With multiple deals being unveiled on a weekly basis, digital sports platform FloSports continues to make headlines by partnering with event rights holders, governing bodies, and other media companies. Current verticals under the FloSports umbrella include rugby, basketball, MMA, football, wrestling, track, gymnastics, hockey, and more with the company now streaming more than 10,000 live competitions per year. While wrapping up a historic 2018 and looking forward to 2019, Cynopsis Sports asked Mark Floreani, Co-Founder and Interim CEO, FloSports, about the road ahead.
Floreani on building success: I’m not sure there has been any one deal that has opened the proverbial floodgates for us, but rather the fact that we’re seeing rights holders recognize that FloSports has a differentiated product that fits their needs. We’re committed to growing the sports in our network with comprehensive coverage and marketing that adds value for rights holders and helps them reach their core audience and beyond. This approach resonates with our partners, whether it’s the PBA, USA Wrestling, Big Ten Network, USA Rugby or the FIVB. Also, we’ve been 100 percent digital from the beginning, so OTT isn’t new to us. It’s part of our DNA to use data to make informed decisions about the rights we pursue — and the content and marketing we invest into our sports — and ultimately it’s our partners who benefit from this.
On 2018 goals: This has been a tremendous growth year for FloSports, and we’ve achieved many of our goals relative to new partnerships, whether that is the acquisition of The Rugby Channel or our agreements with the Euroleague, FIVB, PBA, AAU, Nike EYBL, WCHA, UWW, Guinness PRO14 and others. By the end of 2018, we’ll have aired more than 10,000 competitions.
On audiences: When fans watch sports over-the-top, they want an interactive experience that caters to their specific viewing habits. The beauty of digital is that it unlocks the joy of consuming sports. We focus a lot of our resources on software such as FloArena (our online bracketing technology with live scoring updates), FloZone (a streaming channel that follows the best action occurring across multiple live events airing simultaneously), and concurrent streaming capabilities that give users the option to select which mat or court they want to watch.
On platforms: Our data allows us to make pretty accurate forecasts relative to the performance of each vertical in our network, so there haven’t been any major surprises. But what’s been encouraging is the growth of FloRugby, FloVolleyball, and FloBowling, which have seen substantial growth due in large part to major deals with The Rugby Channel, FIVB, and PBA, respectively. Also, our partnership with USA Wrestling allowed us to innovate around their world team trials format, leading to the creation of Final X, a multi-event qualifying format that drew huge crowds and was broadcast exclusively by FloWrestling.
On 2019: We’re in the midst of several interesting conversations with a variety of leagues, governing bodies, and other rights holders. So we expect next year to build off this year’s momentum in terms of more partnerships and more events live streamed across our network. Our mission is to grow the sports, the events, the athletes, and the fans, and a big part of that is the original storytelling we do to help contextualize the live events that we air. This will continue to be a big focus of ours and a major differentiator, and we plan to invest more into our brand in 2019. In terms of new verticals, we’re not prepared to make any announcements right now, but we’re constantly evaluating opportunities across many sports.
