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May 25, 2023

Editor Note: The JohnWallStreet team is going to enjoy an extended weekend. We'll be back on Tuesday. Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

Challenger Leagues Establish Appointment Viewing Experiences Making it Easier to be a Fan

Photo Credit: NBA Photos/Getty Images

The National Football League has become an institution, in part, by staking claim to a day of the calendar week. Playing the bulk of its slate on Sunday afternoons has allowed fans of the league to schedule around the games.

“Having that [appointment viewing] and being able to incorporate it into your life is really helpful,” Brian Lawlor (president, Scripps Sports) said. “Consistency allows [fans] to build a habit that then drives an even deeper association with the sport.”

Consistency has become increasingly valuable to rights owners in today’s crowded and fractured media landscape, which explains why challenger leagues, like MLS and the WNBA, are working to establish their own franchise viewing experiences. 

MLS made a concerted effort to schedule most of its matches for Saturday evenings at 7:30 pm local time this season. Every game will air on MLS Season Pass, inside the AppleTV+ app, as part of the league’s new media rights deal.

And beginning tomorrow (May 26), all WNBA games played on Friday evenings will air on ION. The fifth highest rated network in the U.S. will broadcast two games, back-to-back, each week. 

“Our goal as a league is to make it easier to be a fan,” Colie Edison (chief growth officer, WNBA) said. “That means knowing when to watch us and where to watch us. [We want] to create appointment viewership.”

MLS’ decision to schedule matches on Saturday evenings was largely based on internal research. Fans resoundingly stated it was their preference for the games to take place on that day/at that time.

But the league also sought consistency after bouncing around the calendar in ’22. MLS had 63 different start-day and start-time combinations last year making it difficult for fans to know when games were taking place. MLS’ broadcast rights came up for negotiation after last season giving the league the opportunity to implement a change in strategy.

And the pivot has paid off to date, at least in terms of gate receipts. Total attendance across the league has increased YoY.

The WNBA’s decision to carve out a Friday night package was motivated by its desire to grow reach and revenue.

“It was really about how can we provide [fans] more access to more live games and do so in a way that right sizes the valuation of our media,” Edison said.

The league declined to state exactly how much the deal is worth. However, Edison said the WNBA was able to command a “meaningful media rights fee” from ION. 

It also gains distribution.

“We’re going to be in more homes than we’ve ever been in before [on ION],” Edison said.

And it is going to be appearing in those homes on the same night of the week. That consistency is something the league values and is particularly excited about having in the current media environment.

“Yes, there is cord cutting and yes, there’s a streaming war. But fans still want to watch [sports] and appointment viewership has been a tried-and-true strategy,” Edison said. 

Historically speaking, it has been difficult for challenger leagues to carve out their own night of the week on a major sports network. Linear TV inventory was limited, and other rights held priority.

But that has changed with the emergence of OTT platforms, like AppleTV, and with rights owners once again viewing over-the-air broadcasters as a viable distribution channel.

The challenge is television viewers do not necessarily associate those platforms/channels with having live sports making it less likely they'll tune in or stumble upon them looking for games. In Scripps’ case, the deal with the WNBA was its first with a sports property (save the Spelling Bee). 

That makes consistency –and messaging– even more important. 

Scripps intends to make it known that ION is the place to find WNBA games on Friday nights. 

“It’s their commitment to marketing the games that we’re super excited for,” Edison said. “You’re going to see these local NBC and ABC stations telling their viewers to tune into [the WNBA on] ION and that’s very meaningful.”

The league did not have to cannibalize any of its existing national distribution deals (see: ESPN/ABC, CBS Sports, Prime Video) to create the Friday night package. All games previously resided with a regional sports network or was exclusive to WNBA League Pass, its D2C streaming service.

The league also increased the number of games teams play from 36 to 40 this year, so there were additional games to divvy up. 

WNBA fans concerned the league's deal with ION will force them to miss their local team’s game in favor of a national broadcast do not have to worry. 

“Every team that plays on a Friday night, their game will be seen locally on the local ION affiliates,” Lawlor said.

The league will also continue to simulcast Friday night matchups inside of WNBA League Pass.

MLS and the WNBA hope the creation of appointment viewing experiences will help form viewing habits that result in fan loyalty over time. But having nearly/all clubs playing on the same day, at the same time, opens doors to new content opportunities too. 

AppleTV+ introduced a RedZone like show within MLS Season Pass this season.

ION could consider doing something similar for the WNBA down the line. Its focus this year will remain on delivering the games and some wrap-around programming. 

Scripps has plans to add additional sports rights in the future. It sees ION as the perfect platform for a rights owner looking to stand out, in part because of the lack of existing sports commitments. 

“We can bring them consistency and a franchise that really differentiates them and gives them visibility they’ve never had before,” Lawlor said.

That should be an appealing proposition to any challenger league looking to make it easier to be/become a fan.