tdgeek:
Jaxson:
. I'd pay $20 a month for F1 coverage, if I could dial in and watch a live stream for example. Fanpass has shown that the infrastructure now exists for this to be viable. It's just priced beyond my reach now, but only because I have to pay Sky's overheads. If I could dial into the F1 show directly, then it wouldn't have to cost as much as what Sky's selling it for. Maybe this will change moving forward, but it's nothing to do with Sky really. As long as there are sole distributor rights on offer, their business model will be sustainable as there's simply no where else to go here.
Good example. Im into F1 too. Sky will have paid good money for it, its a premium sport. But its also a niche sport. Say its $300 for a season. Two or three other sports are also $300 for a season or more. Pushing a grand. If they sold it as bits and pieces, there wont really be that many buying $300 subs, or a bit here and there on a per race basis. But if its bundled with many sports, its a more expensive option, but not bad value if you also like AC, Rugger, league, V8 Supercars etc. Or some.
$20/month is $200 for a season (or $10/race). What are the rights worth in NZ? More or less than EPL? Is it more or less popular - for people to want to pay for it. Gross it up and work out the required revenue to make it a profitable model. Do you need 20,000 subscribers, 50,000 subscribers, 100,000 subscribers? And what are the chances of earning a profit on it?
If you think there is a market then dust off your chequebook and approach your bank manager. If you think you have a viable business then get amongst it - the world is your oyster. Smarter, richer people have tried in other areas - and with partners that have (supposedly) deep pockets. Ask yourself if your pair is bigger than theirs.