Protecting the Value of Sport for the Creators of Sport.
“Grassroot sports need to do more to fight for the value they have and to not give that value away too cheaply or to those that would exploit it”
We’ve read the reports. We’ve seen the” rich lists”. Sport is an undeniably important multi-billion-dollar market. The top divisions and events in sport – like the Premier League, or the Olympics, or Formula One – are complex money systems of sponsors, agents, logistics partners, VIP ticket providers, betting companies, tour agencies. You name it.
Sport is big business which creates and drives thousands and thousands of jobs and value in our financial systems. But sport – no matter the sport or the country – all starts somewhere and in the exact same place.
It starts with a boy or a girl picking up a football and kicking it against a wall. A boy falling in love with how the wheels move on his toy car as he drives it back and forth on the floor. A girl jumping in the pool for the first time and loving the feeling of weightlessness and freedom.
It starts with passion and a support of someone’s passion. Local teams and local coaches. Yet sport, at the grassroots level where it all begins, sees almost none of the overflow from the big money machine towering above it. Why is that? Why doesn’t more money find its way down to the very place from sport launched?
Since the professionalization of sport, debates have raged and raged about how more money could filter down to the bottom, and why it doesn’t. We couldn’t begin to hope to solve it here. However, this isn’t at all about grassroots sport looking “sad-eyed” upwards and asking for handouts. Grassroots sports needs to do more to fight for the value they have and to not give that value away to cheaply or to those that would exploit it.
What value are we talking about? We are talking about the value of video content, rights ownership and broadcasting.
Facebook Live and YouTube Live have spotted this value long ago and built platforms which invite a free upload of content, upon which they will generate revenue. How much of this revenue is falling back to the content creators? Zero.
Zero but grassroots sports are oddly happy. They are happy because they have some viewers. Zero value returned to their club or team or players, but some viewers.Is that enough? Is it possible to get both? At Joymo, we certainly believe so.
Value of content might feel like an abstract concept for grassroots sports. Is there a value behind a football game played by boys or girls aged 14? Of course, there is and Joymo can show you. There is a value to the players (it’s their image rights, after all); to the parents and grandparents who would like to watch the game; to the club that would like to review the game after and use it for coaching; to the scouts who might like to watch the game but can’t be pitch-side; to the physiotherapist who would like to review the incident on behalf of a patient; to the Federation that would like to see how their sport is developing; to the sponsor who would like to support their club by advertising on the content.
If a club uses Facebook Live to capitalize on this inherent value, then that value dissipates immediately for a few cheap views. Manage that content properly, on a content management platform that gives the ownership back to the club, then there are numerous ways in which a grassroots sports club and team can return value back to their sport. Be it online ticket sales, or sponsorship/advertising opportunities, or just by simply not giving that value to Zuckerberg. It is time that grassroots sports fought hard for the value that is theirs. We have developed Joymo.tv to give grassroots sports critical control over a value which they are currently losing.
With Joymo, grassroots sports can:
- Film safely and securely.
- Own everything they film.
- Sell tickets to absent fans.
- Invite players to watch later and review their performance.
- Advertise to sponsors
- Invite scouts/referees/physios to review key/critical moments.