I'm trying to figure out the best possible way to experience the first round of the NFL draft this Thursday. I'm thinking of watching ESPN's coverage for a visual effect, tuning into Sirius XM Radio's (Nasdaq: SIRI ) coverage for audio, keeping CBS's (NYSE: CBS ) NFL Draft Scout on the computer all while getting my mobile updates straight from the NFL on their NFL '11 Premium iPhone app. And if my head doesn't explode by the time Cam Newton goes off the board, I may have time to enjoy a few chicken wings while I listen, watch, and read.
Sports coverage has come a long way since ESPN -- now majority owned by Disney (NYSE: DIS ) -- launched in 1979. With demand at an all-time high, leagues are looking for ways to increase exposure and revenue. As a result, sports coverage is proliferating into more and more media, creating a new age of competing media for consuming content. It's no longer just radio versus television; there are mobile apps, satellite radio, and Internet streaming that compete against one another.
Even the Kentucky Derby will have national coverage from both NBC Sports and Sirius XM. That's a lot of coverage for an event that will be just over two minutes and is just as well known for its fancy hats as it is the horses running the race.
DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV ) may have started this proliferation with the NFL Sunday Ticket. At that point, games became available on competing television providers and the whole game changed. Other sports have followed and baseball now has to blackout ESPN when it competes with local broadcasts.
The fundamentals of football, baseball, basketball, and even horse racing may not have changed much in the last thirty years, but the way we watch them sure has. This week it isn't a question of if I'll be overexposed to the NFL draft. It's a question of how.
Hockey's new life
In the first of many upcoming battles over sports programming, Comcast's (Nasdaq: CMCSA ) majority owned NBC Universal beat out ESPN for a 10-year deal for NHL coverage. NBC is trying to become a real competitor to ESPN's family of networks. Hockey may not be the highest profile sport but ratings have improved over the last few years and the NHL will be something for NBC Universal to hang its hat on.
Which company do you think has the most to gain from an expanding coverage of sporting events? Sound off in the comment section below!
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