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Do kids rarely watch sports?
& Disney launches ESPN Football Island on Fortnite + Nintendo brings back some nostalgic tunes with Nintendo Music
Joe Condon
November 05, 2024
Welcome back for the 34th edition of The SEG3 Report!
Today’s newsletter will dive into whether kids really are ‘rarely watching sports’, as well as Disney launching ESPN Football Island on Fortnite & Nintendo releasing Nintendo music, with some seriously nostalgic songs available.
Contents: Edition #34
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Without further ado…
Do kids rarely watch sports?
In an interview with Front Office Sports, ESPN's chairman, Jimmy Pitaro, talks about the diminishing interest in live sports among younger audiences, highlighting some of the key obstacles they’re facing, including competition from streaming, social & UGC gaming platforms like Netflix, Instagram and Fortnite, which is drawing attention away from traditional broadcasts.
Why You Should Care
“If you ask my direct reports, what it is that’s keeping them up at night, if you ask me, it’s that. If you look at my kids: Netflix, Instagram, TikTok, Fortnite. They’re incredibly distracted. So can we make programs like Get Up and First Take that resonate with younger people?”
As we know, it’s an attention economy. That’s the currency we’re all trading in.
And for broadcasters, eyeballs is what they’ve built their business model on. Bundles. Subscriptions. Advertising. All with sports at the centre. Why?
It’s unscripted drama, global audiences and year round content. What’s not to like? It’s incredibly sticky for broadcasters.
But there have been winds of change for quite a while across media & entertainment, and with cord-cutting, price sensitivity and the shift to streaming, that model is becoming harder and harder to sustain, which is why there is so much trepidation from ESPN that ‘kids rarely watch sports’.
The reality is that Gen Z & A are consuming sports more than ever - just in different ways and across multiple different platforms. Doug Perlman hits the nail on the head by saying:
They can follow it on social platforms. They can get highlights as they happen. They can play fantasy. They can engage with individual athletes and immerse themselves in their fashion taste or musician tastes. They can read trade rumors or draft rumors”.
And traditional broadcasters have been slow to adapt to this fact that they are now one of many options - sticking with legacy programming and formats that are no longer resonating…
Continuing to do the same thing over and over again (even with the insight it isn’t working) and expecting a different result would be the definition of insanity.
So how can they create content that cuts through the noise and services a younger audience and their thirst for sports content?
Well, to answer that, it’s worthwhile looking at where they are spending their time…
Unsurprisingly, social and streaming platforms continue to steal viewing time from broadcast year on year. The combination of easier access through digital platforms, greater price sensitivity for 16-34 year olds and a larger library of content that meets their needs has led to a younger audience flocking elsewhere, like to…
But as much as YouTube may be eating everyone’s lunch (and growing YoY at the moment), on the flip side, so does Disney, with linear broadcasters like the BBC & ITV also still holding a strong share of screen time YoY.
So, all is not lost - but there does need to be a rethink into the broadcasting product, and how it can be innovated to remain a central part in the way that Gen Z & A consume sports.
ESPN themselves have been one of the most active in enhancing their product - with them experimenting with new formats (like with Pat McAfee’s show, which has been well received), as well as leveraging technology to deliver content to a younger audience in new & exciting ways (like with the upcoming Simpsons Monday Night Football collaboration, NHL & ESPN’s Big City Greens telecast & ESPN Football Island on Fortnite - more to come on this in a second!).
All in all - media & broadcasters still hold a lot of the cards, and with a wealth of sports & entertainment rights still in their arsenal, if they can augment their offering (and business model) to make it more in line with the needs of the next-generation that have been raised in an always-on, cluttered environment, they’ll continue to be a main stay for generations to come.
Disney launches ESPN Football Island on Fortnite
Disney and ESPN have launched "ESPN Football Island" within Fortnite, offering players a unique sports-themed experience. Built using Fortnite's Unreal Editor, the island includes numerous challenges and mini-games, with announcers, such as SportsCenter hosts Randy Scott and Gary Striewski, guiding the action.
The gameplay focuses on:
Touchdown Rush: Avoid getting taken out by the competition as your team moves a giant football downfield and then defend your endzone as you switch to defense!
In a week of record Call of Duty downloads/purchases, this is giving serious capture the flag vibes…Ocho Obstacle Sprint: Navigate a challenging obstacle course across platforms high above the stadium for incredible views and rewards as you leap to the center of the Jumbotron, featuring ESPN8 The Ocho!
The Boxtagon – A chance to face off 1v1 against other players in high-intensity boxing fights - which is in collaboration with the UFC!
Minigames & Activities: Where you can test your throwing arm with Quarterback Challenge, launch your avatar across the arena on an ATV in Field Goal Jump, grind around the island in Rail Race or even show off your moves in the Dance Off Zone!
Level Up to Redeem ESPN Football Store Exclusives – Earn rewards across gameplay sessions to unlock new loadouts exclusive to ESPN Football Island.
Why you should care?
Disney of course invested a cool $1.5 billion into Epic Games not so long ago - with the first few Disney IPs beginning to be integrated into Fortnite & UEFN over the past 6-12 months.
But until now, this had been reserved for their entertainment IP - so with this (as far as I can see), Disney are taking their first steps to bring their sports programming / owned rights to the platform.
This experience is giving ESPN the opportunity to:
A) Introduce the sport of American Football to a younger audience - given ESPN/Disney reportedly pays $2.7 billion per year for the rights to air Monday Night Football, it’s in their benefit to help grow the interest in the sport. As discussed in the first segment, creating more interactive content and social experiences that are in-line with Gen Z & A’s passion points (of which gaming is) is a smart way for Disney/ESPN to introduce their programming to the audience in a more bitesized, authentic way.
B) Lean into their long-list of personalities & partnerships - ESPN, whether Pat McAfee, Randy Scott, Gary Striewski or SEG3 LA alumni Drew Carter, have a wealth of personalities they can leverage to help create engaging content and experiences. By introducing these personalities to a younger audiences through the likes of ESPN Football Island, they are able to help their talent build connections early, with the hope it’ll help later down the line to attract them to their broadcast programming.
Alongside the personalities is the partnerships - ESPN, collaborating with the UFC to bring them to the experience (despite the overarching theme being American Football focused) shows the unique power that ESPN/Disney has to blend passion points through their channels and platforms. Leaning into these non-traditional collaborations, as Disney is doing by bringing multiple of its entertainment IP to Fortnite, undoubtedly attracts a wider audience, and allows Disney/ESPN to introduce different IP/programs/sports to the audience all in one-place.
Meeting younger generations where they are, earlier, and creating a connection that can be built upon, is incredibly important for any brand wanting to maintain its position over the coming months and years.
With that in mind, it's refreshing to see Disney/ESPN take this step with a sports focus, and I’m sure it’s just the first of many.
Nintendo launches Nintendo Music
Nintendo has introduced a music app for Nintendo Switch Online members, allowing users to stream or download soundtracks from popular franchises like The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario. The app includes customizable playlists, recommendations based on play history, and an option to hide spoilers. It’s accessible on smart devices, and members can share access with others on a Family Membership.
Why you should care
It can’t be understated the impact that music has on memory and feeling. I know I have songs I hear, and can instantly place myself at various points or places throughout my life.
And with films, series & games being reliant on creating feeling and memories to help tell stories, it’s always been a fairly symbiotic relationship between the industries. But music has the power to transcend its ties to the film/games etc. As much as John Williams ‘Imperial March’ is synonymous with Star Wars, it has also become part of wider culture as a theme tune for adventure.
With that, there’s big opportunity for brands & IP to take their music catalog, and use it to attract a greater audience back to the game or remind their current audience to engage.
But that opportunity is being missed by a large portion right now. And fans are picking up the slack.
Take this fan curated Spotify playlist, which has brought together all of the songs from various editions of FIFA, which has close to 158,000 saves.
I think 158k saves shows demand…
So although brands may be happy for fans to take the lead on curation of these playlists, it feels like a missed opportunity to gain some good-will from your community by accelerating the discovery process, all whilst providing a platform for your fans to have yet another daily touchpoint with your franchise. This time, through their ears.
So, with digital experiences becoming such a noisy battleground, having recognisable music that helps consumers be teleported to your film/franchise may well become another smart acquisition and retention strategy.
In other news this week…
A quick round-up of other stories you should be across from the past 7 days:
Working on anything cool, or have a press release you would like us to cover? Send it in for the chance for it to be covered in next week’s edition!
That’s all for now - thanks again for reading the latest edition of The SEG3 Report!
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