Preparing for A Digital Future: Mark Silver’s Story

Why the future of sports content is digital.

As President of Stadium Digital, Mark’s role spans across three key verticals — sports, technology and media. An industry cluster that is so ripe for disruption and keeps him busy on many fronts of the business. He runs and operates all facets of Stadium Digital, such as building and maintaining relationships with sports leagues, teams and federations as well as clients, partners, academic institutions, and other complementary service providers.

Throughout his career in sports, he has come to identify one common challenge in the digital space.

“Monetizing investments in digital remains the biggest challenge facing properties. The digital age is already here yet sports organizations still struggle to understand how digital fits in to the overall business and how to make money off digital assets — and it comes down to the challenge of integrating digital into the overall business strategy instead of treating it like a standalone P&L.

Being able to derive value from digital has given me a much greater understanding and appreciation of the challenges that face this industry cluster. This has ultimately translated into results on the bottom line for my clients, and has expanded Stadium Digital’s influence in the space.”

Prior to founding Stadium Digital, Mark was already a central figure in the most ambitious digital sports media initiatives in Canada. He spearheaded the restructuring of TSN’s digital media businesses, including the launch of TSN GO TV everywhere app and BarDown.com, and the re-launch of TSN.ca.

Mark also lead digital for the joint Bell and Rogers Media broadcast of the London 2012 Olympic Games and received a Gemini for his role in the digital coverage for Vancouver 2010. In 2013, he was named as a 5 to Watch award winner — becoming the only digital sports business professional recognized to date.

“The award meant a great deal to me, especially winning the award while leading digital at TSN. TSN had already accomplished so much digitally prior to my arrival, so winning that award was also a tribute to those who came before me (and were older than 40 when the award was first created). It also recognized that the digital space is right up there with sports sponsorship and partnerships. While it’s humbling to still be the only digital-first person to win the award, I really think there should be more of us by now.

There needs to be a better sampling of the industry for nominees, not just the major sports properties and sponsors. There is still a ways to go to have digital folks recognized as more work needs to be done in bringing them into the spotlight.”

There’s no doubt about it — digital is shaping the future of sports. The proliferation of social media platforms now lets us consume content at the ease of a button. Mark notes that sports teams must be creative and agile in how they deploy these tools.

“I’m most excited about the disruption of the distribution of content. Today, there are just a few sports broadcasters in Canada. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t a lot of content being created, just that a limited amount makes it to TV. I’m paying close attention to how properties are funding production and what deals are being made to distribute that content to an audience that includes domestic and global consumers.

As well, there is also a strong need for properties to forge a direct relationship with their fans in order to monetize the move to digital and build fan affinity.

Teams have had to historically rely on the broadcaster to expand and nurture their reach. As a team’s relationship with fans evolves, properties need to modernize fan engagement platforms, moving beyond social, to gain a better foothold with their current (and future) sport consumers and own the relationship.”

Beyond Stadium Digital, Mark also serves on the faculty of the Schulich School of Business where he teaches Social Media for Marketing and Management. He often fields questions from students on how they kick-start their career in sports, and provides clear-cut advice.

“Chase your dreams. Be passionate. Find your way into an organization, and once you’ve got something, work extremely hard at building a name and reputation for yourself. But remember: throughout all of this, you must be patient…your time will come!”

Mark Silver is the President of Stadium Digital. In addition to his role at Schulich, he is also on the leadership team of the Sport Innovation Hub at the Ted Rogers School of Management. To learn more about Mark’s story, you can connect with him on LinkedIn.

Do you know someone who’s making a mark in sports business?

Nominate them for this year’s 5 to Watch, Canada’s Sports Business Awards by February 28. For more details or to nominate a sports business leader, please click here.