The impact of technology on the supply of sport broadcasting

The demand for sport content by broadcasting organizations has undergone a major redefinition in the last 15-20 years. Television has become predominantly a private good, subject to deregulation and technological revolution. The traditional approach to presenting sport content predominantly live and exclusive through one distribution channel has evolved considerably into one represented now by a multi-faceted, multi-organizational approach. This paper will introduce the two markets of sport and broadcasting through the supply network of broadcasting rights and sports programming, and how this network is affected by the emerging broadcasting technology that is appearing in the digital environment. The era of digital broadcasting creates a significant alteration to the supply of broadcasting content developed by professional sport leagues, competitions and events. A number of emerging distribution system components linked to the digital environment can be identified and associated with sport broadcasting, all of which are having a profound impact on the way sport is being presented now and into the future. The various distribution components are introduced and examined in terms of their impact on the professional sport broadcasting markets. Each distribution component is addressed from the perspective of the regulatory, marketing, and economic impacts on channel management that apply. <br /

Watching the football game: broadcasting rights for the European digital television market

In Europe, heavy competition between broadcasters for sports broadcasting rights and consumer's attention has raised policy questions concerning both competition and content issues. Exclusivity of sports broadcasting rights may foreclose new media markets and deprive the public access to major sports coverage. This interdisciplinary article is at the crossroad of media, economic, and regulatory studies, and it aims at providing a more holistic analysis of topical issues in the sports broadcasting rights industry, with particular focus on both upstream and downstream markets. It is argued that a concise regulatory framework is required to grant fair access to mediated sports in society