The Pay-TV Innovation Forum is a global research programme for senior pay-TV and content executives, developed by NAGRA and MTM, and designed to catalyse growth and innovation across the global TV industry, at a time of tremendous change and disruption.
As part of the programme, we are publishing a series of interviews with leading TV industry executives from around the world to explore their views, perspectives and experiences of innovation. In this interview, Russell Stopford, Chief Digital Officer for Paris Saint Germain FC, shares his views about how football clubs are evolving their video and digital strategies.
How do you think the nature of providing sports content is evolving?
Pay-TV broadcasters have traditionally taken a singular approach to live match rights. However, what we're discovering is that there are other formats around that live match window that are gaining traction with fans. Sports broadcasting is increasingly about how we can package up the whole pre-match, in-match, halftime and post-match experiences - as well as how we engage fans during the four, five, or even six days a week when football is not being played.
How do you distribute video content and what is your distribution strategy for your premium service, PSG
Premium?
We are still experimenting and optimising what works best for different fans on different channels around the world. The key objective for any video channel is to work out what type of content can drive growth and fan engagement. In terms of engagement, time spent is the key metric for us, be that on our own site, YouTube or Facebook.
In terms of distributing PSG Premium, we prioritise investment in platforms where we expect to see the highest returns. It also makes sense to deliver mobile experiences, and we are exploring how we can develop augmented reality and 360 experiences on mobile apps. In addition to that, we are looking at streaming devices like Chromecast, Roku and Apple TV, but we have to determine when the timing is right for us as we have many new innovations in our product roadmap. We use market research data to understand which platforms we should be on and will prioritise them by conducting high-level ROI analyses. Ultimately, its data on potential customer demand that will inform our distribution strategy.
PSG offers both free and paid video services - what is your rationale behind this strategy?
The club's overall ambition is to reach as wide a global audience as possible, and some decisions are dictated by our rights agreements - for example, for some competitions, we have to offer video content behind a paywall. We are not only focused on direct monetisation of our video rights so I'd say we have a blended model - with a free and paid video offering - marrying syndication and broad distribution with the fan and sponsor experience. Video content is the primary asset that sponsors are looking for from clubs in the digital space. Brands are looking for more entertaining content and are trying to find branded content and brand storytelling opportunities. We have fantastic assets that enable them to bring their brands closer to PSG brand and create brilliant stories that resonate with fans.
How are you leveraging the data that comes from so many touchpoints with fans?
We are investing in data platforms to generate deep insights about our fans and to ultimately serve them better. For example, we collect data about how our content is consumed and how transactions are made on our platforms, which, in turn, helps us to get better insights into our customer behaviour and to improve the overall customer experience. By creating more value for our fans, by extension, we can also drive more value for our commercial partners. The challenge is knowing which data to collect and then having the right tools to derive insights and act on them.
Would you say developing the data platform is your current digital transformation priority?
Absolutely, but content creativity, product excellence, data protection, privacy and security are key as well. There are many important elements to providing the best possible customer experience, but the customer data element is crucial for PSG. It's certainly not as visible as creating brilliant content that resonates around the world, like our Jordan X PSG launch with Nike, but, our customer data strategy is equally important from a commercial perspective.
What are the developments or innovations that you are most excited about?
I think Artificial Intelligence (AI) is going to be the single biggest transformative technology that is going to impact the media industry over the next decade. I think the next big thing will be the use of AI to power mass fan data aggregation and using it to drive new content experiences in football. On top of that, I think voice control is going to change how we interact with devices content and services. We were probably one of the first big clubs to launch a Google Assistant app ahead of the 2018 World Cup and we are looking to further develop that initiative with Google.
Most recent headlines
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today! By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
23/12/2025
Experience the power of WO Automation for Radio's newest service, the System Effectiveness Review. Designed to help you achieve more, a System Effectiveness...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
How Steamy Can It Get? Single's Inferno' Season 5 Pre...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
33 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watched Jake Paul vs. Ant...
23/12/2025
New technique lights up where drugs go in the body, cell by cell Scripps Research scientists developed a technique that maps drug binding in individual cells th...
22/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Neerav Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
22/12/2025
Hitting the bullseye: Sky Sports readies itself for the biggest PDC World Darts ...
22/12/2025
Unique skillset: Bringing new directors to the world of darts at The Worlds with...
22/12/2025
Gravity Media prepares for a flight of fancy with the PDC World Darts Championsh...
22/12/2025
One hundred and eighty: Gravity Media on hitting the production bullseye at the ...
22/12/2025
The Famous Group's Jon Slusser on Fascinating Fans Through Immersive Content...
22/12/2025
ESPN's Meg Aronowitz on Continuing High-Quality Broadcasts of Collegiate Spo...
22/12/2025
ESPN Takes Data-Driven Storytelling to New Heights with MNF Playbook with Next ...
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Paramount Scores Largest Share Increase Among Distributors as Paramount and CBS...
22/12/2025
New multi-year deal integrates Roku's data to fuel Nielsen's measurement suite
Roku gains access to Nielsen's streaming ratings, showing The Roku C...
22/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
22/12/2025
Berklee Wrapped 2025: Our Top News and Stories A look back at a year highlighted by faculty milestones, major film and television projects, Bob Dylan's ho...
22/12/2025
The works of Plato state that when humans have an experience, some level of change occurs in their brain, which is powered by memory - specifically long-term me...
22/12/2025
Partnership integrates complementary satellite data and AI analytics to enhance security, infrastructure, and environmental monitoring solutions for global cust...
22/12/2025
Workflows allow you to create a sequence of planned events which may be added to your template(s) or inserted directly into your sequential or background playli...
22/12/2025
Monday 22 December 2025
Sky extends PGA TOUR partnership until 2029, as Sky Spo...
22/12/2025
Back to All News
Global Anime Hits and New Releases Take Center Stage at Jump Festa 2026
Entertainment
22 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied to clipboar...
22/12/2025
Siobh n McSweeney, Rory McIlroy, Elon Musk, Catherine Connolly, Jim Gavin, Ivan Yates and Traitor Paudie Moloney lead new characters for Callan Kicks the Year 2...
22/12/2025
Winner announced in the picturesque surroundings of Wicklow's Avondale Tower and Treetop Walk
Andrew Trimble wins the show in his first series as coach
Th...
22/12/2025
The 2025 winners have been announced today, Sunday 21 December, for Ireland's largest choral competition Choirs for Christmas hosted by RT lyric fm.
Ove...
The Pay-TV Innovation Forum is a global research programme for senior pay-TV and content executives, developed by NAGRA and MTM, and designed to catalyse growth and innovation across the global TV industry, at a time of tremendous change and disruption.
