Time to Pay Attention

Frequently Sport is built around myths. Today some of the ‘myths’ are in fact well planned and orchestrated to sway opinion.

In a world where shortened games of the sports we love are becoming the norm, there are plenty of myths.

One of the most important things to remember when it comes to abridged versions of sport, is that most have been around for a very long time. They are in the main neither “new” nor “innovative.”

Five-a-side football has been around so long it is impossible to find a date when it started. Even if you look at Futsal which has to some degree become the official format of the five-a-side game, it is almost 100 years old. Juan Carlos Ceriani, a teacher in Montevideo, Uruguay is credited with being the inventor of this form of the game in 1930. The game was to be played at YMCAs. The rule book came out in 1933 and thanks to Uruguay winning the inaugural Football World Cup, Futsal took off. His reason for creating the game was to try and have a game of football that you could play indoors or outdoors all the year around. With the game being supported by the YMCA it spread quickly, and the rest they say is history. The first World body for Futsal however was only formed in 1971 and in 1985 FIFA tried to take control. They failed, and there are still to this day two world bodies running the sport, the Asociación Mundial de Fútsal (AMF) and FIFA.

If you think Rugby sevens is a new phenomenon think again. This version of rugby originated in Melrose, Scotland in the 1880s; the Melrose Sevens tournament is still played annually. Local butchers Ned Haig and David Sanderson, came up with the idea in 1883 as a fund-raising event for their local club, Melrose RFC. It was well received and slowly the concept spread to Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh, at one stage there were up to 150 sevens tournaments in Scotland alone!

Even T20 has been wrapped up as some new concept, yet clubs around the globe, especially in England were playing 20 over matches after work for decades. In the 1990’s, possibly following his time at Somerset or playing Test Cricket in England the late Martin Crowe tried to introduce a similar format to T20 in New Zealand called Cricket Max. Then in 2003 the England and Wales Cricket Board introduced a twenty over tournament between county teams that people could go to after work. It was a huge success. The first T20 International was played in Auckland in 2005 between England and New Zealand, and was all a bit of a giggle with players wearing fake moustaches emulating the players of the past. It was never supposed to be more than some light entertainment away from the rigours of Test and One Day International Cricket. However once an International World Cup was planned in 2007, this slogfest became entrenched in the cricket calendar.

To back up that point from September 2019 to April 2020 there are currently, 33 Test matches, 69 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and 136 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) planned. In addition there will be 23 Women’s One Day Internationals (WODIs) and 61 Women’s Twenty20 Internationals (WT20Is), scheduled to be played during this period! Is this overkill or really what the public want?

That means 57% of all men’s cricket at international level is in the shortest form, which rises to a whopping 72% in the Womens’ game. Overall it is 61% of the International cricket being played. More games, shorter format, equals more chances to make people pay to watch.

Yet despite this being the supposed money-spinner for the game, the World Cup in England was played in front of predominantly packed stands, and so too the Ashes Series of Test Matches straight after.

Despite there being no high profile Hockey fives leagues around the world, and Hockey Fives only having been played on a world stage at the Youth Olympics, this week The International Hockey Federation announced that they would be hosting a Hockey Fives world Cup in 2023. Unlike the aforementioned sports this is a relatively new form of the game; With eleven-a-side being the traditional format along with indoor hockey. It will be interesting to see how the public take to it, and whether it manages to find a place in the sporting public’s psyche.

All of these sports are very different but many of them share the reason that they claim is a need for these shortened versions of the original game. Which is we are told that the youth of today have a short attention span. This is an interesting claim. One that is bandied about by many, but where is the proof?

We are told that we are so busy, there are so many distractions in today’s world that our attention span has reduced, and we all take that as gospel. Yet the youth of day will play computer games for hours on end, which tends to contradict the statements made.

In 2017 the BBC looked into this very issue, and warned that you had to be careful as to where these statistics were coming from. They found that all of the media outlets quoting statistics about the lessening attention span did not actually come from reliable research done by Microsoft, but from another source called Statistic Brain.

Simon Maybin who wrote the article Busting the Attention Span Myth tried to contact Statistic Brain, but failed.

In the article he spoke to Dr Gemma Briggs, a psychology lecturer at the Open University, who stated “How we apply our attention to different tasks depends very much about what the individual brings to that situation.” Dr Briggs continued by saying “We’ve got a wealth of information in our heads about what normally happens in given situations, what we can expect. And those expectations and our experience directly mould what we see and how we process information in any given time.”

This can apply directly to sport. A boring match, or a match in which we don’t understand the tactical situation, or relevance of the match will see us lose attention. Equally the broadcasting of the game becomes crucial. Poor camerawork or bad editing by the director could mean we miss crucial moments in a game, and so lose attention. Replays have now become crucial to keep our attention. This is why if used well, video umpiring and refereeing can be an enhancement to a sport. Commentary becomes even more vital, as the voices and the information shared with the viewers can be the key between engaging that viewer and keeping them, or losing them for that game or forever.

One of the keys to the long running Test Match Special radio coverage is the mix of information they share with the listener. There is a mix of describing the action taking place, and being the listeners eyes, with some statistical and historical information. There are reminisces of games and times gone by from those involved, and there is the general banter. Cricket obviously lends itself to more chatter, but the fact that Test Match Special has lasted over 50 years is testament that the people make the game come to life. Although there is bound to be the odd guest that rubs listeners up the wrong way, and the Producer would no doubt admit that occasionally they have had the wrong past player in the box.

If you don’t believe that our attention spans are not being impacted you may be interested to know that Prezi teamed up with strategic consulting firm Kelton Research to conduct a study to gauge the effectiveness of content and presentations in the business world.

The findings of that research was presented in detail in Prezi’s 2018 State of Attention Report. If you click on the link and read the findings you will read that 59 percent of business professionals questioned felt that they could give a piece of content their undivided attention more so today than they could just one year ago!

The other interesting response was that 49 percent of respondents said they were more selective about the content they consume now compared to one year ago.

So it would appear that we are becoming more discerning, but that our attention spans have in fact increased. They key is to deliver quality that keeps our attention.

The most important fact in this report – and you can request a copy at the link above – is that it claimed that attention spans were actually expanding in the younger generations!

Forget computer games for a second and think how the youth of today are across complete series of television shows. How many of them will binge watch shows and films? Is that the behaviour of a generation with a low attention span?

It is interesting to read another statistic that is doing the rounds of late. That is that on the internet we only stay on one item for no longer than three seconds before we opt to stay or move on. Meaning that you have to capture the attention in three seconds? Where does this information come from? As one marketing expert explained this particular source has come from those trying to attract internet advertising. Their reason, to force you into more advertising slots on the internet!

Which proves that sport needs to be careful when they base decisions on statistics. They need to check whether they come from a reliable source. Or are they a part of a pitch from a consultancy firm trying to sell a new concept or competition? If they are where did they gain that information? Could those supplying the statistics have an ulterior motive? The trouble is there is so much information out there it becomes harder to know how and where to verify your facts. This is where you must invest time, as that time can ultimately pay big dividends.

If we look at sport. Every game is a story unfolding before our eyes. As mentioned previously Test Match Special tells that story in a Dickensian way. By that I mean they meander away from the main thread of the match being played, and give us subplots and new characters. Players who excelled on this ground in a similar game fifty years ago, or the battle going on between batsman and bowler that goes back to their school days. It is a story being told and the way they tell it grabs our attention, and keeps us tuning in.

This story element is crucial in sport. In this same report prepared by Prezi and Kelton Research it was stated that of all business professionals surveyed 55 percent said that a great story captured their focus and kept them engaged. Nine out of 10 respondents to the study said either a strong narrative or the story behind the presentation was critical to maintaining audience engagement. In addition to that information 33% said that visual stimulation was critical to maintaining their attention.

Sport can be visually stimulating with a good director in the chair, the actual spectacle itself can often be enough to stimulate as a stand alone product. Combine that visual stimulation with good story telling, and sport is the perfect viewing.

Prezi is a corporate presentation tool, but the principles are similar to live broadcasting. So it was interesting to read that four out of five people surveyed said that their attention shifted during the last presentation they watched. Far more telling was the reason given. More than half claimed that their disengagement was because a story either lacked substance or did not challenge them mentally. So it is not a low attention span! It is the quality of the content that determines our attention.

What people are frequently forgetting is that many millennials don’t even remember a time without the internet, it has been there their whole lives. They are therefore conditioned to a very visual world, especially when it comes to communication and entertainment. Visual storytelling is a driving force in their lives. They know what is good and what isn’t. It is not their attention span that is the issue, but their tolerance level for boring content that is extensively lower than those older than them. In the survey 35% of millenials stated that they only engage with content they feel has a great story or theme!

It would appear that the issue has nothing to do with attention span, and more to do with how sport is presented. The visual look of it and the story behind it.

Rugby Sevens has been hugely successful because it has history on its side. As a game it is fast and exciting. It has a story to tell, the story of the athletes who play, and the styles of play attributed to certain nations. The dominance of the New Zealanders, the flair of the Fijians, the rise of the Kenyans. So many stories within the story of each game and tournament.

If you want the viewers attention, it does not seem to be about reducing the number of players, or shortening the length of the match. It all comes down to visual stimulation and the story being told. A short attention span is nothing but a myth probably created by someone in Marketing to suit their corporate needs.

So if going ahead with abridged versions of the sports we know don’t try and hoodwink people with the reasons why. More importantly make sure that you stimulate them visually, that the products looks great live or on television, and be sure to tell a story.

A story about the match that is! Or you may lose our attention.