Introducing Generation Stream: Sports Edition
Introducing
Generation Stream:
Sports Edition
by Disney Advertising
Year after year, sports content consistently dominates the top 100 most-viewed programming lists. After a year of upended schedules and empty stadiums, sports has seen a tremendous return to live events while also captivating audiences of all levels of fandom.
Now, more than ever, sports streamers are engaging with games and athletes in new ways and streaming has opened the door for increased accessibility. Sports streamers are individuals who consume sports content across multiple screens and engage with their favorite leagues, teams and athletes across digital platforms. This is inclusive of live TV; video on demand; connected TV; social media, websites and more. Today, traditional streaming TV is just the tip of the iceberg, these audiences are leveraging social media, fantasy, betting and more.
In an effort to better understand the evolving streaming landscape, Disney has built a thought leadership initiative called Generation Stream. As an extension to our Generation Stream: Volume 1 exploration, Generation Stream: Sports Edition explores the new generation of sports TV viewers to understand their behaviors and motivations, and to uncover trends that inform the future of sports, fanship, and consumption.
Through extensive trend research, interviews with “Culturesetters” and industry experts, as well as a nationally representative survey among 2,500 sports streamers, we identified key trends that are reshaping how sports streamers consume content and interact with all things sports. Findings from this research present Disney and our brand partners with the opportunity to connect with sports fans in new and meaningful ways with content, brands and advertising.
The following six reports will be released on a monthly cadence. They’ll range from an exploration of how our connection with athletes is evolving, ways sports streamers are identifying with eSports, a deep dive into how people are extending their sports experience digitally, to a formal segmentation of sports viewers.
Here’s a preview of what’s to come:
The Scorecard
A snapshot of sports streamers that ranges from how sports streamers are identifying with eSports to a deep dive into ways people are extending their sports experience in different ways.
Sports Unleashed
Coming Soon
Sports content is untethered from traditional formats, and fandom is evolving into a kaleidoscope of viewing experiences. With more access to sports through streaming, social media and podcasts, ‘watching sports’ has taken on new meanings and embraces a more diverse audience in the process.
Complete Athlete
The image of athletes as superheroes is giving way to a more complete picture of who they are: complex human beings who are emotional, social, political and multidimensional. The “Complete Athlete” is stepping off the sidelines to create a more culture-defining game.
Digital Rituals
As the sports experience has shifted (largely) to streaming, rituals around fandom have taken a digital turn. This trend explores the new “rituals” of fans from virtual tailgates to YouTube sports rivalries and more. Lucky rabbit foot not required!
Outer Rings
Sports betting, fantasy sports and eSports once represented the outer rings of the sports industry, but today they are fast becoming new centers of the expanding sports universe, ushering in new, diverse fans that ultimately elevate the game.
Sports Fandom 360
Five emerging segments are shaping the future of sports streaming. As streaming unleashes more diverse sports experiences, audiences are regrouping into new clusters of fandom. Each of these new clusters, or fan segments, tells a deeper story about the evolution of sports in an era of social media, social justice, social distancing, and more.
Looking Ahead
This is only the beginning! Keep an eye out for the Generation Stream: Sports Edition reports in the coming months. As we continue to unveil findings, our aim is for Generation Stream to inform content creators and brands alike to take an insightful and fresh look at the power and promise of Streaming TV.
To learn more about both Generation Stream: Volume 1 and Generation Stream: Sports Edition, please visit our Generation Stream Hub.
Source: Generation Stream Report, Culture Co-op, April 2020
Source: Generation Stream: Sports Edition, Culture Co-op, June 2021
Note: Sports streamers are individuals who: (1) Self-identify as sports fans, (2) Use streaming services to watch some or all of their sports content, (3) Have watched a live or non-live sports event, sports highlights and/or sports related videos within the past three months.
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Unlock the Power of Live with our Playbook
Unlock the Power of Live with our Playbook
by Disney Advertising
Live events are back and sports are on fire!
Disney is the home for all sports, with the most enviable rights, entertainment and streaming brands in the business. Nobody else has the ability to deliver both massive scale and specific audiences programmatically, across over 15,000 live sports events.
We continue to place big bets on sports across all screens. Our new 7-year agreement with the NHL and recently updated deal with the NFL expand hockey and football presence significantly on streaming platforms.
We’re invested in understanding these audiences and their consumption patterns.
In 2019, we released Generation Stream, our most extensive streaming research study ever, which provided an insightful and fresh look at the current and future state of streaming TV.
Now, we’re going even deeper with Generation Stream: Sports Edition, where we explore how streamers interact with sports, informing the future of fandom and consumption. Here are a few highlights.
Streaming is extending the sports viewing experience for fans, and data provides new ways for brands and marketers to tap into them. Therefore, planning and activating based on changing viewing behavior needs to be top of mind – particularly in the programmatic marketplace.
Through our industry-leading data and measurement capabilities, we’ve enabled advertisers to further amplify their investment by leveraging Disney Select to reach specific audiences during the game.
Now, we’re taking our audience graph up to a new level by introducing: Disney Clean Room Powered by Disney Select.
Everything I’ve mentioned fuels our Programmatic Playbook – four plays that allow you to capitalize on the power of live sports and drive performance-led results. It’s your guide to capturing those unexpected moments, bringing your message to fans as they’re on the edge of their seats.
Here’s a preview.
More than 60% of sports streaming happens on the weekend. A key element of live is the unknown – from upsets to overtimes – these moments are pivotal to viewers and spark conversations well beyond the game.
A fluid budget is a must. Advertising expenditure shouldn’t be evenly distributed during the week. We can advise on date exceptions, schedule changes and most importantly, planning goals, to ensure brands do not miss millions of fans watching over the weekend.
In the programmatic space, frequency requires flexibility, standard media rules don’t apply. Programmatic gives advertisers a unique opportunity to control frequency in real time. Extra innings and overtime are when viewers are on the edge of their seats. A standard cap could prevent an advertiser’s message from being seen and heard in these critical fan moments.
Data is the secret sauce that delivers ad relevance and measurable impact. By tapping into Disney’s industry-leading data capabilities, programmatic buys become that much more powerful. Advertisers can utilize the over 1,000 first-party audience segments available through Disney Select, to reach fans in live sports content, or even in their favorite entertainment content after the game. Leveraging Disney Select within Disney Hulu XP offers fully addressable audiences at scale, across all brands and platforms, through one buy.
I want to leave you with this…programmatic represents a huge opportunity, but requires the right approach for brands to maximize success. The winning formula is Live + Flexibility + Data, and our Playbook is your guide!
If you’re ready to get the most out of live sports, please reach out to your Disney Account Representative for a huddle today.
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Previewing Generation Stream: Sports Edition
SEPTEMBER 29, 2021
PREVIEWING
GENERATION STREAM:
SPORTS EDITION
Presented by Disney Ad Sales
Your guide to understanding the evolving sports viewing landscape.
Sports viewing of today’s world has seen major shifts from previous years. In fact, 2020 has recentered sports entirely — from the pandemic, to protests, to political turmoil — sports fans are adapting to the changing times and are shifting their viewing methods. Now, more than ever, sports fans are engaging with games and athletes in new ways and streaming has opened the door for increased accessibility.
Generation Stream: Sports Edition explores the new generation of sports TV viewers to understand their behaviors and motivations and to uncover trends that inform the future of sports, fanship, and consumption.
Here’s a preview of what’s to come for Generation Stream: Sports Edition, but let’s first take a look back at Generation Stream Volume 1.
LOOKING BACK AT GENERATION STREAM VOLUME 1
When Hulu launched in 2008, the promise of getting TV anywhere, anytime, on any device, was considered radical. Cut to today and streaming is now considered the definitive way the world watches, as 90% of Americans 13-to-54 stream video content. Not only has streaming changed the distribution of entertainment, but also the expectations of it.
Launched in 2020, Generation Stream is a foundational study that deep dives into streaming attitudes and motivations, uncovers trends that inform future behaviors and reveals how to connect in meaningful ways with content, brands and advertising. More than just a study on an influential subset of viewers, Generation Stream is our commitment to deeply understanding the power and impact of the streaming movement, and the next generation of TV viewers.
Who is Generation Stream? Generation Stream is a multigenerational group that crosses all age, race, and gender bounds – they’re connected by a common behavior – streaming. They are young, affluent, always connected, content curators, early adopters and driven. They’re also more trendsetting: they are more likely to be open-minded, pop-culture influenced and politically engaged.
To learn more about the first volume of this research, please visit our Generation Stream Volume 1 Hub.
EXPLORING THE TRENDS THAT ARE DEFINING THE FUTURE OF STREAMING TV AND SPORTS
As an extension to Generation Stream Volume 1, we’ve set out to understand the impact of streaming on sports in Generation Stream: Sports Edition. Through extensive trend research, informational interviews with “Culturesetters” and industry experts, as well as a nationally representative survey, we identified four key trends that are reshaping how viewers watch TV and interact with sports.
During the upcoming months, we’ll release six reports. They’ll range from an exploration of how our connection with athletes is evolving, to how sports streamers are identifying with eSports, to a deep dive into how people are extending their sports experience digitally, to a formal segmentation of sports viewers.
Here’s a preview of the four upcoming trend reports:
Trend 1: Sports Unleashed
Now that sports have been untethered from “cords” (i.e. cable), fandom has evolved into a kaleidoscope of bespoke experiences. This has democratized sports–fans can find and experience new, global and niche sports, connect with communities outside of their local hubs, and watch what they want, when and where they want it. But it has also fragmented the sports experience and, in some cases, complicated it.
Trend 2: Complete Athlete
The image of athletes as god-like superheroes is giving way to a more complete picture of who they are: complex human beings who are emotional, social, political and multidimensional. This humanization of athletes marks a shift in sports from scorekeeping to storytelling, ushering in a new generation of more diverse sports fans and a deeper narrative into America’s quintessential pastime. Meet the “Complete Athlete,” who is stepping off of the sidelines to create a more culture-defining game.
Trend 3: Digital Rituals
As the sports experience has shifted (largely) to streaming, rituals around fandom have taken a digital turn. This trend explores the new “rituals” of fans, from virtual tailgates to YouTube sports rivalries and more. Lucky rabbit foot not required!
Trend 4: Outer Rings
Welcome to the underground economies, outsider communities, fantasy leagues, and video game empires being built around–you guessed it–sports. While big games are still center stage, digitally-driven activities and burgeoning communities outside of the ‘main event’ are changing the dynamics of the game and the fabric of sports communities.
LOOKING AHEAD
These key trends are only the tip of the iceberg! Keep an eye out for more Generation Stream: Sports Edition reports in the coming months. As we continue to unveil findings, our aim is for Generation Stream to inform content creators and brands alike to take an insightful and fresh look at the power and promise of Streaming TV.
Source: Generation Stream Volume 1 – Culture Co-op, April 2020
Source: Generation Stream: Sports Edition, Culture Co-op, June 2021
