The IP copyright of the head event is high and the operation is difficult to create original IP or realize a new way out

The copyright market of sports events has experienced more than two years of division. By 2017, it is certain that the giants monopolize the IP of the head events. However, whether these giants can really use these IP resources well and realize profits for themselves, it seems that the trend is unclear at present.

Original title: Foreign sports IP hard to change cash cow

copyright owner gets the world, this sentence seems not to work in the domestic copyright market. Once as beautiful as LeSports holding hundreds of top events IP, but now by huge copyright costs dragged into crisis. The copyright market of sports events has experienced more than two years of division. By 2017, it is certain that the giants monopolize the IP of the head events. However, whether these giants can really use these IP resources well and realize profits for themselves, it seems that the trend is unclear at present. Success also means copyright, failure also means copyright. The IP operation path of these "LeTV people" is not easy.

"Big and comprehensive" is rampant

in China's copyright market, and LeSports can be said to have pioneered high-priced purchases. LeSports, which aims to create a China version of ESPN, has purchased and hoarded more than 310 content copyrights. The copyright of 16,000 events every year involves 22 major sports including football, basketball, tennis, golf, and racing. After obtaining the exclusive copyright, LeSports launched the "LeTV Super Sports Member" service. However, it operated too much the membership payment system while ignoring the event itself. At the same time, the excess resources also made it a little "indigestion". In 2017, after LeSports lost its rights to the AFC Champions League and Super League in succession, its ATP rights also turned red light, and its rights to the Champions League also encountered a crisis a few days ago.

In 2017, Suning seemed to have become the biggest winner in the copyright market. Its PPTV took over the exclusive copyright for all new media games of the annual Super League for 1.35 billion yuan, and won the all-media copyright and signal production rights for all AFC events in mainland China for four years. Coupled with all-media copyrights in La Liga, Premier League, and Bundesliga, PPTV covers almost all professional football league copyrights that are of interest to China fans.

With so many copyright resources, neither Suning nor LeEco has a clear direction on the issue of copyright realization. The PPTV payment system has not yet been established. Currently, all games are viewed for free. In foreign countries, this model of paying for watching sports events has long been recognized by the public, but the paid viewing model in China is still in the cultivation stage.

In addition to Suning, Wanda Group also made major moves in terms of IP in 2016: becoming a top sponsor of FIFA and creating China Cup events; becoming the exclusive global commercial partner of the FIBA from 2016 to 2033, and will create multiple basketball events; its subsidiary Infront Sports has become the exclusive global commercial partner of the World Badminton Federation and has obtained all commercial development rights for all international competitions hosted by the World Badminton Federation from 2017 to 2025; Recently, Wanda reached an agreement with the World Marathon Grand Slam League to obtain exclusive rights to hold the World Marathon Grand Slam event in China.

In early April, it was reported that Alibaba Sports, which was conducting Series A financing, was developing smart venue renovations and upgrading sports cultural facilities on the one hand, and investing in tens of thousands of venues in hundreds of cities across the country in the future, playing the role of urban sports service provider. On the other hand, with IP as the core, we have become partners with sports organizations or associations such as FIFA, the International Boxing Federation, the NFL, the International Rugby Federation, LPGA, and the Table Tennis and Badminton Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sports to create their own event IPs, such as the founding of WESG and Jingwumen.

The popularity of "small but refined" is

different from the large and comprehensive layout of the copyright market. Tencent Sports and Xinying Sports are pursuing a small but refined strategy of "eating everything in one move".

New England Sports has ten years of experience in operating the Premier League. Since signing the rights to the Premier League for the 2010-2013 season, New England Sports has begun to widely distribute the rights to the Premier League. After the copyright expired, Xinying won the copyright for the 2013-2019 season.

Xinying's main source of domestic copyright fees is New Media. Since the 2014-2015 season, their revenue through copyright distribution has begun to approach the cost price. They have begun to make profits in 2015 and have some experience in the membership payment model. However, New Ying Sports lost to Suning in the competition for the Premier League rights for the 2019-2022 season. After losing the Premier League rights, New Ying Sports could only find a way out in the European League.

Tencent Sports, which relies on "one trick to eat everything", is different. Tencent has been deeply involved in NBA event IP for many years. With its strong social genes, it has carried out in-depth operation of its brand and community after winning NBA copyright, and has become a successful model for the development and operation of domestic event copyright. In October 2016, NBA China and Tencent jointly launched the NBA League Pass, which was the first time that NBA League Pass was introduced to China. In addition to NBA copyright, Tencent has also signed a nine-year cooperation agreement with the FIBA to broadcast events hosted by the FIBA, including the World Cup, Intercontinental Cup, Olympic qualifiers and youth championships.

It is understood that Tencent has cooperated with the NBA for many years. Since 2015, Tencent Sports seems to have hung up after obtaining the NBA's five-year exclusive online live broadcast rights in mainland China for US$500 million. First, it invested 100 million yuan to build a professional studio comparable to ESPN, introducing virtual packaging technology, AR systems, virtual studios, etc., and bringing ESPN's excellent experience in sports event content production and operation to feed back the domestic sports live broadcast field. At the same time, domestic professional sports commentators such as Su Qun, Yang Yi, and Ke Fan were invited to join in to improve the level of program production. In terms of value-added services, Tencent used its all-media platform advantages to deeply develop NBA resources and open up online and offline new ways to play; In addition, advertising is currently the main commercial profit model for NBA online live broadcasts, and it is also the most effective way to realize attention. Nearly 60% of NBA users insert advertisements when accepting NBA live broadcasts, and more than 60% of users consider purchasing the products in advertisements. Tencent is understanding After user needs, users use preferential promotions and star endorsements to stimulate users 'desire to purchase. External factors use the recommendation role of hosts, guests, and anchors, and intersperse innovative benefits (For example, a lottery for star equipment) to attract some users to pay; in addition to advertising, more than half of users surveyed are willing to pay for NBA online live broadcasts. Among them, high-definition image quality, ability to watch all games, and removal of advertising are the most basic benefits. Attract payment; Developing sports surrounding areas is also one of the ways to make money. Users will not only pay attention to the NBA game itself, but a considerable number of users will also pay attention to NBA variety shows, NBA-themed music, playing NBA games, etc. Tencent Sports also provides more services around the NBA, a super IP, and vigorously expand sports surrounding areas.

Through years of accumulation and a year of detailed polishing, Tencent Sports has also achieved an NBA online live broadcast rate of 88.6%, covering 400 million independent users, 100 million live broadcast users, and a total of more than 20 billion broadcasts during the season. More than 50% of viewers are willing to pay for NBA online live broadcasts.

Non-long-term controllable resources

A mature IP requires historical precipitation and a long-term accumulation process. The longer it takes, the higher the value of the IP will be. Creating an IP is like creating a work of art. It requires ingenuity and every detail must be exhausted to maximize the value of IP.

Compared with LeSports, Tencent relies on its Internet thinking to make it better at developing peripheral products with the online live broadcast of events as its core. Tencent truly uses the NBA media rights of the world's top events to carry out the systematic development of network products in a "IP value reorganization" approach., not just shifting the live broadcast of events to the Internet. To Tencent, the NBA is not so much an IP as a sword. Developing sports media online copyright based on online product thinking rather than live TV thinking has also become a magic weapon for Tencent to win the competition. Tencent explores Internet sports, sports live broadcasts and sports IP product models through the NBA, such as live payment, puzzle games, surrounding new media, situational e-commerce, etc. This may also be the only way for the future development of Internet sports media platforms. Tencent's NBA operating model can be said to be a successful model for the development and operation of domestic event copyright. However, Tencent's success is also based on the huge user resources accumulated by its operating social platforms over the years. After all, a platform will not rise out of thin air, and the accumulation in the early stage will be the cornerstone of future success.

Regarding the future development trend of China's copyright market, He Wenyi, executive director of Peking University's China Sports Industry Research Center, said that at present, the head IP has been divided up and there is no room for preemption. In the next step, what these copyright giants need to consider is how to create IP so that it can generate value. If copyrights are purchased and no good products are formed, coupled with incomplete industrial chain and not driven by related consumption, it is difficult for an IP to realize value. On-demand and selling membership cards are not enough to support the huge cost of purchasing copyrights. He Wenyi believes that the sports industry is a creative industry. When IP is in your hands, you must create creative products. Only by relying on products can you achieve profitability. Otherwise, no matter how good the IP is, it is worthless. Creating products requires imagination and understanding consumption. Only by working hard from the details can the products created be enough to attract consumers.

Guo Bin, secretary-general of Peking University's China Sports Industry Research Center, said in an interview with reporters that event copyright is not a long-term controllable resource. It has a time limit. If these resources cannot be transformed into products within the time limit, then its value is equivalent to zero. On the contrary, if these resources can be operated well within the time limit, then its value will be huge.

Editor: Nancy