Read about the most interesting and unique content ideas from around the APAC sports and broadcast industry these past few weeks.
As world tours are postponed indefinitely, Korean Band BTS hosted two virtual concerts to connect with fans and introduce new songs from their recent album. As this shift online continues with concerts and broadcast, the impact is also being felt for ecommerce as The Double 11 Single’s Day sale set a new sales record. The NBA is continuing to engage with fans in China, by opening six entertainment and experience centres. Amazon Prime has announced its debut in India by acquiring New Zealand Cricket rights from 2021 to 2025/26, one of the country’s most popular sports. As fans are unable to attend this season’s IPL matches, Disney+ Hotstar introduced #WatchWithYaars which allowed fans to video call family and friends to watch matches together. To further support the virtual event space, Sport Singapore announced a $50 million grant to encourage sport event organisers to engage locals via ‘phygital’ hybrid events.
NBA entertainment and experience centres China
NBA will be opening six entertainment and experience centres in China, as part of their partnership with Harves Entertainment . The centres will be equipped with interactive gaming facilities, NBA-themed restaurants and other entertainment choices. The centres provide an opportunity for the league to enhance its connection with its Chinese followers and expand the global reach of the league.
Amazon Prime in India
Amazon Prime Video announced earlier this month its debut into live sports in India, acquiring the broadcast rights for one of the country’s most popular sports. The streaming platform will be airing New Zealand Cricket from 2021 to 2025/2026. The deal includes rights to stream all international cricket matches played in New Zealand for both men’s and women’s cricket, ODI, T20 and Tests formats starting late 2021 on Prime Video’s platform.
Streaming giant @PrimeVideoIN has purchased the exclusive rights to live stream New Zealand-based BLACKCAPS and @WHITE_FERNS matches into India for the next six years. https://t.co/ZYtDqqZKcg #CricketNation
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) November 10, 2020
#WatchWithYaars on Hotstar
The 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) took place over two months, from September to November, and attracted a record audience across television and digital platforms. 58 of the 60 IPL games showed a 24% increase from the 2019 edition and a cumulative of 383 billion minutes were watched.
As all games are held behind closed doors in United Arab Emirates this year, Disney+ Hotstar has introduced a “Watch with your friends” feature using #WatchWithYaars, that allowed users to video call family and friends while watching the IPL cricket matches on HotStar.
Double 11 sale breaks record
The double 11 singles day ecommerce sale broke another record, with 498.2 billion yuan ($74.1 billion) in sales revenue on Tmall.com and 271.5 billion yuan on JD.com. Brand owners are diversified ways of communicating with customers through live streaming platforms and invited influencers to endorse goods by publishing short-video advertisements.
BTS Virtual Concert: ‘Map of the Soul ON:E’
The pandemic has disrupted BTS’s World Tours but that hasn’t stopped them from connecting with their fans through two virtual concerts over a weekend in October. ‘Map of the Soul ON:E’ achieved a total of 756,000 viewers from 100 different countries to watch the online performance live. The virtual concert applied AR, XR and 4K/HD technology for a more immersive fan experience and provided fans with the option for “multi-view live streaming” with six different screens to choose from.
‘Phygital’ Hybrid events in Singapore
Sports Singapore has launched the “Blended” initiative which offers grants to sports event organisers, event management companies, private academies and clubs to engage locals via the ‘phygital’ hybrid event formats. ‘Phygital’ combines both physical and digital elements in sports to deliver a more interactive experience for participants.
To learn more about Grabyo and how we are helping global broadcasters, rights holders and media companies overcome these challenges with our cloud-based video production and editing platform – get in touch today.
Leave a Reply