Page 29 - AdNews Magazine Jul-Aug 2020
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     more importantly from the casual market — in a market that’s obvi- ously challenged — is positive,” says Matt Granger, Nine’s director of sales for sport.
“For June, we’re certainly not far off where we would normally be, which is really positive. I think that’s indicative of the strength of the product and the eagerness of clients to get back into that environment, having had 10 weeks without sport.
“We’ve always been really open and transparent with media agencies because they are our partners. I’ve only had positive feedback and I think all those partners we had previously are all back in and raring to go.”
Kurt Burnette, Seven’s chief revenue officer, says COVID-19 has shown just how agile the market is.
“We’ve all had to adapt to the extraordinary change we’ve been fac- ing,” he says.”For some brands, that’s meant saying less for a variety of reasons — and for others that’s meant saying more or saying something different — in order to reach audiences and customers during such a unique period.
“We’ve also been introducing innovation, from virtual signage and crowd noises to extending free-to-air horse racing coverage for fans and advertisers.”
One element to the deals with sport is the ability of publishers and broadcasters to grow a fan base or audience. There is a solid argument that says the star sporting codes of today wouldn’t be where they are if it wasn’t for media coverage.
And that element, the delivery of news (and entertainment), is still important. This is how new fans are born.
Granger at Nine: “If you look at sport audiences more broadly, they’re probably made up of fanatics, fans and followers. One of the big opportuni- ties a free-to-air network or media partner such as Nine can offer is getting in casual viewers and allowing them an opportunity to engage with the sport.
“It helps grow that user base. And if we get that right and help lift up individual teams and the tribalism around the teams, I think that’s where the value is for the NRL as an entertainment product.”
Billboard for Rebel, counting down until the return of live sport.
Nine has had the Australian sum- mer of tennis for two years now. “The results we’ve seen around brand recall and engagement — and actual business results, whether that be retail sales, foot traffic or vis- itations to websites — have all been over and above the metrics they said we’d have,” says Granger. “So I think what brands realise is that by the very nature of sport and pre- mium sport, is that there’s a lean-in mentality of audiences, a connec- tion point that’s quite unique.”
Steve Martin, global CEO of M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertain- ment, says the sports industry has been heading towards a much- needed reset for some time.
“Broadcast rights reflect the changes to the market we have seen coming, and that in truth needed to be made,” he says.
“In the space of two weeks, more than $200 million in savings has already been negotiated by Seven, Nine and Foxtel from broadcast deals with the AFL and NRL alone.
“Expect this to be a trend, but competition will be there when new rights packages come around again and new players are likely to be in the mix, such as Amazon.
 

















































































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