The Evolution of Fandom - Episode 3: The rise of in-venue streaming 

Hi, I’m Kyle Eichman, sports market director here at Comcast Technology Solutions. Welcome back to “The Evolution of Fandom.” Today, we’re discussing how fan expectations are changing and why younger audiences expect content to find them, not the other way around. Joining me today is Greg Bobolo, CEO of SEVN, to talk about content discovery, personalized experiences, and what sports organizations can learn from today’s evolving media landscape. Greg, thanks for joining me. Let’s start with a quick intro and a little bit about SEVN and what you all do.

Fantastic. First off, Kyle, thank you so much for having me on today, and congratulations on the success of your podcast. SEVN stands for Sports and Entertainment Video Network, and we’re building infrastructure for the next generation of media distribution. We’re doing that through a messaging-powered media network for live sports and entertainment, with direct-to-fan video infrastructure built specifically for live events. It enables teams, leagues, artists, and brands to deliver highlights and real-time content instantly through direct messaging. The platform turns live moments into interactive, measurable fan engagement opportunities while capturing valuable first- and zero-party data.

Great description. Obviously, I love the platform, which is why we’re chatting today. I’ll jump right in with a question that is probably on everyone’s mind right out of the gate. When you look at SEVN, what is the main problem you’re trying to solve for teams, leagues, associations, and other entities in sports?

Historically, I’ve always followed consumption trends. I started in the short-form video world almost two decades ago, in the early days of internet video. It was clunky and chaotic then—multiple players, inconsistent playback, and a lot of friction. We began distributing short-form video content online, then brought that into sports by helping teams and leagues put official highlights on dot-coms around the world. That became a massive video network, but the question back then was whether video would become a meaningful part of the internet. Today, that seems obvious, but at the time it was a real conversation.
 

Then came social media. There was a notion that younger fans weren’t consuming as much sports content as older fans, but I disagreed. They were consuming as much, if not more, just across core and emerging social platforms. That required new forms of distribution to reach fans where they already were.

Now, at SEVN, we see a future built around instant reward. Younger fans expect content to come to them. They do not want to search for it. They expect immediacy, and their attention spans are very short. In a world shaped by artificial intelligence and rapidly changing media habits, teams and leagues need infrastructure that helps them build direct relationships with fans and deliver video content in a lightweight, low-friction way. The moment itself has increasingly become the product, and our goal is to get that product into fans’ hands as quickly as possible.

That’s great. Let’s keep talking about the fan, because everything here is fandom-related—fan engagement and the overall experience. We’ll dig deeper into the tech later, but one thing you said stood out: fans under 40 expect content to come to them. Can you talk about the trends you’re seeing within fandom, especially among younger audiences, and how SEVN fits into that ecosystem for teams and leagues? I also love the idea of everything being seamless, frictionless, and intuitive. At a previous organization, if fan-facing technology didn’t meet those three standards, we wouldn’t even consider it. So talk to me about what you’re seeing with younger fans and how SEVN fits that need.

To your point, roughly 65% of the world’s population is under 40, so it is a logical place to focus. I also find it interesting that many sports executives making decisions about how fans consume content are older than that generation and may not fully understand those behaviors. There can be a disconnect.
 

Nearly everyone entering a stadium has a phone, and they are using it in some way. Most people have 80 to 90 apps on their phone, but they use fewer than five regularly. One of the most-used apps is messaging. We believe the future of fan consumption, especially within that demographic, will live inside messaging applications.

When we work with teams and leagues, we enable those channels in a way that solves multiple problems. Take in-stadium content, for example. There has been significant evolution in hardware—larger screens, better infrastructure, bigger jumbotrons—but when has content itself truly evolved? When has the fan had agency over how they consume that content? I’ve heard people call us the “jumbotron in your pocket,” and I love that because fans should be able to access content when they want it, in the way they already consume it.

That’s great.

Exactly. If you and I go to a game, we’re going to be talking, catching up, checking our phones, getting food or drinks, and probably missing moments that happen during the game. Or we might see something and want to watch it again. Is it going to be on the big screen? Maybe. Even if it is, it’s fleeting.

I see fans holding up their phones until their arms get sore, trying to capture moments so they can share them. But most of us are not great videographers. Getting high-quality content directly to a fan at the moment it happens and enabling them to share it with friends creates a lot of value. It also captures first- and zero-party data, which is the oil of the future state of the sports industry.

If a fan is watching live video content in-stadium, that is video inventory. It is live. It captures data. It is measurable. From a sponsorship and advertising perspective, that combination is close to the holy grail.

Exactly.

We generate meaningful new inventory and revenue for the teams we work with, but ultimately this is about creating a better fan experience. Sports needs technology that improves the way fans engage. I think we’ll see more companies enabling these experiences for teams, leagues, and fans.

When you look at the future of media—Hollywood, television, music, and sports—sports is the last one standing with that live human element. With that durability, I think technology will make the overall experience stronger and better, no matter where someone’s fandom lies.

I love the idea that innovation within a venue hasn’t really moved beyond hardware. New point-of-sale systems, bigger ribbon boards, better jumbotrons—those are all upgrades to existing technology. But not many people step back and ask how to make the fan experience truly different.

I had a conversation recently where I was walking someone through your product, especially the in-venue and sponsorship components. They stopped me and said, “I can’t believe this hasn’t already existed.” They had also been involved in stadium builds and said there were serious conversations about whether a venue even needed a jumbotron, because fans are already watching and consuming content on their phones.

That ties directly to what you said. If you and I are in the stadium and we miss a goal, a final shot, a touchdown, or a field goal, there has not been an easy way for fans to instantly go back and see that moment. SEVN gives them that tool. So walk me through how SEVN integrates into the fan experience in the building. What does the fan journey look like with the platform?

First, I’ll say there have been efforts to give fans access to moments through team apps and similar channels. Team apps are valuable, but they are a different environment from real-time moments. Team app usage during a game is generally under 10%, and push notification conversion is often around 1% to 2%. That is not the environment we felt was best suited for this use case.

SEVN integrates into applications that do not require friction. There is no app download required. A video moment or highlight comes directly to the fan through a messaging application. By comparison, messages through WhatsApp or text can see conversion rates in the 95% to 98% range, which is dramatically different.

Once fans are in that environment, the experience feels similar to social platforms. We move them quickly from the moment happening to the value of watching it. They can scroll through and consume other moments they may have missed or simply want to see again. Passion drives a huge amount of consumption. Once fans enter an environment tied to their team and their love of the sport, they consume a surprising amount of content.

One senior sports executive once compared it to a cup holder. Once it exists, you wonder where you put your drink before. I think fans will eventually look back and ask how they ever experienced games without easy access to these moments.

I’ve used it a few times in conversations. I’m not sure whether it always lands, but the point is that some solutions feel obvious once they exist. We hear that reaction often: “Why doesn’t this already exist?” Sometimes it is almost said with concern, as if there must be a reason someone has not built it before.

Exactly. Sports is content, and content is your number one asset. It is something teams should hold close rather than simply renting it out to third-party platforms. What SEVN offers gives teams more control over in-arena content.

If a fan captures a moment on their phone and posts it to social, the quality may not be great, and it may not represent the brand well. With SEVN, the fan can share broadcast-grade highlights and content across those rented platforms. That elevates the brand, gets better content into the world, feeds passion, and gives fans more reasons to be there. It touches almost every key thing teams should focus on in-venue: fan experience, content distribution, sponsorship, and data. You’re a cup holder, a jumbotron in the pocket, and maybe even a Swiss Army knife.

I love the Swiss Army knife analogy, aside from the fact that I only ever used the knife and maybe the scissors. But on the videographer point—brand protection and brand control are huge. Anytime you watch a playoff game or any meaningful sporting event, fans are capturing moments and sharing them socially. That is a missed opportunity for teams and leagues that are content creators and brand marketers.

Giving fans access to high-quality video content and enabling them to share it means the team can understand who is sharing it and where that content is traveling. You are moving back toward the social platforms while building a robust first-party fan database. That can reduce ad spend over time because spending on social is only going to keep increasing. Teams need to build owned audiences.

This creates valuable in-stadium inventory and new inventory across social platforms that teams did not have before. You will not capture every fan in the stadium, but you will capture many fans you did not previously know. Digital ticketing improved that, but teams still do not always know exactly who is in the seat. SEVN helps with that. If I’m running a team and want to protect my brand, improve the fan experience, build first-party data, and create more meaningful inventory, these are all key components.

I’m going to highlight another piece that I think is really important. At Comcast, we talk about unknown fans, and we call them ghost fans.

I love that.

What I like about your platform is that if you have been around leagues and sports long enough, you know the old metric was something like 2.3 seats per account in the NBA. By default, you only knew one out of every 2.3 people in the building. Teams are always trying to figure out who is actually in their building.

With something frictionless that fans want, you can increase the number of known fans in the venue. Who walks into a building, sees marketing collateral or an engagement QR code, and says, “I don’t want in-game highlights or streaming video”? That is likely one of the first places they will go. You are building the database, strengthening first-party data, and giving fans something they want.

That brings me to another piece teams gravitate toward: monetizing content and driving sponsorship. Talk about how SEVN becomes a sponsorable asset and what it opens up for teams using the platform.

The inventory itself is close to the holy grail: live video content, first-party data capture, and trackable social sharing at scale to highly desirable in-arena fan bases. We have roughly 34 or 35 components that make up our sponsorship and advertising inventory, ranging from video, interstitials, pre-rolls, mid-rolls, and end-rolls to packages where a brand can own the entire experience.

Once fans are consuming video content, the experience can be fully wrapped with a brand, or it can be lighter, such as a simple “brought to you by.” It is built for short-form consumption. We do not want to overrun the fan or abuse the relationship. The value exchange matters. Brands need to deliver their message, but fans should not be forced through long, ad-heavy breaks. We study data and ad performance, including short three- to five-second units, and there is good evidence that shorter ads pair well with short-form video content. The trade-off has to feel fair for everyone involved.

Right. Playing off that, North America hosted the world’s largest soccer event this summer. I want everyone listening to put on their business hat for a minute and think about the opportunity if a platform like SEVN had been installed in stadiums across North America during that three- or four-week window. With the passion of that fan base and the opportunity for sponsorable assets, it could have propelled brands forward and made the event even better for fans. There was a lot of money spent attending those matches, and giving fans mobile-first, shareable content from those moments would have been incredibly powerful. I think it would have been a fantastic use case for your platform.

Milestone global sporting events are always interesting examples of what is possible. There is definitely room for innovation and improvement, and I hope fans begin to demand more agency in how they consume content. Whether it is a major global tentpole event or a regional event, this kind of experience is needed, achievable, and can make the day at the stadium, ballpark, or field better.

For me, it started with the same question: why has no one built this? I have been in situations where I missed moments, tried to find them afterward, and eventually gave up. This is highly applicable to major global events, especially with brand sponsors coming in to support them.

No argument from me on any of those points. Pivoting a little, I know you and your team went to Cannes Lions earlier this summer. I’m jealous, and I think everyone else on the production team is too. Maybe next year, like we talked about. With so many global ideas and strategies shared at an event that size, what were two or three takeaways you found especially interesting?

The number of sports organizations there this year was a very strong signal. From a sports business perspective, I heard major brand marketers asking how they could get more involved in sports and access more sports content. That was a clear undertone throughout the event.

First-party data was another major theme. People are starting to view it as a real moat. I also heard a lot of conversation around impressions being out and outcomes being in, with more focus on measurable impact. And, of course, AI was everywhere, but the better conversations framed AI as a tool, not a strategy. Overall, I was encouraged by how often the sports industry was discussed and how strong the appetite is. It feels like a great time to be working in sports.

Great. A couple more questions, then we’ll wrap up. If you look three to five years down the road, where do you see sports and in-venue streaming going?

I think technology needs to be ushered in to improve the overall sports experience. In-venue streaming will become more prolific, giving fans the option to consume content when and where they want, in the places they already are. I believe live short-form, direct-to-fan networks will become a reality in the same way long-form broadcast distribution already exists.

Fans have largely made their decision about where they want to consume content. It is up to technology builders, infrastructure providers, and rights holders to meet them there. Over the next five years, I think the world of sports and entertainment will become better from a fan experience perspective, more profitable from a business perspective, and more efficient from a cost perspective.

Sports has durability because of its live human element. That is something other pillars of entertainment do not have in the same way. More dollars are already flowing into sports, and I do not think that will stop. It will be better for stakeholders across the board.

That’s great. We’ll wrap it up now. I’m a big takeaway guy, so I’ll give everyone listening my quick takeaway, then I’ll let you end the episode with yours. The theme of this podcast is the evolution of fandom, and when you look at in-venue streaming, highlights, and content consumption, there is huge room for improvement. Fans are asking for it, and the way fans consume content fits perfectly into that conversation.

I would challenge everyone listening to look at their in-game and in-venue experience, step back, and consider platforms like SEVN to see how they can take the fan experience to the next level. That’s my takeaway. I’ll punt it to you to bring us home with one more nugget of wisdom.

More wisdom.

I’ll leave with one note from a fan perspective and one from a partner perspective. I have always been amazed, and often wrong in my estimates, about how much video fans consume when they are placed into the right environments. I’ve seen it across two different networks, and we are seeing it again here. Fans love short-form video content, and teams and leagues around the world have a lot of it. It needs to be distributed to fans.

We help distribute those moments, monetize them, and surface valuable insights from the data collected. This opportunity is far greater than some people imagine. Looking back at web distribution and then social distribution, once fans started consuming, the numbers exceeded expectations. I can already see that happening here.

That means incredibly valuable inventory for sponsors and happier fans who are consuming content that, in many cases, would not otherwise be distributed. Everyone listening knows there is a lot of content that never gets out. Let’s change that, create better fan experiences, and continue evolving the world of sports into a better place to watch and enjoy.

That’s great. Thanks for joining me. This was a fantastic conversation. Content is king, so let’s help everyone monetize it and get more of it out to the fans. With that, I’ll call it a wrap. Thanks again, Greg.

Thank you so much, Kyle. I really appreciate it.

Thanks for listening to “The Evolution of Fandom.” If you have any thoughts about what you’ve heard, we’d love to hear from you. Visit comcasttechnologysolutions.com/fandom to get in touch, learn more, or subscribe to the series.