoking conference programme at the Soccerex Global Convention, designed to deliver unique business insight across a variety of football’s key sectors from stadia design, sponsorship, international investment, the latest in wearable technology and the rise of influencer marketing.

(Soccerex)