Diversity Pays Off : Sports
I grew up with one sport’s channel : Super Sport! I was so happy and contend to have a 24/7 dedicated only to sports. On it, I could find anything from football to American football, Wimbledon and ANC. Friday nights, the channel will switch (I guess there was a partnership with Dstv) to broadcast ESPN’s Friday Night Fights. Amazing!
Occasionally on a French channel, I would get to watch sports news but not enough to quench my thirst. In my teenage years, Super Sport started to introduce Super Sport 1 then 2 and … I believe there is a SS7 last time I visited my home country in 2013. Nowadays, Multichoice Group (the parent company)just launched a dedicated channel for a sport. What a milestone!
My first move that I pulled when entering my hotel room in Ethiopia was to check the Dstv channels, I knew there was no disappointment ahead and I was right.
My first years in France were tough on many levels and watching sports or trying to watch certain sports was hectic. 2008 was a year where a French tennis man, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga reached the Australian Open. The French sport universe was on a high, there were French sports channels broadcasting the final. I struggled to find a channel broadcasting the women’s final. Back home, it would have been easier as I had a couple of sports channel to choose from. Fast forward 12 months, the women’s final with a win from Serena Williams — two consecutive finals and victories and same struggle to find a channel. Any game with Serena playing should be broadcasted, that’s all.
Nowadays when I think about the amount of technology available, I am blown away to see how little investment there is in women’s sports. I like numbers and they speak to me — with little if any broadcasting of a sport, be it rugby, cricket, football , there is always an assumption of a lack of interest from ‘potential’ viewers. I am not naive and I understand the need to make money through marketing but I also understand that with no incentives, nothing will change. The Women’s World Cup was a huge success — I am so glad I was able to be part of it and to have witness the change that occurred in the last 15 years in regards to the Pro female athletes. Still a long way to go but I appreciate the steps taken anyway.
With the Olympics coming next year, chances are that each country will take the time to showcase their athletes through their media. There is an opportunity to bring story telling to a whole new level — whether it is to show an athlete with little media coverage but a great athlete in her own right. I believe the beauty of sports is to know that some people have exceed expectations by working hard and working right — the story of a struggle is found in those competitors who do not have millions dollars of contracts. These athletes are more relatable and the story touches another cord in our hearts — compassion. It is beautiful to see people chasing their dreams and them sharing their struggles along the way.
What I believe will happen within the social media is the pride of one’s country displayed. Hashtags, people buying national jersey and a fervour that will bring communities together — it is the beauty of sports — here, I predict it to be wild.
2021 could be the last time Serena Williams will be stepping on the courts to compete; what will we do once she retire? Look for another one instead of investing in numerous athletes? I wonder what kind of media coverage she will get compared to Roger Federer when he will retire… possibly next year? For both, it is a God given opportunity to retire at 40 with potentially winning one or two slams to rewrite the history of tennis. GOATs.
My wish list for 2020/2021 is to see more women part of the boardrooms, owning sports team, being referees on international events, coaching teams -basically leading companies and showcasing their skills and values.
