Could athletes bypass broadcasters?

Production companies could be built entirely around a single athlete’s content in the future, believes SBX Studios co-founder Rowan Wilkinson. 

Wilkinson speaks on the latest episode of the Broadcast Sport Podcast, discussing the rise of athlete-focused content and what could be next for the growing area. You can listen to the full episode below. 

His company, SBX Studios, is part-owned by boxer Anthony Joshua and specialises in the area. It works with Joshua as well as other high profile sport stars, including Luke Littler, Billy Monger, Troy Deeney, and more, and grew out communications agency Soapbox, which Wilkinson also co-founded. Soapbox’s current stable of clients includes Target Darts, Luke Littler, Matchroom Boxing, Red Bull, Formula E, Ashley Young, Karen Carney, Billy Monger, Jamie Chadwick and Joshua. 

According to Wilkinson, while streamers and broadcasters will always be a part of the mix, athletes themselves could be the focus of audiences in the future. He said, “There’s no reason why you won’t see a high quality documentary on their YouTube channel, a social channel, or done with a brand rather than on a Netflix.

“I think people will essentially follow where the athlete goes if they’re a fan of the athlete rather than be particularly attached to any platform. That said I think it will remain in the mix. You can’t argue with what some of those streamers give in terms of audience and, at this point still, budgets and the ability to really shape culture in certain ways around certain moments.”

However, that doesn’t mean that athlete-focused content can’t go further than where it is currently. Wilkinson continued, “Clearly this move towards athletes setting up their own media companies and taking ownership is here to stay. It makes total sense. They’re bringing audiences so they should have an ownership stake in revenues driven from that.

“I think we’ll see more and more of that, and in 10 years you’ll probably see some incredibly successful media companies that are just built specifically around one athlete’s projects.”

You can listen to the full conversation with Wilkinson, as well as other episodes of the Broadcast Sport Podcast, below, where he also gives his advice on the best ways to create athlete-centric content, how to make sure it is truly authentic, and the challenges of working in the space.