The American Le Mans Series, the premier sports car endurance series in North America, has announced a cutting-edge media package involving broadcast and cable television plus online coverage. ALMS is partnering with ABC television, ESPN cable TV, and the ESPN3.com website to offer fans a variety of viewing options while reaching significantly more households than a traditional one-source media package could access.
“We have confirmed a three-year relationship—to begin with—with truly the gold standard benchmark of sports television, that being ABC and ESPN,” ALMS CEO Scott Atherton told a Wednesday afternoon press conference. “We also have a very valuable element—the relationship with ESPN3.com.
“Everyone that I spoke to has referenced this as being the benchmark example that’s important today, it’s going to be absolutely critical tomorrow, and going forward.”
“When you think about ESPN and ABC, it is the goal of anyone in sports, regardless of what genre you reference, to be linked with ESPN and with ABC,” Atherton continued. “From the series’ perspective, we feel that we’ve achieved beyond even our highest expectations with this program that we’ve been able to put forth.”
ALMS negotiated the deal with assistance from Intersport, one of the largest independent packagers and producers of sports media in the U.S., and the single largest independent content provider to ESPN.
Intersport produced the sports car racing movie Truth in 24 about Audi’s 2009 Le Mans effort, and also produced two programs for ALMS in 2010.
“When we looked at this in the context of where the world is going, we needed a super-solid high profile television presence, which we have with ABC and with ESPN,” Intersport founder and CEO Charlie Besser told the press conference, “and we wanted to have a super-solid strong fast-emerging digital partner. We have that with ESPN3. We also wanted to have the international opportunity and obviously ESPN international is a robust platform that continues to grow.”
Intersport will also assist ALMS in production and editing. As NASCAR has proven, making the drivers into celebrities, drives casual fans to the races. Intersport plans to do the same for ALMS.
Scott Thor of Intersport explained, “Another part we’re excited to bring is some of our production expertise, to really tell some interesting stories, to bring the drivers to this larger audience so more people are going to engage with the great characters and great racing that ALMS represents.”
The American Le Mans Series takes pride in pushing the technological envelope. Its cars are among the most advanced on the planet; it was the first series to use alternative fuels. Now ALMS is the first racing series to address the changes in both media structure and fan expectation.
“We have confirmed a three-year relationship—to begin with—with truly the gold standard benchmark of sports television, that being ABC and ESPN,” ALMS CEO Scott Atherton told a Wednesday afternoon press conference. “We also have a very valuable element—the relationship with ESPN3.com.
“Everyone that I spoke to has referenced this as being the benchmark example that’s important today, it’s going to be absolutely critical tomorrow, and going forward.”
“When you think about ESPN and ABC, it is the goal of anyone in sports, regardless of what genre you reference, to be linked with ESPN and with ABC,” Atherton continued. “From the series’ perspective, we feel that we’ve achieved beyond even our highest expectations with this program that we’ve been able to put forth.”
ALMS negotiated the deal with assistance from Intersport, one of the largest independent packagers and producers of sports media in the U.S., and the single largest independent content provider to ESPN.
Intersport produced the sports car racing movie Truth in 24 about Audi’s 2009 Le Mans effort, and also produced two programs for ALMS in 2010.
“When we looked at this in the context of where the world is going, we needed a super-solid high profile television presence, which we have with ABC and with ESPN,” Intersport founder and CEO Charlie Besser told the press conference, “and we wanted to have a super-solid strong fast-emerging digital partner. We have that with ESPN3. We also wanted to have the international opportunity and obviously ESPN international is a robust platform that continues to grow.”
Intersport will also assist ALMS in production and editing. As NASCAR has proven, making the drivers into celebrities, drives casual fans to the races. Intersport plans to do the same for ALMS.
Scott Thor of Intersport explained, “Another part we’re excited to bring is some of our production expertise, to really tell some interesting stories, to bring the drivers to this larger audience so more people are going to engage with the great characters and great racing that ALMS represents.”
Cutting-Edge Cars, Cutting-Edge Media
The American Le Mans Series takes pride in pushing the technological envelope. Its cars are among the most advanced on the planet; it was the first series to use alternative fuels. Now ALMS is the first racing series to address the changes in both media structure and fan expectation.
Just as the Internet is changing the way people get their news, it is also changing the way people view sports. Many events which have small but enthusiastic followings are turning to online broadcasts to reach their fans.
Sports fans are changing, too. Many younger sports fans, raised on high-energy, constant-action extreme-sports programming, lack the patience to sit through a three- or four-hour event. Older fans appreciate the longer shows, absorbing the subtleties of strategy, but many sports leagues, looking ahead to the long-term health of their programs, are realizing the need to attract new fans with shorter attention spans and a penchant for multi-tasking.
Today’s sports fans expect more from their sports networks—more coverage, and more convenience. Fans want to be able to follow events on their smart phones or laptops while on the road, and to watch on demand—something which only the everywhere, all-the-time access of the Internet can offer.
These younger viewers are comfortable hooking up their gaming consoles or laptops to their HDTVs to get high-definition programming off the Internet without paying for cable.
“Whether you pick up Sports Illustrated or USA Today, or the Wall Street Journal, they are all screaming headlines about how the television environment that we all operate in, is changing at an unprecedented pace,” explained ALMS CEO Scott Atherton. “The normal broadcast environment is turned on its head. Long-form coverage of sports is going away.”
Seth Neiman, team principal and driver for the 2010 GT champion Flying Lizard team, described how the new package would affect the team and its sponsors.
“Our partners and sponsors have for a number of years looked to us to find a way to get them not just broader exposure, but assistance in moving into the new world—the new world of web-oriented media,” said Neiman. “This is a big challenge for these companies because they want broadcast television and they want the best of the Internet and no one in motorsport is providing it for them—except for ALMS.”
Sports fans are changing, too. Many younger sports fans, raised on high-energy, constant-action extreme-sports programming, lack the patience to sit through a three- or four-hour event. Older fans appreciate the longer shows, absorbing the subtleties of strategy, but many sports leagues, looking ahead to the long-term health of their programs, are realizing the need to attract new fans with shorter attention spans and a penchant for multi-tasking.
Today’s sports fans expect more from their sports networks—more coverage, and more convenience. Fans want to be able to follow events on their smart phones or laptops while on the road, and to watch on demand—something which only the everywhere, all-the-time access of the Internet can offer.
These younger viewers are comfortable hooking up their gaming consoles or laptops to their HDTVs to get high-definition programming off the Internet without paying for cable.
“Whether you pick up Sports Illustrated or USA Today, or the Wall Street Journal, they are all screaming headlines about how the television environment that we all operate in, is changing at an unprecedented pace,” explained ALMS CEO Scott Atherton. “The normal broadcast environment is turned on its head. Long-form coverage of sports is going away.”
Seth Neiman, team principal and driver for the 2010 GT champion Flying Lizard team, described how the new package would affect the team and its sponsors.
“Our partners and sponsors have for a number of years looked to us to find a way to get them not just broader exposure, but assistance in moving into the new world—the new world of web-oriented media,” said Neiman. “This is a big challenge for these companies because they want broadcast television and they want the best of the Internet and no one in motorsport is providing it for them—except for ALMS.”
Tough Market for Racing
Many North America racing series are struggling to put together effective television packages; with the fragmenting of audiences and the multiplicity of channels, racing, which usually demands several hours of airtime per event, has found it increasingly hard to afford enough airtime for entire races. Even NASCAR, the undisputed leader in North American racing, has seen a serious drop in ratings in the past few years, while IndyCar was forced off of ESPN and SPEED-TV because it couldn’t attract enough viewers.
Low ratings means fewer sponsor dollars means less airtime on smaller networks, and ALMS was affected the same as the others. In fact, ALMS was worse off, because two of its signature races—Sebring and Petit Le Mans—are twelve and ten hours respectively, and two others are four hours long. No network wanted to tie up half its programming day with a single program. “Long-form coverage of sports is going away,” Scott Atherton stated.
Last season ALMS races were broadcast on SPEED-TV, which reaches about 65 million households. There wasn’t enough money left over to properly promote the series, and despite record attendance at several events, the ratings just weren’t satisfying. Teams found it hard to find sponsors; series executives realized that to properly serve the fans and the teams, a new approach was needed.
The new three-year media partnership covers all the bases: ABC reaches 15.9 million American TV viewers—basically anyone with a TV gets ABC. ESPN reaches 99.7 million households—it is the undisputed leader in cable TV sports. ESPN3, the company’s Internet channel, is currently in 65 million households, and is growing exponentially. It is accessible via computer, gaming console, or cell phone.
The ABC and ESPN broadcasts will be edited version of the races, shown the next day and again later in the week. Fans won’t have to sit through multiple yellow-flag laps while cars circulate at low speeds, nor watch “follow-the-leader” racing if the front-runners aren’t contesting the lead. The broadcasts can cover all the action, and can focus on the best racing on the track, because the director will have time to decide which shots the fans will most want to see.
Because the races will air twice, fans who might be busy on the weekend will still get a chance to watch during the week. While the shorter races will mean fewer commercials, sponsors will still be pleased because the edited, high-action format and improved market penetration should ensure that more people see the broadcasts.
For the diehard racing fans who absolutely must see every lap of each race—even the ten- and twelve-hour races—ESPN3 will broadcast each race in its entirety, live, online. Hardcore ALMS fans which have been watching the series for the past decade will still get full coverage, professionally produced. Households which don’t currently receive ESPN3 can watch the same broadcast on the ALMS website, which is available to anyone with Internet access.
The new media plan has not been received happily by ALMS fans. Even Scott Atherton admitted that the comments on AmericanLeMans.com were “mixed.” Hardcore fans, the type who watch every lap of every race, even the ten-and twelve-hour races, were upset that there would be no live TV coverage. Many fans were upset that instead of watching the races in high-definition on their huge flatscreen TVs, they would now have to watch choppy, low-res images on their laptops.
Last season ALMS races were broadcast on SPEED-TV, which reaches about 65 million households. There wasn’t enough money left over to properly promote the series, and despite record attendance at several events, the ratings just weren’t satisfying. Teams found it hard to find sponsors; series executives realized that to properly serve the fans and the teams, a new approach was needed.
The new three-year media partnership covers all the bases: ABC reaches 15.9 million American TV viewers—basically anyone with a TV gets ABC. ESPN reaches 99.7 million households—it is the undisputed leader in cable TV sports. ESPN3, the company’s Internet channel, is currently in 65 million households, and is growing exponentially. It is accessible via computer, gaming console, or cell phone.
The ABC and ESPN broadcasts will be edited version of the races, shown the next day and again later in the week. Fans won’t have to sit through multiple yellow-flag laps while cars circulate at low speeds, nor watch “follow-the-leader” racing if the front-runners aren’t contesting the lead. The broadcasts can cover all the action, and can focus on the best racing on the track, because the director will have time to decide which shots the fans will most want to see.
Because the races will air twice, fans who might be busy on the weekend will still get a chance to watch during the week. While the shorter races will mean fewer commercials, sponsors will still be pleased because the edited, high-action format and improved market penetration should ensure that more people see the broadcasts.
For the diehard racing fans who absolutely must see every lap of each race—even the ten- and twelve-hour races—ESPN3 will broadcast each race in its entirety, live, online. Hardcore ALMS fans which have been watching the series for the past decade will still get full coverage, professionally produced. Households which don’t currently receive ESPN3 can watch the same broadcast on the ALMS website, which is available to anyone with Internet access.
As an added bonus, the races will be available on demand through ESPN3, both the full and the edited broadcasts. Fans who missed a race, or want to watch it again, can access it whenever and wherever they want.
“We know that there is a very passionate core audience here that is going to be able to appreciate the package that we’ve presented when you look at what we are able to do on ESPN3.com,” Intersports’ Scott Thor explained. “We’re going to have 100 percent coverage of qualifying, 100 percent race coverage that they’re going to be able to engage with at home at work. That’s going to be critical for the core audience. And then we’re going to be able to expand a new audience that we’re going to be able to reach with ABC and ESPN2.”
Some Resistance From Fans
The new media plan has not been received happily by ALMS fans. Even Scott Atherton admitted that the comments on AmericanLeMans.com were “mixed.” Hardcore fans, the type who watch every lap of every race, even the ten-and twelve-hour races, were upset that there would be no live TV coverage. Many fans were upset that instead of watching the races in high-definition on their huge flatscreen TVs, they would now have to watch choppy, low-res images on their laptops.
ALMS experimented with two online race broadcasts in 2010. Neither race drew 10,000 viewers, and both raised many complaints about picture quality and signal loss. Hopefully ESPN3 will manage to stay online through an entire broadcast, and will have sufficient bandwidth to handle any amount of traffic. Even so, if a viewer’s local network is extremely busy, the streamed race could freeze or pixilate, as happened many times during the 2010 broadcasts.
Further, not every fan has access to broadband Internet, making the web option, no option.
Further, not every fan has access to broadband Internet, making the web option, no option.
Canadian fans were also outraged, because ESPN and ABC aren’t always available north of the border, and ESPN3, not at all. AmericanLeMans.com offers the same stream, but bandwidth restrictions worry many viewers with experience with that site.
Many dedicated fans enjoy watching the races while also tracking progress on Live Timing and Scoring, an online utility which tracks each car’s performance from lap to lap. ALMS races are comprised of five classes of cars with widely disparate performance, racing simultaneously. Live Timing and Scoring is the only way to keep track of the action in the different classes. Obviously, this utility will not work with a heavily-edited, tape-delayed broadcast.
A larger question is, how will this affect the teams? Many ALMS teams—even front-runners—are struggling to find sponsorship. Highcroft Racing, which won the overall ALMS championship in 2009 and 2010, is searching for a lead sponsor. 2009 LMP2 champion Fernandez Racing went out of business because it could not find funding for 2010.
Many of the smaller teams have complained that their cars did not get any TV time, which meant that they did not have any value to offer prospective sponsors. How will this change, when the TV broadcasts change from three hours on SPEED-TV to one-and-a-half or two hours on ABC and ESPN? Will the smaller teams get any TV coverage at all?
Most ALMS races are two hours, forty-five minutes long. If those races are compressed into a 120-minute broadcast, with a ten-minute intro, a ten-minute post-race winner interview/wrap-up, and forty minutes of commercials, that leaves only sixty minutes to show a 165-minute race. How could there possibly be time to show all the different battles between five different classes of cars, when more than half the race ends up on the cutting-room floor?
For teams which find they can’t make a living racing in ALMS, there is a competitive series, which is funded by NASCAR; with NASCAR dollars behind it, that series is able to secure a conventional live, full-race broadcast schedule. Most don’t take this competitor seriously—compared to ALMS, the cars are dinosaurs, and the management sometimes objectionably intrusive. But it is an alternative to not racing—or watching racing—at all.
Many dedicated fans enjoy watching the races while also tracking progress on Live Timing and Scoring, an online utility which tracks each car’s performance from lap to lap. ALMS races are comprised of five classes of cars with widely disparate performance, racing simultaneously. Live Timing and Scoring is the only way to keep track of the action in the different classes. Obviously, this utility will not work with a heavily-edited, tape-delayed broadcast.
Sponsorship Opportunities Lost or Gained?
A larger question is, how will this affect the teams? Many ALMS teams—even front-runners—are struggling to find sponsorship. Highcroft Racing, which won the overall ALMS championship in 2009 and 2010, is searching for a lead sponsor. 2009 LMP2 champion Fernandez Racing went out of business because it could not find funding for 2010.
Many of the smaller teams have complained that their cars did not get any TV time, which meant that they did not have any value to offer prospective sponsors. How will this change, when the TV broadcasts change from three hours on SPEED-TV to one-and-a-half or two hours on ABC and ESPN? Will the smaller teams get any TV coverage at all?
Most ALMS races are two hours, forty-five minutes long. If those races are compressed into a 120-minute broadcast, with a ten-minute intro, a ten-minute post-race winner interview/wrap-up, and forty minutes of commercials, that leaves only sixty minutes to show a 165-minute race. How could there possibly be time to show all the different battles between five different classes of cars, when more than half the race ends up on the cutting-room floor?
For teams which find they can’t make a living racing in ALMS, there is a competitive series, which is funded by NASCAR; with NASCAR dollars behind it, that series is able to secure a conventional live, full-race broadcast schedule. Most don’t take this competitor seriously—compared to ALMS, the cars are dinosaurs, and the management sometimes objectionably intrusive. But it is an alternative to not racing—or watching racing—at all.
This is not to say that the new media plan will not work out well for the series. Possibly the dramatic increase in accessible households will raise the series’ profile enough that smaller teams will be able to find sponsors. ESPN3 has the potential to reach as many viewers as SPEED-TV did, and is growing rapidly, while ABC and ESPN bring huge increases in visibility.
On the other hand, ALSM broadcast two race summary/docu-dramas on CBS last year, and they did not do well. Being on network TV does not guarantee good ratings. And bad ratings mean no sponsorship, which means small fields, which means fans and teams might start looking elsewhere.
It is safe to say that the new ALMS media package is the way of the future. Scott Atherton assured the press conference, “Many other forms of not only motor sports but all forms of sports will be embracing the same platform choices that we’ve announced this week.”
This is almost certainly true. As audiences become more fragmented and technology becomes cheaper, fans will be able to watch any sport they want—from darts to chess to football, both American and European—online, because the costs of covering a game and buying airtime will be too large for all but the most popular sports.
In fact, FIFA World Cup soccer, the Augusta National golf tournament, Wimbledon, and many MLB and NBA games are already on the Internet. So are less popular sports like bicycle racing and snooker. As the technology improves, this trend will spread.
The question is, can ALMS satisfy its current fans, who have come to expect live flag-to-flag TV broadcasts, while attracting new fans, many of which will learn of the series for the first time with its new broader market penetration, and more important, can ALMS teams attract enough sponsors to make the series financially viable?
ALMS management knows that being cutting-edge means being the first to be criticized.
On the other hand, ALSM broadcast two race summary/docu-dramas on CBS last year, and they did not do well. Being on network TV does not guarantee good ratings. And bad ratings mean no sponsorship, which means small fields, which means fans and teams might start looking elsewhere.
The Way of the Future, but Will It Work Now?
It is safe to say that the new ALMS media package is the way of the future. Scott Atherton assured the press conference, “Many other forms of not only motor sports but all forms of sports will be embracing the same platform choices that we’ve announced this week.”
This is almost certainly true. As audiences become more fragmented and technology becomes cheaper, fans will be able to watch any sport they want—from darts to chess to football, both American and European—online, because the costs of covering a game and buying airtime will be too large for all but the most popular sports.
In fact, FIFA World Cup soccer, the Augusta National golf tournament, Wimbledon, and many MLB and NBA games are already on the Internet. So are less popular sports like bicycle racing and snooker. As the technology improves, this trend will spread.
The question is, can ALMS satisfy its current fans, who have come to expect live flag-to-flag TV broadcasts, while attracting new fans, many of which will learn of the series for the first time with its new broader market penetration, and more important, can ALMS teams attract enough sponsors to make the series financially viable?
ALMS management knows that being cutting-edge means being the first to be criticized.
“We may take some arrows early on because we are the first mover to take our motorsports platform outside of a traditional standard cable television environment,” Atherton said. He pointed out that when ALMS opened the rules to allow ethanol as a fuel, the series became a target for detractors, while now, “virtually every form of the sport is incorporating green technology and sustainable, renewable fuels,” (including the slow-moving racing giant, NASCAR.)
ALMS has always been a leader, and being a leader is tough. Scott Atherton and Intersport aren’t soft, and they aren’t inexperienced. They know the next few years might be rocky, but they also know that if the plan works, a few years from now they might be hailed for their courage and foresight.
It is far too soon to make predictions, but wild guesses? Most of the old fans will find some way to watch both the live races and the condensed broadcasts. More people than ever will learn about ALMS through its wider market penetration, and more will come back to watch it regularly, because it offers great racing—some of the world’s best drivers in some of the world’s best cars. Car counts might suffer for a few seasons until the word spreads more widely that ALMS is really good racing, but the series will survive.
In three years, ALMS will probably renew their deal with ABC/ESPN, and every other racing series will be seeking similar arrangements. And the diehard fans will look back on these few years, proud that they survived the difficult transition from the past to the future.
And, as with alternative fuels and green technology, ALMS will not get the credit it deserves for having the foresight and courage to lead.
Just guesses.
ALMS has always been a leader, and being a leader is tough. Scott Atherton and Intersport aren’t soft, and they aren’t inexperienced. They know the next few years might be rocky, but they also know that if the plan works, a few years from now they might be hailed for their courage and foresight.
It is far too soon to make predictions, but wild guesses? Most of the old fans will find some way to watch both the live races and the condensed broadcasts. More people than ever will learn about ALMS through its wider market penetration, and more will come back to watch it regularly, because it offers great racing—some of the world’s best drivers in some of the world’s best cars. Car counts might suffer for a few seasons until the word spreads more widely that ALMS is really good racing, but the series will survive.
In three years, ALMS will probably renew their deal with ABC/ESPN, and every other racing series will be seeking similar arrangements. And the diehard fans will look back on these few years, proud that they survived the difficult transition from the past to the future.
And, as with alternative fuels and green technology, ALMS will not get the credit it deserves for having the foresight and courage to lead.
Just guesses.
