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Karoline Rath-Zobernig, Sports Editor #49 Should sport be personalised? Media sport is evolving from an exclusive linear sports competition to a social experience that is a permanent companion. For this to succeed, there needs to be a change in the narrative. The live event is always at the centre of sport and should remain there. But it is important to broaden the horizon and address the many diverse communities that can be found in the digital world.

For example, there will always be football matches that people go to, cheer along for 90 minutes and then go home disappointed or excited. But what used to lead to sticker albums, pennants and scarves at most, or discussions in the sports canteen, has long been omnipresent in the digital space and goes far beyond the actual competition. Fans know, for example, what their favourite star eats for breakfast, what songs Mikaela Shiffrin composes on her guitar and what Lewis Hamilton's political stance is. This offers great potential, because it means that sport is no longer limited to a competitive framework. And it offers great tasks: Sport must see itself less as an island and closer to daily life.
As LaLiga business boss Marta Benito di Moreno would say: "Sport used to be like ice cream - something you enjoyed seasonally, for the duration of the competition, and then it was gone again. Today, sport is like bread - available at any time of day, by the morsel as a snack, by the kilo as a staple or specially prepared as a major event, a special experience. And last but not least: in the most diverse forms and tastes.

This also means valuing diversity and equality. For example, with the #changethegame project, the BBC focused more on women's sports for a summer - massively promoting the equality agenda in reporting, moderation, commentary and marketing. The hashtag has evolved and now no longer just names the BBC project but shows positive transformations in the usual image of sport. The targeted young and new audiences have embraced the attitude and view and are carrying it forward.
Via social media, there is also the chance in sport to get closer to people's daily lives than ever before. The classic sports news reaches me on my smartphone, the highlights of the Bundesliga on my way to the bathroom. In this way, I cultivate the fan base that already exists, and I can use creative and new ways of telling stories to enter into dialogue with an audience that would perhaps not describe itself as sports enthusiasts at all. But who love "a day in a life" vlogs, and who can be introduced to our brands in this way. Sport has long since become a lifestyle - that's why it's moving into the digital areas of life where people already are - and communicate with them.

But these aspects only succeed if the audience does not have to leave the digital world. Instead, they can reach linear and non-linear offers via a low-threshold link. There, offers must continue to be personalised: in terms of content, but also technically: that I can adapt the livestream, whether I use mobile data or wi-fi. So that sport can be part of every area of life. Much remains to be done.