Later this summer season, each information outlet on the planet will descend on Paris, France to cowl the 2024 Olympic Video games.
It’s a crowded media setting, sophisticated additional by the truth that right here within the U.S., NBC is the unique rights companion, with video and behind-the-scenes entry no different outlet can match.
So what can a sports activities outlet that desires to compete do? For Yahoo Sports activities, it determined to rent a bevy of gold medalists to function its Olympics correspondents.
The sports activities platform has employed seven-time Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix, who will present protection and evaluation of observe and subject occasions; three-time gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings, who will cowl seaside volleyball; 5-time gold medalist Missy Franklin and silver medalist Katie Hoff, who will present protection of swimming occasions; and gold medalist Shawn Johnson East, who will cowl gymnastics occasions for Yahoo.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Yahoo Sports activities chief Ryan Spoon mentioned that the corporate was looking for “leaders in all of the sports activities” that might carry “perspective” to its protection of the video games.
“That is going to sound stupidly apparent, however you begin with what issues to followers,” Spoon says. “These are the highest of the record when it comes to ability, persona, outcomes, data, curiosity. And the opposite attention-grabbing half that I feel is basically essential right here is that they’re all ambassadors of their sports activities.
“They’ve all achieved this on the highest degree with absolute success, I feel they’re all multi-time Olympians, so what’s it imply to try this overseas? What’s it imply on these totally different scales and these totally different personalities?” he added. “And we acquired fortunate as a result of we didn’t should go down the record, these are of us who’re for any fan of those sports activities, they’d be the highest names you may assist with.”
The athletes will present evaluation, conduct athlete interviews and host options, with video content material shared on the corporate’s personal platform and social channels throughout the video games.
However Yahoo Sports activities can even lean into its roster of media companions … together with NBC Sports activities.
Clearly, we begin with making an attempt to serve probably the most followers potential, and also you try this by means of scale,” Spoon says. “We now have relationships with all of them. We goal to create the very best content material throughout written evaluation, ship the outcomes, present persona, video, try this on social. However we additionally acknowledge that we can not personally — whether or not we’re the very best on the planet or not — we are able to’t be complete there ourselves, and so we take a look at companions who assist us in that case.”
Yahoo Sports activities can be set to companion with USA Swimming on a content material distribution deal forward of the trials and video games, that includes a dedicate touchdown web page and intensive protection, which Spoon hopes will tee readers up for the video games.
“We get to start on a few of that storytelling and outcomes forward of, clearly trials, which then is forward of the Olympics,” Spoon says. We expect that’s essential on type of the the viewers constructing and data sharing.