Emily Goddard: Pondering the sport media landscape future at SPORTELAmerica

SPORTELAmerica could arguably be the place where there are more millionaires per square metre than anywhere else in the world - this is not a proven fact but highly likely to be true, particularly if you consider NBC Universal sports business analyst Rick Horrow's story of how he had to change his book title from Beyond the Scoreboard: An Insider's Guide to a $750 billion Business of Sport because that figure "is more like a trillion".

And not only does it attract the rich, it also draws in the famous, with the likes of Beezie Madden, the most decorated American female equestrian of all time and currently the only woman in the world rankings top 10, Jessica Springsteen and Hannah Selleck - if those surnames do not speak for themselves these show jumpers are the offspring of none other than actor Tom Selleck and rock royalty Bruce "The Boss" Springsteen - attending.

Miami Heat basketball player Goran Dragić, and boxing legends Jake LaMotta and Lennox Lewis were also among the notable faces at this year's event at the JW Marriott Marquis in Miami.

Jake LaMotta (right) was one of the stars at this year's SPORTELAmerica in Miami ©SPORTEL

However, while the sport business industry, particularly the media rights sector, is sitting pretty for now, SPORTELAmerica featured a dominant theme that has the potential to make or break that astronomical wealth and revenue - digital technologies.

Although the advent of the digital age brings about numerous opportunities for sport, it also comes with inherent risks. One of those could be the astronomical growth of the second screen at the expense of the television. Statistics released last year showed a global average of 48 per cent of people use a smartphone, tablet or laptop while watching television, an activity known as "screen-stacking".

But it does not stop there, some are not even watching television at all anymore, preferring to watch digital media on their mobile devices on the go. Furthermore, Millennials do not know the media landscape without smartphones, tablets and social media.

This is true and the rise of digital media consumption cannot be denied, but television is still king, according to some experts. The general consensus on the "Marketing and Monetising Second Screen in the Americas" panel at SPORTELAmerica was that size matters and television can offer sports fans a viewing experience that mobile devices simply cannot.

"Best is biggest," said IMG Media vice-president of Latin America, Mexico and US Hispanic Guillermo Santa Cruz.

The Marketing and Monetising Second Screen in the Americas panel at SPORTELAmerica ©SPORTEL

WWE managing director of international Ed Wells played down the risk of digital media overtaking traditional television viewing. His organisation has embraced the use of mobile apps to help further fan engagement by providing backstage and live content with considerable success.

But, he also said these technologies are still on the periphery and act as a companion to TV, even helping broadcasters. "It sits side by side, it is not competitive," he told the audience.

However, there is a perhaps more dangerous problem that digital media gives rise to - piracy. Yes, piracy is not a new phenomenon, but new technology and the introduction of Web 2.0 is making it much easier to illegally stream content online and through apps, and get away with it.

How do you stop people from unlawfully recording content and uploading it to YouTube or Vine, for instance? Santa Cruz admitted it is critical to control it because for TV rights buyers, "exclusivity is key". Broadcasters will simply not keep buying content if they know the footage will be seen on YouTube for free.

Javier Tebas warned that TV rights owners will go "belly up" if piracy is not eliminated ©SPORTEL

La Liga President Javier Tebas did not beat about the bush during his panel when he said TV rights owners will go "belly up" if piracy is not eliminated. His Spanish football premier league is in a particularly unfortunate position geographically, with almost nine out of 10 downloads in Spain being illegal, making it one of the worst countries for internet piracy in Europe.

However, he is hopeful that with legislation the battle against illegal streaming can be won. "I know we will succeed," he said. "I just don't know when."

So how do you protect media rights income and make money from digital content?

"One thing for sure, we need fans with money," quipped Mediapro's Ignacio Arrola during the "La Liga, The Best Showcase for the Transformative Innovation" panel.

While there was an element of jest in his comment, it was not too far from the truth. Indeed, the panel agreed that fan engagement through digital media will foster stronger loyalties, which will lead to increased ticket and merchandise sales.

I'm not convinced the income resulting from those types of sales are comparable to that provided by media rights deals, but one thing for sure is that sports consumption will always be enormous the globe over. It's just up to the industry to make sure it remains one step ahead of the ever advancing world of technology.

Emily Goddard is a reporter and subeditor for insidethegames.biz. Follow her on Twitter here.