It will soon be a year since I finished my Master’s Degree in Law and Sports Management. I would like to share with you one of the most surprising lessons I take away from that experience: sport, in our case football, does not compete with other sports for more audience, but rivals the entertainment industry. Although at first it may seem implausible, it makes perfect sense.
The main players in this sector have realised this and are eager to make a profit. Initially, Facebook a couple of years ago, hired the CEO of Eurosport to achieve regular broadcast of football matches. Well, recently Amazon Prime Video has acquired the audiovisual rights of different sports (including the display of Premier League matches on Boxing Day) to achieve a clear differentiation from its competitors Netflix or HBO. The emergence of these actors on the sports scene exponentially triggers audiences as well as the purchase prices of these rights. As in gambling, the bank always wins, and it is logical that if demand increases the price will also rise.
Entertainment today is a clear example of the development and acceleration of today’s society. We pay to see what we want and when we want to see it. To me, it seems at least acceptable that the market should be opened up and give rise to a wide range of options (thus avoiding the creation of any monopoly), both conventional and less usual. That is what modern free will is based on, I choose what, how and with whom.
Foot Renegades 