Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake (RSL) is the first American franchise to partner with a local TV station for OTT streaming. The deal between KSL-TV and RSL allows the Salt Lake City station to stream the team’s (and its affiliates’) games via an OTT app.
The deal comes as many national broadcast companies are expanding OTT platforms. This month ESPN, CBS and Turner Sports all launched streaming services for on-the-go viewing.
“Going over-the-top opens our content up to a much broader audience,” explained Tanya Vea, VP/GM of KSL-TV, to Adweek. “As a local broadcaster, that’s our goal.”
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Here’s what you need to know
-It’s a free, ad-supported app and the plan is for it to carry more than 90 live games. It will also offer pre and postgame shows and other insider content.
-Streaming via the app is not offered on a national basis. It’s currently available only in the following regions: Utah, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Reno and Boise.
-According to Adweek, the app has drawn about 30,000-50,000 views for each two-hour game. RSL averages around 20,000 fans at its home games.
SportTechie Takeaway
“Development of OTT channels give you an opportunity to build your local content and work on getting back to a 24/7 channel without network participation,” said Brad Ward, CEO of TownNews.com, while speaking with Adweek. “This is just smart to be ready for what the future might hold, and these livestreams specifically, once fully developed, can be offered to the cable companies.”
What Ward means is that OTT channels stand to benefit everyone: it doesn’t matter if you’re a fan, a provider of sports content, or if you’re broadcasting on a local or national level.
The KSL-TV/RSL deal is one of the first that we’ve seen on a local-level, but we’ve already seen the shift occurring nationally. In addition to the ESPN, CBS and Turner OTT services, the PGA Tour just launched a free, ad-supported app of its own, bringing live and on-demand content to fans, and Formula 1 and Tata Communications launched the F1 TV mobile app, which offers streams of live races and advanced content like on-board driver cameras.