As Big Tech continues to expand its footprint in live sports, America's major college conferences and professional sports leagues are trying to navigate the waters and embrace these companies as important media partners.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told Bloomberg that he thinks it's exciting to see companies like Apple and Amazon step in to fill a gap widened by traditional TV.
"It's an opportunity, and there's going to be more forms of competition," Bettman said in a conversation with Scarlet Fu and Jason Kelly. "The marketplace in some respects is contracting, but overall it's expanding. So the traditional methods may be contracting a little bit, not going to zero, but the adjustment provides us opportunities to do other things."
Bettman added that it's evident these massive corporations are trying to strike while the iron is hot and that the key to being profitable with their respective products will be in what live sports offerings they can give to consumers.
"The Apple's, the Amazon's, the Peacock's of the world, are taking, and Netflix still hasn't dipped its toe in sports, but at some point they may conclude that that's the way to go," he said. "I think sports may be driving some of these streaming services as they go forward."
The younger generation of sports fans are influencing the shift in the rise of streaming. Over the last five years or more, cord cutting has become the new normal. But Bettman sees that providing an affordable outlet for these fans isn't enough. That's why the NHL has worked to put together limited series like Road to the Winter Classic and Road to the Stanley Cup, that go beyond just the on-ice product.
"But also when you're looking at the millennials and the Gen Z's, they want more than just the games now. They want behind the scenes," he said. "It's about giving a look at our players and our game from a vantage point that when I was the equivalent age of a Gen Z, you could only imagine what was it like to be inside of a locker room to see the players getting ready...And that's what our younger fans are demanding and frankly, I think it's good for the game, particularly for our game based on our players for them to see that."
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