Subscribe to JohnWallStreet

July 26, 2023

Editor Note: Below is the first of two Revenue Above Replacement columns that will run this week. Adam Grossman will be back on Friday morning.  

'Quarterback', Wimbledon Show Demand for Long-Form Content Remains

Shorter is better.

That has become the dominant narrative relating to sports content (see: MLB pitch clock), and specifically how young fans prefer to consume media.

But a trio of recent developments, Netflix’s renewal of

Quarterback

for a second season, Wimbledon's captivating men's final, and Buzzer’s decision to cease operations, seemingly cast doubt on the widely accepted premise.

Quarterback

is a long-form documentary series created by Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions. It tracks known events (football games played by a trio of current NFL quarterbacks), over eight one-hour episodes (all released at the same time); and is intended for Netflix's mass audience of more than 235 million subscribers.

The format seems anachronistic within the evolving media landscape. However,

Quarterback

has consistently been in Netflix’s top 10 TV shows in the U.S. since its July 12 debut.

By contrast, Buzzer seemed to be a perfect fit for how many perceive young fans to consume content today. The company delivered short-form video ‘snippets’ of select games to targeted audiences in real time, and fans could consume the live clips for as little as $0.99. No subscriptions were necessary.

The narrative helped Buzzer to raise $20 million in Series A funding round from a collective of current and former stars, capital it used to secure content rights deals with a host of high-profile sports properties (including the NBA and NHL).

So, few expected the company to announce it was closing when it did so earlier this month citing “recent fundraising developments and market dynamics.”

The macroeconomic environment has made raising capital more challenging over the past 18 months. However,

billions of venture capital

dollars have also been secured casting at least some doubt on the former claim. The latter is equally curious given that the product was created specifically to address changing media “market dynamics.”

Buzzer theoretically addressed changing tastes on content length and distribution channels by offering fans the ability to directly buy the most exciting parts of games in near real time (e.g. buzzer beaters, 4

quarter).

Yet, it is not clear that sports fans want to consume live sports content in that manner. They certainly don’t want to pay for it.

One likely reason why is that they can see highlights soon after a play occurs at no cost on a rights holders’ own digital platforms or social media channels. 

The lack of immediate demand for Buzzer’s core product was particularly noteworthy given the company’s overhead. Buzzer needed to sell millions of snippets to cover the millions of dollars in rights fees it owed to the leagues. The decision to end operations after only two years suggests it did not come close to doing so.

“Buzzer had some tough timing. They were caught in the middle of the media industry transition from a wholesale business model into a hybrid wholesale/retail model,” Chris Bevilacqua (co-founder, Bevilacqua Helfant Ventures) said. “That transition requires a very messy and complicated untangling of rights between leagues and all of their business partners, and [it] is going to take some time to navigate.”

The company’s demise, particularly when combined with the success of

Quarterback

, highlights the importance of narrative in sports programming. Netflix has made character-driven storytelling a priority in several successful sports docu-series releases (see:

Drive To Survive, Full Swing,

and

Break Point

)

.

“We knew we had something special, and from the beginning [Netflix was] excited about the series,” one Omaha producer said.

Omaha and Netflix were excited because they know access to star players is a recipe for success. And in

Quarterback

’s case, the unprecedented behind the scenes footage of a trio of featured quarterbacks, including Patrick Mahomes, enabled the production company to tell stories sports fans want to hear, and to record moments not typically shown on game broadcasts.

For example, in episode 4 ‘Mind Games,’

Quarterback

explores all of the little details that go into game preparation, including the difficulties with learning and saying each play in the huddle.

“Omaha and NFL FILMS [have] built trust from prior projects like PLACES and ManningCast, where the intent is always to celebrate the players,” the Omaha producer said. “[That] went a long way in the access players were willing to offer.” 

Detailed storytelling and compelling storylines are tenets that hold value beyond the docu-series genre. Game broadcasts can incorporate unique access to stars (see: MLB interviewing players during Sunday Night Baseball), and their length allows for narrative arcs to form. Fans investing in the players and storylines only makes them more likely to engage with the action.

Just look at the most recent men’s final at Wimbledon. Both Novak Djokavic (think: long-time champion trying to increase his record number of Grand Slam titles) and Carlos Alcaraz (think: rising star who could become tennis’s next great player) had compelling narratives that resonated with fans, and the average

tuned in for 2 hours and 24 minutes.

The Wimbledon and

Quarterback

successes do not mean that short-form, personalized sport content cannot be successful. It does show, however, there is still a strong demand for more “traditional” sports storytelling in the content marketplace.

“The stories that are resonating are the ones that provide a real-life lens to drama, suspense, disbelief, and joy,” Bimal Kapadia (COO, Meadowlark Media) said. “If you can tell that in a [compelling] long-form way then people will gravitate towards that content and those platforms."

About the Author: Adam Grossman is the Vice President of Business Insights & Analytics at Excel Sports Management. He works with companies, sports properties, media rights holders, athletes, agencies, and events to determine the value of their most important assets. Grossman is also a professor at Northwestern University Master’s In Sports Administration program and the co-author of The Sports Strategist: Developing Leaders for a High-Performance Industry. You can find him at [email protected].