Sneak Preview: Monetizing Sports in a Changing Digital Landscape at Streaming Media 2025
On Wednesday, October 8, Brian Ring, Principal Analyst, Ring Digital LLC, will moderate the Streaming Media 2025 panel “Monetizing Sports in a Changing Digital Landscape.” From direct-to-consumer leagues to ad-driven sports streaming, this panel will explore next-generation strategies for delivering dynamic and profitable sports experiences that connect with mass and niche audiences alike.
Confirmed panelists include:
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Brian Ring is principal analyst at Ring Digital LLC, a consultancy that leverages video tech expertise, proprietary TV surveys, and 20 years of industry experience to help clients navigate the future of TV across all business models, geographies, genres, and platforms. It serves SaaS vendors, media companies, FAST channel publishers, CTV and OTT platform providers, and other stakeholders in the TV tech ecosystem with strategic support.
“The timing of this panel could not be better,” Ring says. “We have veterans of sports and streaming—including Joe Franzetta of Roku and David Guinan, formerly of The Cowboy Channel and now of Major League Table Tennis—to discuss the flood of unprecedented sports rights deals that are transforming this most critical pillar of the global media market, whether the pivot UFC just made from PPV to Paramount, the impact of sports betting, the rise of niche sports, the advent of NIL money for collegiate athletes, and much more. Don’t miss it!”
Remi Beaudouin is chief strategy officer at Ateme, where he leads the corporate team’s global strategic and marketing initiatives. Leveraging the company’s recognized core expertise in video compression, he develops key strategic partnerships, expands Ateme’s portfolio of video delivery solutions, and continuously disrupts the video delivery market with new concepts based on hybrid on-premise and cloud technologies. Beaudouin is also part of the IABM EMEA Member Council.
“I’m excited to discuss how the streaming tech stack is evolving to meet the demands of live sports,” Beaudouin shares. “At Ateme, we enable end-to-end solutions that not only ensure high-quality, low-latency delivery, but also unlock new monetization opportunities through dynamic ad insertion and data-driven personalization. Combined with immersive formats like AR/VR and interactive fan experiences, these innovations are helping leagues and broadcasters deepen engagement while creating sustainable revenue models. Attendees should join this panel to learn how technology is powering the next generation of sports streaming.’’
David Guinan has more than 25 years of experience in media and sports entertainment, specializing in direct-to-consumer strategy, digital transformation, and streaming sports product development. He’s consulted for Major League Table Tennis and LIV Golf and advised the English Premier League and Chelsea Football Club on their U.S. direct-to-consumer strategy. Guinan served as chief digital officer for The Cowboy Channel, where he created and scaled the Cowboy Channel+ OTT platform.
Christy Tanner has been recognized internationally for her innovations in live-streaming, AI, and social and digital growth strategies. She currently chairs Swerve Sports, serves as a board director of Audacy, and is a trusted C-suite consultant. Previously, as the leader of two divisions for CBS Interactive, she launched game-changing new streaming services that established market dominance and created exponential revenue growth for CBS’s Sports, News, Local, and Media businesses.
“The biggest hurdle for leagues going direct to consumer is fragmentation,” Tanner asserts. “Fans follow teams and athletes more than they follow leagues or distributors. So leagues are faced with serving consumers who are bombarded by media choices, frustrated by discoverability challenges and ultimately driven by location- and personality-driven loyalties. This means that leagues more often end up the villain in a direct-to-consumer narrative.”
Tanner will explore her solution on the panel. She believes, “The only way to win is to continuously focus on super-serving the consumer with great products that are easy to use and at a reasonable price point.”
Joe Franzetta is the head of sports for Roku Media. He oversees all strategic partnerships, initiatives, and go-to-market executions for the company’s Sports offering, both for The Roku Channel and the overall Roku platform, and he oversaw the launch of Roku’s Sports Zone, which created a central, easy to navigate destination for viewers to discover and engage live and on-demand sports content.
“There is no question that live sports are making the shift towards streaming. However, despite this evident transition, there is increasing fragmentation of rights and disaggregation of watch options, which makes it challenging for fans to keep up with where to watch their favorite teams,” Franzetta says. “As the #1 TV streaming platform in the U.S., Roku is uniquely positioned to help solve this viewer pain point, by focusing on aggregating and making sports content easily discoverable for millions of streamers.”
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