The opening of the New Year brings the traditional harbinger of brighter things to come with the annual CES gathering in Las Vegas this week. Along with the innovations in cars, TVs, wearables and fitness tech, this year will also see Turner Sports entrench itself into hustle and bustle with the launch of a trio of events at the expo, serving up a quartet of panels at the new Sports Business Forum on Thursday, followed by an eSports Showcase teasing the upcoming launch of the eSports-driven ELeague as well as a live NBA on TNT broadcast in the afternoon.
The forum will include sessions ranging from a sit down with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred (moderated by Ernie Johnson), to topics that include “Updating the In-Venue Experience (with Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag, Qualcomm executive Chairman Paul Jacobs and moderator Dana Jacobson), “The Future of Sports Content” (with NextVR Executive Chairman Brad Allen, Verizon SVP Brian Angiolet, Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive, and Uninterrupted President Maverick Carter), as well as “Tech Investing in Sports” with speakers Shaquille O’Neal, Mark Cuban, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich and Joe Ravitch, Co-founder, The Raine Group.
Cynopsis Sports spoke with Turner Sports President Lenny Daniels about the investment in CES, as well as the company’s expectations for its eSports venture ELeague and what to look for in 2016.
Daniels on setting up a tentpole at CES: We will be there to present how we are at the forefront of being innovative in the media industry. How we have defined innovation in the past is far different than how we will define it moving forward. I really think that’s going to be the thing that people walk away with, the “wow” factor, thinking of sports in a much different way. It doesn’t mean we are alienating any sports fans, we are still going to do Inside the NBA and we are going to do it the best. But maybe we are going to do some content a little differently with these guys and maybe we are going to figure how to present eSports differently and showcase storylines and build characters. So I think it is a whole new generation of innovation.
On panels: We have a great lineup that begins with the Commissioners focused on what forward-thinking will look like. On the other side, topics will cover how you continue to build brands and build franchises and do it in an ecosystem that’s changing. You have to be able to take risks, but how much of a risk do you take. Where’s that line? In between, we are going to have people talking about different kinds of content and how they perceive creating content for that next generation because it will be very different from the kinds of content we grew up watching. Again you have to raw that line because you don’t want to alienate either side.
On eSports fans: This is going to be a great new space for us to explore. There are different versions of fans. When you talk about traditional sports, we all think we know what the traditional sports fan and how they operate and think. But when it comes to eSports, there is an underserved fan, there’s an overserved fan and then there is the purist. If we can connect all three of those in a way that keeps it authentic, but grows the sports and helps people understand it more, that’s really what is growing to grow the industry.
On sponsors’ approach to ELeague: It’s been positive. As with anything new, it is very much that they want to get involved but aren’t sure how to get involved. That’s one thing that we are finding that Turner can bring to the table that they didn’t have before. They trust us. If we say we are going to do this, the new we are going to do it in a way that doesn’t hurt their brands. I think that’s kind of where we are with them, they see the size and scale of the audience and now they are figuring out how to get their brand to interact with it.
On Turner Sports’ take on 2016: I’m looking forward to all these next-generation of thinking events that we are going to be taking part in. We’re going into a new NBA deal, which is not really far different from our previous deal but now we have a whole different way of thinking about how we grow together with the league. It’s the same thing with the NCAA, now we have to figure out how to move it to the next level. eSports is clearly something I want to watch and grow and I think how that whole ecosystem of how the athletes and economics come together will be very interesting. So I think there is a lot going on that’s going to be a lot of fun.
