Later this summer season, each information outlet on this planet will descend on Paris, France to cowl the 2024 Olympic Video games.
It’s a crowded media atmosphere, difficult additional by the truth that right here within the U.S., NBC is the unique rights associate, 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 seashore 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 stated that the corporate was looking for “leaders in all of the sports activities” that may 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 listing by way of talent, persona, outcomes, data, curiosity. And the opposite fascinating half that I feel is actually essential right here is that they’re all ambassadors of their sports activities.
“They’ve all performed this on the highest degree with absolute success, I feel they’re all multi-time Olympians, so what’s it imply to do this overseas? What’s it imply on these totally different scales and these totally different personalities?” he added. “And we bought fortunate as a result of we didn’t must go down the listing, these are of us who’re for any fan of those sports activities, they’d be the highest names you’ll be able to 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 in the course of 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 attempting to serve essentially the most followers doable, and also you do this by way of scale,” Spoon says. “Now we have relationships with all of them. We purpose to create the perfect content material throughout written evaluation, ship the outcomes, present persona, video, do this on social. However we additionally acknowledge that we can not personally — whether or not we’re the perfect on this planet or not — we will’t be complete there ourselves, and so we have a look at companions who assist us in that case.”
Yahoo Sports activities can also be set to associate 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 form of the the viewers constructing and data sharing.