Richard Clarke is a digital sports content specialist. He currently works as the Senior Director of Communications and Digital Media at the Colorado Rapids of MLS and previously worked as the Managing Editor at Arsenal FC, where he still retains a role as an editorial consultant.
He has spoken on digital strategy at leading conferences around the world. He was kind enough to share some thoughts on digital trends in football from his unique kexperience with MLS and Premier League.
You can follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat @MrRichardClarke and also on his blog: www.MrRichardClarke.com
How have you seen the sports industry evolve from a digital perspective?
It has changed dramatically in my time. Having been involved in digital for well over fifteen years I am pretty experienced in what is a very young environment but it has been hugely disruptive. My background is in newspapers, I started my career as a print journalist, so I tend to use that as an example. The digital world has massively affected newspapers in what people would think would be a negative way, however, newspapers still exist and are hugely influential, albeit people now consume their news in different ways. It has changed the model for different industries, certainly one of which is the newspaper industry. I think it will increasingly influence television as well as we go on. Also, the monetization strategies have changed. It’s been all free, then it’s been through paid walls, then freemium and now CRM and data is important. So it’s evolving and changing all the time. It’s a hugely exciting area.
What are the biggest digital growth areas in the football industry?
There are many areas. I’d say the in-stadium experience for fans is massively important as they increasingly expect excellence in that area. I also think that branded content is incredibly important as a way to make a more integrated, congruent type of content that suits both sports properties and brands. People expect a little bit more than just slapping on logos these days. Content needs to have value for the club, the sponsor and the fans.
Get The Latest Football Tech News In Your Inbox!
Also, the monetization of athletes’ social media is very much undervalued at the moment. And of course virtual reality is coming down the line. It is very early days with VR and we don´t know how that is going to shape up but I believe it will stay pretty central. It is how it evolves and how it is monetized ultimately that will define its evolution.
Tell us your thoughts on the role that platforms such as Facebook Live and Periscope play from the perspective of a football club.
I have used both Periscope and Facebook Live pretty extensively. I like Periscope and the way the way the platform uses its questions as they appear and they disappear. I’ve done interviews walking around our stadium on the fly with players. We also did a great piece with Tim Howard in the back of a cab driving around Manhattan on Periscope and also did a Facebook Live broadcast with him which had a huge reach.
My preference at the moment is Facebook Live because it is a very easy and intuitive platform within Facebook itself. Meanwhile Periscope has, until recently, sat outside of Twitter which is to its detriment. What I don’t like about Facebook Live as much as Persicope is the way the questions are served. Also at the moment Facebook Live is a one-shot yet when you are doing a Q&A you need two people in the front and I think they are going to solve that relatively quickly. Facebook Live is quite new so they’ll iterate and make it work. I actually think Facebook Live is a bit of a game-changer. If social media made everyone a publisher, Facebook Live et al can make everyone a broadcaster. And that is very exciting and also very disruptive.
Do you think we’ll see a shift in the traditional broadcasting model?
I think we are already seeing it. Twitter’s deal with the NFL has been part of that shift and it was reported that other players such as Facebook and Amazon were interested, so that means we may see different platforms in the broadcast space. I think the edges of broadcasting rights will be nibbled at by digital platforms, but the core will take much more time to be eaten away. The Sunday and Monday football on NFL, the big Premier League games will remain in a television platform for a lot longer, but the edges will be eaten away by these new platforms.
You are currently working for an MLS club but have had ample experience in Europe working for Arsenal FC for numerous years. What are some of the differences you see in the digital sphere in Europe and North America?
With MLS they allow a lot of liberty with match footage so we can utilize it on all our club’s social media channels and that allows us to be very creative. It also helps to promote the league
as well. That is a very enlightened view. The Premier League is allowed a limited number of embargoed clips to go on the YouTube and Facebook channels of the clubs, but some of the other leagues allow very little on social media channels. So that is a big difference because it affects the content you can create and the creativity you can put into it.
Another aspect in American sports in general is the access to the players. It is much greater so that allows you to be more creative with your content. And game day is not just a game, it is entertainment focused. Those are the big differences.
Delivering an enjoyable fan experience via digital platforms at the stadium is a growing trend in both Europe and North America. Can you tell us your views on this?
It is an inevitable part of modern life that that will be expected, especially by teenagers and millennials these days. They view a time without smartphones like I used to roll my eyes at my parents when they talked about not having color TV. They expect quality Snapchat filters, for example, and will abandon platforms that don’t keep up. And of course those teenagers and millennials will be ultimately be the season ticket holders and consuming the products of brands in years to come. So you have got to look after them and win their hearts and minds now.
Do you benchmark any other clubs or leagues? If so which ones?
I wouldn’t say I benchmark but I admire lots of leagues for their creativity and also for their personality that they have. Most of the big European soccer clubs create great content and they have big followings so there is a lot of scrutiny on them. I always admired what MLS did. I think they have been hugely innovative. The NBA has got a very liberated approach with regards to footage on social media and that fosters creativity. And some of the US colleges also have been great at creating emotive content, and I´ve followed them more closely since I have been in the US.
Please tell us your opinion that the fans play in today’s digital era.
Fans are everything and they are always the focus. Engagement metrics have always been important but now they need to be more than just follower numbers. In the past clubs felt that they had to chase the big number of followers but now the focus should really be about engagement. We are bombarded by content and most of it just scrolls past your eyes on your smartphone, so what you got to do is get their attention by giving them valuable content. Attention is the currency.
Virtual Reality is another growing area in sports. How can clubs leverage VR?
I think VR is here to stay. It popped up a decade or two ago and then went away. I think the technology has changed to such an extent that it will become essential. The way it evolves will be very interesting to see and it will be defined by the monetization models. Are we going to be trying to put fans inside the game? Are we trying to allow fans to wander behind the scenes? Or is it just a great gaming play? I predict two things. It will be a great gaming play and there will be lots of furniture broken! I can predict that strongly, the rest of it we’ll have to see.
What are the biggest opportunities and major challenges ahead for sports clubs in the digital sphere?
Opportunities and challenges are two sides of the same coin. As we move on to a more mature digital space it will be crucial to balance the needs of digital growth among the other needs of the club, be they communications, commercial, etc. The digital team in many ways drives everything because that is the way you connect with your fans most easily and most effectively these days. They also have a good barometer for the ways the fans are thinking because they’ll monitor social media. It will be interesting to see the challenge of other more established departments within a football club accepting this relatively ¨new kid on the block¨ and the fact that it has its own agenda, needs and desires, which should be the rising tide that raises all boats. Everyone needs to cooperate together and agree on common objectives.
As I said, attention is the currency, and valuable content will give you that attention. You need to engage people in the right way. You need to make sure that people really want your content. When you provide them value they will want to follow the club or buy a ticket or feel a kinship with the sponsors and the brands that provide value to the club.
This interview was conducted by Diego Valdes, Director of The Sports Business Institute Barcelona, which offers executive training in the areas of marketing, sponsorship, athlete representation, event management, digital media and communications. If you are looking to start or advance your career in the football/sports industry visit us atwww.sbibarcelona.com for more information.