Five ways our extranet services improve the relationship between sport organizations and broadcasters

It’s easy for a fan to think that great sports events happen with a little magic behind the scenes. A fan doesn’t worry about the processes and workflows that bring all the action of a live event from the field to their screen. If it works, it works, right?

But behind every successful competition are the technological pillars that make this a reality. Sport management solutions that aggregate, refine, and distribute official information are vital in delivering the ultimate fan experience. Whether that be live video feeds and graphics, to data overlays and localized metadata, from media assets to media access, managing all operations effectively is key to business success.

Co-ordinating stakeholders to distribute a product that reaches potentially millions of households across the globe can be complex at the best of times. Manual and time-consuming operational workflows are further compounded by the difficulties brought on by the pandemic. This, in turn, can be detrimental to the perceived value of the initial investment made by the rights holder to broadcast the event.

How then can rights owners enable broadcasters to maximize the impact of their content? Here at Deltatre, we have developed a suite of enterprise solutions that address this challenge.

We sat down to have a chat with Lawrence Bowden, VP Sport Experiences, who identified the five key benefits of having a centralized platform to manage content distribution and get it in front of global audiences.

#1. Streamlined workflows

A key element in achieving successful competition delivery and management is to implement efficient, streamlined operational workflows. A centralized management solution can help promote these optimal processes, including the distribution of media rights.

At Deltatre, we have built a market-leading B2B ecosystem that addresses the complexities of the distribution of media content and simplifies the gathering of media requests, such as accreditation approvals and requests for exclusive interviews.

With international broadcasters working around the clock – either on-venue or from remote locations – event management must be able to control the streams of requests coming from different groups of stakeholders and process them in a way to maximize time and resources.

We have delivered functional modules for the world’s leading football leagues and sporting competitions to make communicating to their global group of stakeholders functional and personalized, reducing complexity for the owner.

Ultimately, its primary objective is to facilitate each process that exists between the media entities involved in the production and delivery of a live event and streamline the distribution of media content.

Over the long-term, this system has proven to help reduce costs for operators that still lean on manual processes, but also drive engagement to maximize exposure and promotion of their official content.

#2. Simplified engagement

Whether broadcasters are on-venue or remote, the need for a solution to consolidate and plan media access is always required when operating live events.

With our extranet solutions, leagues and clubs can benefit from a customized dashboard from which they can formally request availability and access information, such as timings, locations and talent on offer according to the client’s schedule, in advance of a specific event. On the other side, broadcasters can submit their requests with just a few clicks.

This represents a structured and articulated workflow to simplify the requests from the media at an international level. It also works for on-site requests.

#3. Ready-for-delivery files, all in one place

Media content plans can be complex to communicate with hundreds of different touchpoints in previewing and reviewing live events over multiple weeks.

On top of this, broadcasters require content to complement each of these instances, delivered in multiple, varied file formats to distribute across their ecosystem and satisfy the demands of hungry audiences, as well as promote the media rights acquired.

This is where Deltatre steps in. Our lean file delivery service allows for the speedy delivery of large media content and the management of the workflows around this based on each organization’s need.

#4. Data as the fuel for innovative storytelling

Understanding what content is being used by broadcasters is paramount for rights owners to optimize their production plan.

Our solution provides detailed analytics to clients on what clips have been downloaded and in what format by their broadcast partners. With this reporting, they can prioritize the creation of assets that satisfy their client’s requirements, thereby increasing their efficiency and return on investment in relation to resourcing.

#5. There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’

No one event is like another - and that’s why a centralized platform must be flexible and scalable to meet the needs of the specific organization.

To truly maximize the value of content rights, sport properties and broadcasters must have the ability to operate a modular ecosystem according to their bespoke requirements. For instance, think of the recent restart of professional leagues following the Covid-imposed lockdown. Rescheduling matches can be complex, especially when schedules are very tight. An easy-to-use solution that can help organizations to simplify their workflow becomes then paramount when decisions must be made with very short lead time.

Closing thoughts

The management of broadcast rights does not end at the sale of those media rights. At Deltatre, we have been working for thirty-five years to refine and optimize a suite of solutions to provide rights holders and rights owners with the functionalities required to configure, create and edit competitions and competition-related resources – all with the goal to improve the efficiency of competition management, at any level. Communication is vital to maintain the optimal relationship between stakeholders, and we provide the tools to facilitate this.

If you’d like to learn more about our extranet solutions, you can get in touch here.

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