David Levy: Changes on Horizon for Major Leagues

The founder and CEO of Back Nine Ventures LLC and the former president of Turner Broadcasting said that over the course of his career there have been collective bargaining issues strikes and lockouts that have changed the landscape for one league amp8211 but there has never been a situation where all sports were shuttered at the same timeamp160 There are ways for media companies and advertisers to navigate around the shutdown of a particular league but this is new territory quotThere is nothing comparable there isn39t a playbook for thisquot he saidIf health concerns tied to COVID19 subside enough for MLB the NBA the NHL Major League Soccer and golf to resume in a JuneJuly time frame Levy believes sports at least from a TV perspective would enjoy a Vshaped rather than a Ushaped recoveryHe said the drama of sports the passion fans have for the games again will make for appointment viewing and the country needs that to help regain its emotional psychological and financial footingsPLAYOFF ADVERTISINGGetting fans to go to the arena ballpark or stadium likely won39t prove as easy but for the most part league and clubs derive a disproportionate amount of their revenues from media rights and to a lesser degree sponsorship dealsLevy estimates that when it comes to the NBA about 65 of the national media partners39 advertising revenue is linked to the playoffs and 35 to the regular season Since teams have already played about 60 their 82 games much of the regularseason advertising revenue likely has been accounted forHe believes the NHL operates under a similar structureHence if pro hoops and puck action resumes relatively soon the COVID19 disruption from an advertising perspective for the rightsholders could be mitigated to a large extent He believes the leagues rightsholders and advertisers are working together to find solutions during these unprecedented timesMLB AND THE OLYMPICSMLB which Levy said is missing its unique window for sports fans39 attentionamp8211 from Opening Day before the NHL and NBA playoffs begin amp8211 could be hurt more by the coronavirus shutout MLB teams given the 162game slates amp8211 81 contests at their respective home fields amp8211 and the large seating capacities generate a greater percentage of revenue from ticket sales and concessions than their indoor sports counterparts Still between national and local deals with regional sports networks the lion39s share of MLB team revenues are tied to rights fees according to Levy amp160If the postseason games were to extend into late autumn Levy offered possible solutions Postseason action could play out at in domed facilities or neutral warm weather sites he said That means the Mets might have to play games in Florida instead of New YorkThe game is vastly different for MLB39s minor league affiliates which don39t garner much TV money with revenues quotvery weightedquot toward ticket sales Levy said it will be interesting to see how MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred works with minor league owners and their teams Sports39 largest event the Olympics and its various rightsholders including NBC Universal in the US may face big challenges as the Tokyo Games have been postponed until 2021 With the Summer Games now rescheduled from July 23 through August 8 next year that quadrennial will occur just six months before the 2022 Winter Olympics from BeijingLevy wonders if the economy will have recovered enough by then for some sponsorsadvertisers to have the capacity to support both events from Asia in such close proximity Taking an optimist39s view Levy was reluctant to discuss amp8211 at least at this point a scenario where the current NBA NHL and MLB postseasons push into late fall and bump up against pro and college campaignsamp160 Such a crowded schedule would serve an enticing buffet for sports fans but result in an overlapping scheduling nightmare for networks quotIt would take a lot of coordinationquot he saidPOSSIBLE NBA RESETThe COVID19 reset could also result in a new schedule for the NBA amp8211 a December to August slate in lieu of the current October to June time frame It39s one favored by Steve Koonin Levy39s former colleague at Turner and now CEO of the Atlanta Hawks quotMr Koonin is not wrongquot said Levy even if he doesn39t necessarily fully agree with him Levy acknowledges that some hold the view the NBA season doesn39t truly tip off until Christmas and under that setup it would allow the NBA to miss most of its scheduling confrontation with US sports39 big ratings driver the NFL as well as college footballLevy also noted that when the late NBA Commissioner David Stern locked out the players at the start of the 201112 season the ensuing 50game campaign which began on Christmas was one of TNT39s strongest from an audience perspective Still in Levy39s view before the league and current Commissioner Adam Silver were to enact such a major schedule change an assessment of myriad factors would be in order Silver has been advocating for a slightly reduced regular season with games to be replaced by an inseason tournament a revamped playoff structure and final four playoff reseedingAmong the constituents and entities Levy feels would warrant NBA consideration the teams the players venue availability nearby restaurants and their workers parking lots and their attendees the national rightholders the RSNs facing scheduling conflicts with MLB during the summer months and advertisers in what has historically been a season of decreased HUT levelsODDS AND EVENSWhatever the format and schedules going forward Levy believes the owners player and media companies will return and TV viewing will jump sharply Getting fannies into the seats might not be so facile as there could be lingering consumer trepidation about being part of large gatheringsamp160 He harkened back to crisis in the 1970s as a possible social distancing solution in the venues quotI39m old enough to remember the oil shortages where you could get gas every other day depending on whether your license plate ended in an odd or even number Maybe they should do that in stadiums with seating in every other section Even sections for evennumbered days odd sections for oddnumbered daysquotClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

APPLY FOR JOBS | SUBMIT YOUR RESUME | REGISTER FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT

David Levy: Changes on Horizon for Major Leagues

Author

Publish date

Channel

Archived in

J.P. Fields

APPLY FOR JOBS | SUBMIT YOUR RESUME | REGISTER FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT

David Levy: Changes on Horizon for Major Leagues

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

J.P. Fields

Cookies