UP267 Stop saying OTT

The acronym OTT has become ubiquitous in recent years, but what does it really mean, and what are the implications of the decisions being made today by sports organisations big and small.  

OTT stands for “Over The Top” and refers to the way a streaming service delivers content over the internet. The service is delivered “over the top” of another platform. The term has become ubiquitous across the sports business in recent years, talking to the options now available to fans, beyond the traditional cable TV subscription. OTT comes with a set of questions, about the ability of individual sports federations, governing bodies, leagues and teams to go direct to their customer, mirroring services such as Netflix, Spotify or Disney+.  

It’s an appealing idea, enabling sports bodies to capture first party customer data, build competitive tension in the rights market and ultimately, hopefully, make more money. 

But, as we hear from our guests Mike Emery and Murray Barnett, there’s no one size fits all solution and often a gulf between the idea of ‘going OTT’ and the reality. 

Mike is CEO and Founder of Joymo.tv, a streaming platform that makes it easy for any sport club, federation, league and event, anywhere in the world, to broadcast their valuable content to fans across the globe. 

In addition to being a regular panellist on The Bundle, the Unofficial Partner series on the sports media market, Murray Barnett is Director of D2C Sport, specialists in direct to consumer media, and Founder of 26West Sport, a sports commercial advisory consultancy.

This podcast is sponsored by Leaders Week London which returns this at the slightly earlier than usual date of 26th to 29th September 2022. Over 70% of LW LDN attendees are at Director level or above. From the Premier League to WWE, BT Sport to DP World Tour, they’ll all be there this September. In addition to the talks going on across three stages, there’s networking breakfasts, forums (like the Brand and Sponsorship Forum), think tanks (the Broadcast Disruptors Think Tank for example), tech showcases on the exhibition floor and the list goes on – you can tailor your Leaders Week London experience to best suit you.

The two day Summit, part of Leaders Week, will be held at Twickenham Stadium on 28th and 29th September. Even better, you can use UP15 for a 15% discount on your Summit passes. Visit

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