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How the FFA can make money by streaming A-League matches for free

Tim Cahill might have been best served staying put at Melbourne City. (Supplied)
Roar Guru
6th October, 2016
62

Sport is one of the few forms of visual entertainment that people prefer to watch live, even though advertisements cannot be skipped past.

However, with free-to-air and pay television, advertisers can’t target their brands to maximise the efficiency of their advertising budget.

Hence, a 55-year-old man in Perth will be presented with the same advertisement as a 20-year-old female in Gosford, even though these two people will have completely different consumer profiles.

Online viewing is different. Every move you make online leaves digital tracks and creates a clear profile about who you are, what you enjoy, what you buy, where you buy, etc.

Smart brands are already using digital footprints to target people who are either active, or potential, consumers of their brand.

Basally, online viewing allows advertisers to efficiently allocate advertising budgets to improve the likelihood an advertisement will be converted into a sale.

So, if A-League matches were to be broadcast online for free, there are two types of affordable advertising that are likely to convert to sales: coupon and banner advertising.

Coupon advertising
To watch the A-League live, each viewer would register a profile. Registration would be free and open to every person on the planet.

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When the viewer logs in to watch a match they would be asked to choose any five items they would like to buy within the next seven days.

Once the viewer watches at least 20 minutes of that A-League match online, they would receive five coupons (via email, SMS, what have you) that offer a special deal on the five items they are keen to buy.

This is a win-win approach to advertising.

The viewer is going to buy certain items and will now get a better deal for those items simply by watching A-League.

The advertising vendor wins because they have directly connected to a potential customer, whom they know is ready to make a purchase in the next week.

Advertising fee: $0.20 per coupon
Total advertising revenue generated per viewer: $1.00

Vendors can place a cap on how much they spend each match, or each round of matches, and set preferences so they only send coupons to people located within postcodes in proximity to their store.

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For an investment of 20 cents, a vendor is almost guaranteed a sale.

This type of advertising is particularly useful to small businesses.

In the past, small businesses would advertise in the Yellow Pages and local newspapers, but both platforms are almost dead.

Online coupon advertising will be cheaper than any other form available to small businesses, and it is targeted, so an antique shop will not target people with no interest in buying antiques!

Banner advertising
Advertising is not limited to targeting people who are already aware of your brand, it’s also about exposing your brand to potential customers.

The A-League could offer banner ads to appear for 15 or so seconds during stoppages in play.

SBS is using this advertising during its current English Premier League broadcast. Seven did the same during live broadcasts of the 2016 Olympic Football tournament. The banners do not interrupt play and are much less obtrusive and annoying than 30-second ads.

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Banner ads would also appear during pre-match, halftime and post-match analysis.

There would be five brands advertised (multiple times) per game and the brands appearing would vary depending on the viewer’s profile.

Advertising fee: $0.20 per brand (only payable if a viewer is logged in for at least 20 minutes and the ad played once)
Advertising revenue generated: $1.00 per viewer

How much revenue for the FFA?
Let’s assume the FFA partners with a company like Google to organise the advertising and all revenue is equally shared. This would result in the FFA receiving $1 clear profit from every viewer who watches an online match.

If the online platform is free, it will reach every person on the planet who has an internet viewing device. With two clicks of a mouse they’ll be watching A-League live.

Online advertising revenue has the potential to generate more cash for the FFA than all other broadcast rights combined.

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