There is no doubting the influence of the digital world on the sports and sports media industries. It has been disruptive, dynamic and remarkably rapid. Primarily, the changes have created a range of new, exciting possibilities and opportunities. Fans can now engage in new sports via digital streaming services and online subscriptions. As such, they’re more connected to the global sports community than ever before with fans taking to social media to communicate with fans from all corners of the globe.

Furthermore, they can consume content about their favourite sports, competitions and athletes at any moment of any day. They can source news, information and opinion from clubs, digital news sites, blogs and social media. They can stream video and audio via YouTube or any number of podcasts. They can scroll through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Tumblr liking what pleases them or venting at anything that doesn’t.

Additionally, they can do all of this on their phones or laptops or any number of wireless devices, and they can do all of this – ensuring they’re informed and up to date – without picking up a single newspaper, turning on the radio or watching television news. After all, their favourite bloggers, podcasters and athletes now reside in the interactive and engaging online world.

Yet, while the range and quantity of content now offer more diversity and opportunity than ever before, many sports media professionals, experts and even fans believe the digital disruption has also provided significant cause for concern. The plethora of media organisations springing up on social media, along with sporting organisations growing their media departments exponentially, has created a ubiquitous range of options for advertisers to reach their target audience. Increasingly, they’re opting for online options, targeting niche content providers with specific, targeted audiences. Alternatively, they’re turning to the biggest, most popular digital and social media platforms such as Google and Facebook to reach their hundreds of millions of users each day.

According to the experts interviewed for this book, the consequences of this should not be underestimated. Traditional media organisations have recognised that they simply must embrace the digital world or die a rather rapid and undignified death. As such, newspapers now exist as websites, producing text, audio and video.