The transition of second screen devices to first screen status in sport viewing

Abstract

It has been generally argued that, despite the emergence and wide adoption of second screen devices (SSD) as ancillary tools, television screens continue to be the medium of choice for watching live sport. In this article, however, we maintain that a transition of SSD to first screen status is already underway. First, we dispute that SSD content and screen size present barriers to use. Second, we suggest that a first screen transition of SSD is a fact in many emerging economies. Finally, we argue that the transformation of screens as payment and tracking devices, to which we intimately relate, has been largely overlooked when assessing the likelihood of SSD becoming first screens, and that the replacement of television by SSD is symptomatic of a broader transition from collective to individual consumption devices.