Sky Media opens live Premier League matches to programmatic buying for the first time
Illustration by Robyn Phelps / Shutterstock / The Current
Sky Media is enabling real time, biddable programmatic buying for live sports — starting with one of the most prized assets in British media: The Premier League.
It’s the world’s most famous domestic soccer, er, football league.
Sky Media says the move marks the first time advertisers can buy some live Premier League matches programmatically, offering premium, flexible reach across a highly coveted media property.
In fact, this is the first time Sky has enabled real-time bidding across any of its long-form inventory, according to Dan Cohen, director of transformation and strategic programmes at Sky Media. “We're leaning in because we know it's something that the industry wants.”
The roll out builds on Sky Media’s programmatic guaranteed offering by enabling private marketplace (PMP) programmatic buying exclusively via The Trade Desk.
Cohen notes that not all games will be available to buy programmatically for “commercial reasons,” but this remains a landmark step as Sky makes premium sports more accessible and simpler to buy for brands.
The details
Advertisers will be able to target live and on-demand sports content across Sky Go and NOW, Sky’s streaming services for its pay-TV subscribers and streaming-only audiences respectively, as well as TNT Sports.
Sky Media — Comcast-owned Sky’s ad sales division — also handles media sales for Warner Bros. Discovery’s TNT Sports.
“As our programmatic guaranteed offering has grown, there have been questions coming in to say, how can we better access live sport and do biddable activity?” says Cohen.
And it’s not just the Premier League: the UEFA Champions League, women’s soccer in the U.K., Formula 1, golf and cricket will also be available via real-time programmatic buying.
“It opens things up to lots of different brands who might want different types of audiences,” says Cohen.
“[Live sports] also grab attention in the moment, as opposed to the fragmented world where lots of people might be watching the same program, but we all might be on different episodes,” he adds.
The context
The news follows a trend of British broadcasters, like 5, revamping their ad tech capabilities as they jostle for ad budgets with American streaming giants.
Sky Sports is currently tied with the BBC as the most-used platform for live sports in the U.K. When combined with NOW and TNT Sports, Sky becomes the clear market leader.
The move reflects a growing demand among advertisers for live sports inventory. The shift of live sports to streaming platforms is also drawing more diverse audiences, amid growing sports viewership.
The Premier League drew a record 16.3 million viewers for Sky last year, up 4% from the previous year. Football was the most watched sport, followed by cricket.
“Nothing grabs emotions like live sport,” says Cohen. “That emotion is quite a hard thing to achieve through any other types of content,” he adds.
What’s next
Sky Media’s Premier League offering is set to grow by 70 to 90 matches next year, says Cohen, as the league’s new rights deal kicks in.
Programmatic buying on Sky’s drama, comedy, and entertainment content is planned, too, though no timeline has been shared.
Brands will also benefit from the built-in brand safety that premium streaming TV offers, says Cohen. “We want brands to be in a quality environment. That way you can guarantee that you're getting the best possible impact from advertising,”
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