Who Owns the Emotion in Sport?
The most powerful moments in sport aren’t being broadcast. They’re being clipped, remixed, and shared long before the highlights drop.
The moment fans really felt? It probably didn’t come from your studio.
It was a TikTok doing numbers before the official highlights dropped.
A Twitch reaction stream that captured the emotion in real time.
Or a YouTube Shorts clip that nailed the drama in 12 seconds.
Broadcasters still own the footage. But they’re no longer the ones who define how it’s experienced. Emotion is the new battleground. And right now, it's slipping through the cracks.
From Footage to Feeling
For a long time, whoever controlled the cameras shaped the story. The replays, the angles, the tone. All curated with care. And that still matters.
What’s changed is where the emotional response now happens. It’s not confined to the broadcast anymore. It’s evolved. It has stretched out across social platforms, live streams, and fan communities.
Broadcasters are adapting. They’re posting clips, reactions, and behind-the-scenes content across their own social channels. But the reach is limited, especially compared to what’s happening on global platforms where creators are native, audiences are primed, and the emotional currency travels faster.
A moment goes viral before the replay airs. A creator’s reaction connects better than the pundit’s take. A personalised highlight reel drops on a phone, tuned to your preferences, your players, your emotional investment.
The moment no longer ends with the final whistle. It travels, it morphs, and it often lands harder when it comes from someone fans identify with.
Broadcast still delivers the match. But the emotional energy is increasingly shaped beyond the main feed.
What’s Being Missed
Let’s give credit where it’s due. Broadcasters still deliver the game. The production, the storytelling, the scale. That’s still world-class.
But fans don’t just want to watch anymore. They want to engage, react, remix, and feel like they’re part of it. That’s where the gap is.
It’s not about poor execution. It’s about emotional timing.
Highlights often land too late. Social clips are safe, generic, or over-produced. Fan engagement tools are still treated as extras, not part of the core experience.
Some are moving in the right direction. ESPN’s use of Snapchat stories is a good example. Short, fast, platform-native content designed for how younger fans consume sport. But it’s still the exception, not the norm.
At the same time, the most emotionally resonant content is being created elsewhere. By fans, creators, and communities. It’s raw, immediate, and tuned to how people actually feel in the moment.
And that emotional layer is now where value lives. If you’re not part of it, you risk becoming background noise, even if you’ve still got the rights.
The emotional connection is what drives loyalty, sharing, and ultimately monetisable engagement. If you're not involved in that layer, you're missing the part of the experience that fans are most likely to pay for, return to, or build around.
Getting Back Into the Game
This isn’t about broadcasters being left behind. It’s about reconnecting with where the energy is.
You’ve still got the rights, the access, the production firepower. That’s not in question. But emotional connection isn’t guaranteed. Not anymore. You have to meet fans where they are and how they want it.
Here’s what that could look like:
- Work with creators, not around them. Bring them in early. Give them access. Let them create around your content, not outside of it. They know how to talk to audiences in a way that cuts through.
- Stop thinking in full matches, start thinking in moments. Not everything needs to be wrapped in a linear narrative. What’s the 12-second clip fans will share before the final whistle?
- Use AI for relevance, not just efficiency. Personalised content, smart editing, different versions for different fans. That’s where AI adds value, not just cost savings.
- Make it feel something. Editorial decisions still matter. But instead of just explaining the game, tell us why it mattered. Drama, tension, rivalry, joy. That’s what fans respond to.
- Use the infrastructure you’re already investing in. Cloud production, real-time data, and flexible distribution all support this kind of emotional, platform-specific content. Make the most of that investment.
Final Word
This isn’t about who owns the footage anymore. That’s just the starting point.
The real value now lies in who owns the emotional connection. The moment that fans replay, clip, quote, and share. That’s where the influence sits. And that’s where the next wave of growth is going to come from.
Broadcast still has a massive role to play. But it has to shift from just showing the game to feeling like part of the game. Because if the emotional connection keeps happening elsewhere, the broadcast risks becoming a utility. Solid, reliable, but invisible.
If you want to stay central to the fan experience, you have to earn that place emotionally. And that means being part of the moment, not just the delivery.
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23 Jun 2025