The Stadium at 35,000 Feet

Passengers are passionate about sport. Missing the FIFA Women’s World Cup, ICC Cricket World Cup, or Formula 1 just because you had to catch a flight is devastating. This week Andy Masson and Richard Wise, Head of Content at Sport 24, sit down to discuss all things sport, and everything you can watch live while flying.

Even though live sport in-flight is 10 years old, it’s still a massive wow factor for passengers. Listen as Andy and Richard talk through passenger engagement for the 2022 World Cup, doing what’s best for all passengers, and what’s coming up next on the Sport 24 schedule.

The Power of Sports on Airlines

The World Cup is the single largest global sporting event. Every four year 32 countries take to the pitch and battle for supremacy, bolstered by the warcries of their fans in packed stadiums all over the globe. Last year was different though, as the fight songs could be heard high in the sky, with full flights of passengers cheering on their home team.

Ultimately Argentina took the victory, something that Panasonic Avionics VP of Sales Hernan Abbes still won’t stop talking about. But the airlines who carried the live event were winners too, winners of passenger engagement and good will. 14 million passengers watched, celebrated on board, danced up and down the aisles, some sharing video of the celebrations or photos of every seat watching the live broadcast.

That’s the power of sports as a passenger engagement driver .

Doing what’s best for the passenger

Live sport is one of the highest passenger engagement drivers that an airline can offer, why should it be limited in distribution? Last year Panasonic and Inmarsat worked together to deliver the world cup on Qatar airways flights, breaking the traditional mold of content exclusivity. Today, Sport 24 can be delivered through any satcom provider, to ensure that we can deliver the maximum benefit to all passengers and any airline.

What’s on the schedule for Sport 24?

Racing, soccer, cricket, rugby, it’s all on the calendar for Sport 24. For the rest of the year you could catch Max Verstappen clinch the Formula 1 championship, or the US Soccer team take two in a row at the FIFA Women’s world cup. For the full schedule of what’s coming, visit Spor t24.

In 2024 Sport 24 has the two biggest events in the world in addition to their existing line-up, the Paris Olympics and the UEFA European Football Championship taking place in Germany.

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