The following interview is part of our ongoing Expert Series that asks C-level professionals, team presidents, league executives, athletic directors and other sports influencers about their latest thoughts and insights on new technologies impacting the sports industry.
Name: Martin Floreani
Company: FloSports
Position: Chief Executive Officer/co-founder
Martin Floreani is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of FloSports, an innovator in live digital sports and original content. Under his leadership, the company has grown to more than 200 employees and today offers millions of viewers content and live coverage across its growing network of 20 sports sites, which include basketball, track and field, mixed martial arts and more.
From the time he was in grade school, Floreani knew that he wanted to be an entrepreneur, but it wasn’t until he started studying engineering in college that he saw an opportunity to combine his passions for sports and data into a disruptive business. He observed that traditional broadcasters and event rights holders were limited in how they could monetize events because they didn’t have access to data. Working with his co-founders, his brother Mark and friend Madhu Venkatesan, they set out to transform sports media by using data to deliver the content fans want to watch, how and when they want to watch it. The company has raised more than $32 million to date and is preparing to expand to a new, 60,000 sq. foot headquarters in Austin, Texas.
1) If you had to invest in one technology that would alter the sports live streaming landscape, what would it be and why?
The reason we’re winning is because of our obsession with data. We asked ourselves that same question, which led us to creating our business intelligence platform we refer to as Neptune. This has been transformative for us because it collects and analyzes billions of data points about how viewers engage with everything from our marketing campaigns to product features to specific content types and more. It gives us unreplicated, real-time learnings across the company that help us innovate faster than ever before.
2) If money were no object, what technology would you build or buy to help you do your job better?
We’re adding nearly 100 full-time employees to FloSports in 2017 to fuel our growth. Hiring is a crucial part of our business, and our talent is a huge competitive advantage. I’d be lying if I told you hiring that many employees is a simple task and not time-consuming, especially when some of the roles we’re hiring for don’t exist at other media companies.
So if money were no object, I’d search for a technology that could accelerate the process of identifying new talent and better manage the initial vetting of candidates.
3) How is FloSports adapting to the way “live” and VOD sports content is consumed online in 2017? Where do you see FloSports fitting into the sports and digital media landscape over the next 2-3 years?
The reality is that cord cutting is happening, and the pace is accelerating. Live sports is not the savior for cable. The opportunity that this shift in consumer behavior creates is clearly massive, but this is about a lot more than simply moving the same content online. There’s a fundamental behavior shift happening that’s changing not only how people watch, but what they want to watch. We’re in a great position to deliver on this because we’re a 100 percent direct-to-consumer, digital sports media company. It’s our entire focus.
In the next few years, we will continue to innovate to create the premiere viewing experience for sports fans while adding additional value for rights holders, leagues, governing bodies and our other partners. We’re already seeing great progress here with recent deals with the Big 12 Conference and USA Wrestling, as well as our unique partnership with Krossover to create the largest archive of high school basketball footage in the world on FloHoops.com. We’re excited about our momentum and anticipate more big news ahead.
4) As a sports fan, what sports-related service, app, product, etc., could you not live without and why?
FloWrestling is obviously a favorite because I’m just a wrestling junkie. I competed in college and have followed the sport closely for years. It’s also one of the first sites we launched, and it helped pave the way for other sites in our network. The sport of wrestling has so much history, and nobody covers it better than our staff. So I can’t get enough of it.
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5) If you had to project 20 years into the future, how will most fans consume content around their favorite sports teams and athletes?
What we’re watching right now is a complete transformation of sports media. When the new sports landscape fully emerges, the market for sports consumption will be bigger than ever. The cracks in the dam are there. It hasn’t collapsed, but there are an increasing number of threats to the traditional cable model. When the walls of traditional broadcast do fall, you’ll see the endless possibilities of the Internet fully emerge. Existing sports will grow in audience. Sports will become more global, and new sports will emerge. It’s an incredibly exciting time to be in this space.
6) Give us your bold prediction about a form of technology that will be integral to social/digital in sports over the next 12 months and why?
The Osmo camera is incredible with its stabilization technology and panorama functionality. I expect in the next 12 months, more and more digital teams will be using this camera to enhance their social media efforts.