A huge shift is already happening in sports programming and live-event programming. AppleTV and ESPN+ have shown that people will tune into live sporting events on a streamer, which ends up negating the importance of traditional TV rights for a lot of events. It’s going to come to a head in the next few years, as various TV rights contracts come up for renewal. Even ESPN is scared – how can they compete with the deep pockets of Netflix or Hulu or AppleTV? This fascinates me, although I know it’s not the most celeb-gossip thing to discuss. But I have a point – the Mail has a big story about how Prince Harry has put a TV executive in charge of the Invictus Games in Vancouver and Whistler in 2025. The Mail claims that Harry and the Invictus team might want the games to get live coverage on a streamer. And I think that would be amazing?
Prince Harry has made a TV exec the new CEO of his first winter Invictus Games amid claims the appointment helps them push for a big new broadcast deal, MailOnline can reveal today. Scott Moore is replacing the Duke of Sussex’s friend and former aide Nick Booth, who took over on a temporary basis last year amid chaos at the top when two bosses were abruptly sacked in the Autumn.
New Invictus 2025 CEO Scott Moore has a reputation for doing big sports TV deals and overseeing coverage of numerous Olympic and Paralympic Games, the FIFA World Cup and the Commonwealth Games while a boss at CBC, Canada’s public broadcaster.
Experts have said that his appointment is a big hint that Harry and Meghan will be using their ‘star power’ and his links to win a big broadcast deal for Invictus 2025, which will feature winter sports for the first time – probably with Netflix getting first refusal. Invictus Dusseldorf last September had its ceremonies and sports streamed via its website. The BBC also showed events via the red button and iPlayer but it was not shown widely on German TV.
Brand and culture expert Nick Ede told MailOnline: ‘Harry’s latest move with the hiring of Scott Moore shows that he is one step closer to launching the Games with a big TV deal. We have seen lately how Amazon, Netflix and now Disney have secured the rights to big sporting event TV and they know that there is money and also subscriptions up for grabs with the right sports. Now that the Invictus Games has expended to hosting a winter event too its beginning to shadow both the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games and can become a major television event with the likes of Scott behind it.’
‘Harry and Meghan have the star power to drive the games and as we know its Harrys sweet spot and something he is clearly passionate about. The documentary he made for Netflix wasn’t the hit hoped for but it did do what it needed to do and inform and educate people about the games, their purpose and their importance too’.
But if Harry is pushing for a more global audience, and wider coverage in North America, Netflix will be at the front of the queue with Disney also expected to bid and the couple will hope the new CEO’s influence could help them after their Invictus documentary was considered a flop.
While it’s true that Heart of Invictus wasn’t a huge streaming hit, I loved that docuseries and it was amazing to see all of the incredible work that goes into the planning of the games and the preparation for individual competitors and teams. I highly recommend the series – the story of Team Denmark was especially moving, as was Ukraine’s Yuliia Paievska, aka “Tayra.” I loved the British wheelchair rugby team, they were amazing! And everyone else, honestly. As I watched the series, I even thought “they should do Olympic-style packages for the veterans as the games air on television.” Is that the goal? To get Olympic-style coverage on a streamer, with real money being put into profiling competitors and teams? I hope so!
Photos courtesy of Netflix, Cover Images.