With the 2016 Amgen Tour of California underway, last week’s announcement that NBC Sports Group and AEG locked in a three-year media rights extension for America’s largest cycling race proved to be another boon for the competition. .The deal will serve up live coverage of the tour across NBC, NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra through 2019. Last year’s telecast averaged 194,000 viewers, for a 7% markup from the year before.
Blend the deal with AEG’s other recent projects, including Las Vegas’ brand new crown jewel in T-Mobile Arena, and the world’s leading sports and live entertainment company now owns, manages or consults with more than 120 preeminent arenas, stadiums, theaters, clubs and convention centers around the world including The O2 Arena, the Sprint Center and the Mercedes-Benz Arenas. Cynopsis Sports spoke with Nick Baker, Senior VP of Global Partnership Sales at AEG Global Partnerships about how company’s strategies are evolving, its use of data as well as about the new Amgen deal with NBC.
Baker on the Amgen Tour extension: It’s a very exciting testament to the partnership that we share with NBC and, of course, the race itself and the sport itself so we are thrilled to continue to great coverage the great coverage we’ve come to know, especially these past few years. We feel like the broadcasts have taken some steps and the numbers show that. We hope to see that continue. From a competitor standpoint, it allows the fans to track the events in the best way possible. From a sponsor and business perspective, it allows for great organic integration of our partners.
On AEG’s role in a changing sports landscape: Our role is to listen and provide solutions within our portfolio. Whether brands are specific to engagement, whether they are utilizing technology that they create, or utilizing technology of other to enhance the fan or customer experience, our job is to understand the changing objectives of the marketplace and find solutions within our portfolio. We have the edge because we have such a wide variety of assets in our portfolio so we can fit in front of any company and understand what they are trying to accomplish and find a match within our portfolio. There is also an increased association value. Brands now want to attach their brand to the brand of a music festival or a team or even a marketplace. That’s a little bit of going back to the old school thought process in this industry.
On the evolution of partnerships: We are taking a bit more risk in how we are going about making some of the decisions around a new venue, for example. We wanted to truly build that with our partners, for example in Las Vegas. Schneider Electric, Toshiba, Coca-Cola were part of that program before we even had a roof on the venue. They wanted to make sure that their products and services were going to be a part of that project even before day one. Our acceptance of that and putting our partners at the design table has increased over the last five years.
On leveraging data: We have a great sense of responsibility for the data that we hold. So we need to first make our decisions of how we utilize data with the fan’s perspective first, second it talent and third is our corporate partners. When you are looking to communicate with that data base through the corporate world, you want to make sure the message is true and sincere. We believe in what is being told to the fan and that it will enhance the experience. So we are selective but it is without a doubt a demand in the marketplace and it is only increasing. But it is, without a doubt, one of scenarios where I think at times that less is more and if you clutter that and infiltrate that fan’s mailbox or get in touch with them too often, it loses its relevancy. So we will certainly be responsible with how we communicate.
You can hear more about AEG’s strategy and how technology is changing sports when Nick Baker speaks at the Cynopsis Sports Business Summit on June 22. Get your tickets now by clicking here.
