‘Plan B’ options to avoid World Cup fiasco

We’ve seen lots of examples of live sports streaming going wrong over the past year, including Optus’ disastrous FIFA World Cup effort and CBS’s problems with the Super Bowl.

Just 220 days out from the 2019 Rugby World Cup, Spark is still playing its cards close to its chest regarding both the Spark Sport app it will use for matches and other sports coverage, and its “plan B” if its World Cup stream hits technical difficulties.

The telco says it has a fall-back plan. And Lord knows it would have to put its boss Simon Moutter in protective custody if it doesn’t — this is the ABs we’re talking about.

But it’s not ready to share it. Below are some of Spark’s options if it experiences problems during the cup (which former Spark partner Tim Martin says is inevitable), or if it loses its nerve ahead of the event and wants to cover its bets.

A Spark spokesman told the

Herald, last week, that: “The Spark Sport app will be the only way to watch every World Cup game.”

But that still leaves wiggle room for the “plan B” options listed below. And, of course, the telco could still change

Screen All Blacks’ games on TVNZ

One of the few things we know about Spark’s World Cup plans is that its free-to-air partner, TVNZ, will screen seven games, including the opening match and the final. The state broadcaster will offer delayed coverage of “selected” other games.

All going well, the All Blacks will play seven games — four pool matches, a quarter-final, a semi, then the final or third-place play-off.

So TVNZ is in a position to match Sky’s approach in 2015, when it screened every All Blacks game free via Prime.

TVNZ screening every All Blacks game live, or at least the semi and finals live, would limit the Spark’s exposure to a PR disaster. A streaming blunder during the All Blacks’ pool game against South Africa would see Spark shareholders get the willies, and heat from the Beehive, among other sources. The pressure would be on to broadcast everything via TVNZ.

TVNZ and Spark could potentially share ad revenue from All Blacks games, and Spark has pledged “TVNZ won’t break to ads in live game time”.

And Spark’s Moutter has said his company plans to make the vast majority of its World Cup revenue by selling Spark Sport app subscriptions.

TVNZ is building pay-per-view capability into its on-demand service but that option would face the same capacity crush as the Spark Sport app and, similarly, is fast running out of time for adequate user-testing ahead of September’s kick-off.

Partner with Sky

If Spark wants to ease the load on its app, or offer an option for those not within reach of ultrafast broadband while still generating subscription revenue, it could partner with Sky TV instead of TVNZ.

The opening game and finals could be on Sky’s free-to-air Prime, with other games on Sky’s paid channels or Fanpass app.

Spark and Sky have, of course, emerged as sparring partners in sports rights as the telco builds a stable of content. But the pair have also co-operated to a degree behind the scenes. A case in point — the wholesale pact that allows Spark to offer Sky TV’s Fanpass app to its customers for just $30 a month, a $26 discount on Fanpass’ per-month pricing for those who sign on for six months, and a whopping $70 off Fanpass’ casual monthly pricing.

All games on TVNZ in some areas

TVNZ can broadcast different content to different regions as it used to do for news and still does for geo- targeted advertising campaigns.

But this is a broad-strokes solution that doesn’t neatly match the pockets of the country that still lack ultrafast broadband.

It’s also possible a glitch could hit everybody who uses a certain brand of smart TV, or everyone around the country who uses a certain ISP that sees its backhaul swamped.

Or that Spark gets hit by a blizzard of phone calls from a certain area after a game kicks off with people struggling with the technology.

What’s the plan for rural?

In April 2018, when Spark revealed it had won Rugby World Cup 2019 rights, the telco said in a statement: “The vast majority of New Zealanders can and do already access streaming services very effectively and that number continues to grow with UFB and RBI programmes roll-outs continuing. However, we are very mindful that in late 2019, some people may still not have adequate coverage to stream the matches at home.

“We want to do our best to give as many New Zealanders as possible to watch — so we are looking at a range of options. We’re not able to give any details right now.”

As I write, it’s still not able to give details. It will need to soon, if it’s to have any shot of a seamless stream and avoid the ultimate fall-back of shovelling everything on to TVNZ.

As things stand, no safety net

For his part, Moutter is fond of pointing out examples of where streaming has worked for a mass audience, including the 4.3 million people in the UK who watched England’s FIFA World Cup match against Croatia last year. But that situation wasn’t a watch-the-stream or bust situation. Most watched via a regular telly, with BBC coverage an option for those whose broadband failed. As things stand, Spark will be flying without a safety net, at least for some games.