Big Content/Social Media News

[The 4 of Us]

18 hours ago, Dave T said:

…. it'd be good if it was just simplified bullets of what this really means. 

• It’s about rugby league marketing.

• It’s dead good for the game.

[Lowdesert]

18 hours ago, Dave T said:

It's an overly wordy press release tbh, but I'm sure there are some good things there.

Outside of the boring jargon stuff, its interesting to see this mention streaming up to 6 games per week. Is this partnership what will lead to the RLc's own streaming platform? 

There does appear to be a lot of repetition and jargon, it'd be good if it was just simplified bullets of what this really means. 

Last sentence is spot on.  I’ve never understood why simplicity can’t be seen as positive.

[Chrispmartha]

41 minutes ago, The 4 of Us said:

• It’s about rugby league marketing.

• It’s dead good for the game.

• Something we've needed for a long time.

 

There seems to be a few strands to it, but the one part I think is really good is that clubs and SL can quickly and hopefully easily get action snippets out on Social Media, currently clubs just put out scorers and static graphics, or if there is a clip it's looks like its been shot on a handy cam from the 90s. Giving the clubs marketing departments access to already cut clips in proper broadcast quality to use over Social Media is a game changer I feel for the visibility of the sport. Rugby League as a sport is a highlights package dream, there is a lots happen in most games, even the dud ones.

 

[fighting irish]

2 hours ago, Chrispmartha said:

• Something we've needed for a long time.

 

There seems to be a few strands to it, but the one part I think is really good is that clubs and SL can quickly and hopefully easily get action snippets out on Social Media, currently clubs just put out scorers and static graphics, or if there is a clip it's looks like its been shot on a handy cam from the 90s. Giving the clubs marketing departments access to already cut clips in proper broadcast quality to use over Social Media is a game changer I feel for the visibility of the sport. Rugby League as a sport is a highlights package dream, there is a lots happen in most games, even the dud ones.

 

I don't really understand the potential of all this, nor the mechanism for getting it all ''out there'' but I'm starting to feel excited about a new wave. 

[Dave T]

3 hours ago, The 4 of Us said:

• It’s about rugby league marketing.

• It’s dead good for the game.

Perfect

[Chrispmartha]

48 minutes ago, fighting irish said:

I don't really understand the potential of all this, nor the mechanism for getting it all ''out there'' but I'm starting to feel excited about a new wave. 

It will be like an online hub where clubs and the RFL can quickly get social media assets such as clips of action during the games to post out on Social Media. 
 

it will increase exposure and also could get people to tine in to the game, I know ive done this when I didn’t realise a game was on (NRL and football)

Edited January 11 by Chrispmartha

[Eddie]

23 hours ago, gingerjon said:

So, just to confirm, we have the game having its highest visibility on mainstream FTA in decades, a credible deal with Sky, and all this?

Looks awful. IMG are making mugs of us.

I haven’t been on the forum much recently and haven’t been following sports news much either, is there a FTA deal sorted for this season now? Last I heard (I think) it wasn’t clear if C4 would be televising games, though that’s a couple of months ago. 

[gingerjon]

9 minutes ago, Eddie said:

I haven’t been on the forum much recently and haven’t been following sports news much either, is there a FTA deal sorted for this season now? Last I heard (I think) it wasn’t clear if C4 would be televising games, though that’s a couple of months ago. 

BBC showing 12-14 games on Saturday evening BBC2 plus World Club Challenge plus existing Challenge Cup games.

It's on the television specific thread. Not confirmed 100% but leaked via normally reliable types.

[Tommygilf]

So much of IMG's work with RL is just modernising how we do things. Its a shame because at one stage 20/25 years ago we were cutting edge but that has faded badly. Indeed, the fact that at some professional clubs the reaction to this sort of partnership will be "what's that" or "huh", demonstrates this. Its basics that allows a competition to get to the levels needed in the modern age. Thousands of people saw Patrick Bamford's volley in a game that wasn't televised in the UK within minutes of it happening on Social media from clips of the official TV broadcast being available for content. That is the thing that is being unlocked here.

Things like this will help massively in enabling clubs who want to invest in this area to do so effectively. Social Media teams, not just individuals, should start to be formed in the top RL clubs. 

[Lowdesert]

1 hour ago, Tommygilf said:

So much of IMG's work with RL is just modernising how we do things. Its a shame because at one stage 20/25 years ago we were cutting edge but that has faded badly. Indeed, the fact that at some professional clubs the reaction to this sort of partnership will be "what's that" or "huh", demonstrates this. Its basics that allows a competition to get to the levels needed in the modern age. Thousands of people saw Patrick Bamford's volley in a game that wasn't televised in the UK within minutes of it happening on Social media from clips of the official TV broadcast being available for content. That is the thing that is being unlocked here.

Things like this will help massively in enabling clubs who want to invest in this area to do so effectively. Social Media teams, not just individuals, should start to be formed in the top RL clubs. 

The NRL were publishing videos minutes after tries were scored in the recent England internationals.  
Their websites, per club, are organised and of similar structure.

Im chuffed that these things are getting done but the templates have been there for years.  Clubs should have sorted this out themselves.

[Chrispmartha]

16 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

The NRL were publishing videos minutes after tries were scored in the recent England internationals.  
Their websites, per club, are organised and of similar structure.

Im chuffed that these things are getting done but the templates have been there for years.  Clubs should have sorted this out themselves.

The clubs haven’t had access to broadcast quality footage for all games until next season, don’t get me wrong most of the clubs have been poor at marketing which is why IMG has been needed.

[tiffers]

1 hour ago, Tommygilf said:

So much of IMG's work with RL is just modernising how we do things. Its a shame because at one stage 20/25 years ago we were cutting edge but that has faded badly. Indeed, the fact that at some professional clubs the reaction to this sort of partnership will be "what's that" or "huh", demonstrates this. Its basics that allows a competition to get to the levels needed in the modern age. Thousands of people saw Patrick Bamford's volley in a game that wasn't televised in the UK within minutes of it happening on Social media from clips of the official TV broadcast being available for content. That is the thing that is being unlocked here.

Things like this will help massively in enabling clubs who want to invest in this area to do so effectively. Social Media teams, not just individuals, should start to be formed in the top RL clubs. 

Bang on the money Tommy.

It's critical we work traditional media and social media channels as hard as poss with this. It will be really interesting to see who takes advantage of it. You'd imagine Sky sports will as it's bread and butter for them.

Will the BBC get rights to this... Time will tell but it really would be a massive plus if we can get short form video content on their website.

The clubs will have high quality content easily available to them and it will be very interesting to see who is willing to invest in it, as it will need them to put skin in the game to make the most out of it. You'd imagine the clubs who already have decent social teams will be all over it.

[Dave T]

3 hours ago, Lowdesert said:

The NRL were publishing videos minutes after tries were scored in the recent England internationals.  
Their websites, per club, are organised and of similar structure.

Im chuffed that these things are getting done but the templates have been there for years.  Clubs should have sorted this out themselves.

 

2 hours ago, Chrispmartha said:

The clubs haven’t had access to broadcast quality footage for all games until next season, don’t get me wrong most of the clubs have been poor at marketing which is why IMG has been needed.

I do think there is added complexity around what media deals allow. I'm working off memory here, but during a live Premier League game, I don't think clubs show the goals instantly, it's the broadcast rights owners who often do. 

We do appear to have taken a lot more control of our rights with this latest deal. 

[Lowdesert]

8 hours ago, Dave T said:

 

I do think there is added complexity around what media deals allow. I'm working off memory here, but during a live Premier League game, I don't think clubs show the goals instantly, it's the broadcast rights owners who often do. 

We do appear to have taken a lot more control of our rights with this latest deal. 

I agree. It could have been done a long time ago by the clubs though.  They are paying consultants fees for some things they could have done themselves anyway.

 

 

[gingerjon]

9 hours ago, Dave T said:

but during a live Premier League game, I don't think clubs show the goals instantly, it's the broadcast rights owners who often do

And there are a lot of digital rights holders. It's quite possible to see the same clip from 4-5 legitimate UK sources. So it's slightly different in terms of who has control.

[Damien]

32 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

I agree. It could have been done a long time ago by the clubs though.  They are paying consultants fees for some things they could have done themselves anyway.

While that's a fine principle it is never that simple in practice. I seriously doubt any club or indeed the governing body has the expertise, that has been quite apparent for years. I doubt most even know what they are missing or lacking, something like this is probably a prime example.

In theory we can do anything ourselves. I could have a decent stab at installing a shower and tiling my bathroom but it doesn't mean I'm not going to make a balls of it and it be any better than what I had before. Experts exist in their fields for a reason.

[Dave T]

28 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

And there are a lot of digital rights holders. It's quite possible to see the same clip from 4-5 legitimate UK sources. So it's slightly different in terms of who has control.

Yeah, it's been quite rare for us to get clips across a range of channels/providers, hopefully that will change.

[Dave T]

43 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

I agree. It could have been done a long time ago by the clubs though.  They are paying consultants fees for some things they could have done themselves anyway.

 

 

They have been doing it themselves though. They all have social media that shows video clips, shares photos and content. That doesn;t mean it can't be done better.

Technically I could build my own house, but paying experts to do it is more sensible.

[Dave T]

7 minutes ago, Damien said:

While that's a fine principle it is never that simple in practice. I seriously doubt any club or indeed the governing body has the expertise, that has been quite apparent for years. I doubt most even know what they are missing or lacking, something like this is probably a prime example.

In theory we can do anything ourselves. I could have a decent stab at installing a shower and tiling my bathroom but it doesn't mean I'm not going to make a balls of it and it be any better than what I had before. Experts exist in their fields for a reason.

spot on, and beat me to it.

[redjonn]

9 minutes ago, Damien said:

While that's a fine principle it is never that simple in practice. I seriously doubt any club or indeed the governing body has the expertise, that has been quite apparent for years. I doubt most even know what they are missing or lacking, something like this is probably a prime example.

In theory we can do anything ourselves. I could have a decent stab at installing a shower and tiling my bathroom but it doesn't mean I'm not going to make a balls of it and it be any better than what I had before. Experts exist in their fields for a reason.

yep agree but to my mind thats what a good CEO identifies and builds the appropriate organisation and skill sets. Of course within the means of financial and priorities and whether best in house or out sourced.

Edited January 12 by redjonn

[Dave W]

 

32 minutes ago, Dave T said:

They have been doing it themselves though. They all have social media that shows video clips, shares photos and content. That doesn;t mean it can't be done better.

Technically I could build my own house, but paying experts to do it is more sensible.

^ This. Personally, I'd like to see better quality control/messaging through clubs' social media feeds. 

There's too much public venting of grievances on Xitter by chairmen and too much off-the-cuff stuff from slightly over-passionate volunteers at the moment and it can be embarrassing at times.

Personal opinions should not be put out there under a club's name.

Edited January 12 by Dave W

[Damien]

3 minutes ago, redjonn said:

yep agree but to my mind thats what a good CEO identifies and builds the appropriate organisation and skill sets. Of course within the means of financial and priorities and whether best in house or out sourced.

I think that is where IMG come in handy. They have that expertise, connections and playbooks to follow, all in one place. People may moan about the cost, as they did on the IMG thread about fees a couple of months ago, but that is pretty good value over 12 clubs and an entire sports brand. Its certainly far better value and more efficient than everyone trying to do this individually, especially for a sport like RL that has limited means.

[redjonn]

1 minute ago, Damien said:

I think that is where IMG come in handy. They have that expertise, connections and playbooks to follow, all in one place. People may moan about the cost, as they did on the IMG thread about fees a couple of months ago, but that is pretty good value over 12 clubs and an entire sports brand. Its certainly far better value and more efficient than everyone trying to do this individually, especially for a sport like RL that has limited means.

Yep agree. 

No doubts its a key benefit of having IMG involved, that doesn't distract from their spreadsheet exercise though in my mind.   Never-the-less hats off to them...

[whatmichaelsays]

14 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

So much of IMG's work with RL is just modernising how we do things. Its a shame because at one stage 20/25 years ago we were cutting edge but that has faded badly. Indeed, the fact that at some professional clubs the reaction to this sort of partnership will be "what's that" or "huh", demonstrates this. Its basics that allows a competition to get to the levels needed in the modern age. Thousands of people saw Patrick Bamford's volley in a game that wasn't televised in the UK within minutes of it happening on Social media from clips of the official TV broadcast being available for content. That is the thing that is being unlocked here.

Things like this will help massively in enabling clubs who want to invest in this area to do so effectively. Social Media teams, not just individuals, should start to be formed in the top RL clubs. 

Completely, and this is how the sport unlocks new audiences and grows its reach, without the need to squabble about where teams should be and all that other stuff - the content speaks for itself, and now the sport has the rights and the tools to use it. 

It allows SL to do much more with its rights. This case study is a good example of how the NBA solved a problem that is in many ways similar to the ones that RL faces, with a media budget that isn't exactly huge, and RL now has the means to do something similar.

 

[Chrispmartha]

59 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

I agree. It could have been done a long time ago by the clubs though.  They are paying consultants fees for some things they could have done themselves anyway.

 

 

The clubs are not experts in digital marketing and also have very limited budgets to employ staff that are.

I'm not sure why paying people who are experts in a certain field to do a job is seen as a bad thing.

A real world example, we have recently completed a rebrand for a fairly large company, who did have a small marketing department, they thought they could do the rebrand themselves, it took them 2 years to realise that they weren't able to do it correctly so brought us in, it's often total false economy to try do things in house, how many hours of wasted time in that 2 years for them to try it themselves, I will guarantee it will have cost them far more than it eventually did for us to do it for them properly.