Gender gap is narrowing in Gen Z adult sports engagement, says report

The gap between female and male engagement in sport is narrowing, with Gen Z adult female engagement figures on the rise, according to the EY Sports Engagement Index.

The EY survey of over 4,000 UK adults uses comparative data to identify engagement levels across a range of sports by measuring the number of adults actively participating, following a sport on TV, online, or social media, or attending sporting events.

Most recent analysis of the data from the first edition of the Index suggest that almost half (49%) of females in the UK engage with sports in some form. When broken down by demographic, it found that 66% of Gen Z adult females (18–24 year-olds) are engaging with sport compared with 79% of Gen Z males. In comparison, female figures for the aged 55 years+ demographic sit at only 37% compared to 66% for males, indicating that the gender gap is closing with the younger generation. If this trend continues as the Gen Z demographic matures, this could represent a significant shift in the sporting landscape.

In the UK alone, the Index suggests that 13 million women either follow, participate in, or attend some form of sport, compared to 18 million men. Female engagers are also becoming very important contributors to most of the UK’s top 20 sports. For example, they constitute over a third of the engagement base in football and nearly 30% in sports like Formula 1 and Rugby Union.

Female engagers are also a key driving force behind endurance and lifestyle sports like running, with women comprising 39% of running’s engagement base. Cycling (36%) and racquet sports such as tennis (44%) and badminton (46%) also have high levels of female engagers. Women also dominate the demographics in wellness sports (64%) and gymnastics (72%), defining these activities’ direction and popularity.

There are only a few sports that are not yet fully resonating with female engagers. Despite strong engagement from their core fanbase, sports like cricket, snooker, and Formula E have fewer than 20% female engagers. Other sports such as MMA, American football, boxing and weightlifting are also heavily male driven with females making up 25% of their engagement base or less.

Young female adults are shifting the trends in sports engagement

Football, badminton, dancing, Formula 1 and basketball come out on top with female Gen Z adults. When compared to the total female engagement base, badminton, dancing, basketball and boxing move up the rankings, pushing cycling, rugby union, wellness sports and tennis lower down the list with the Gen Z adult engagers.

Table 1: EY Sports Engagement Index – Top 10 female engager rankings

Top 10 sports by size of total female engagement base Top 10 sports by size of Gen Z females only engagement base
Football1Football
Running2Badminton
Formula 13Dancing
Tennis4Formula 1
Cycling5Basketball
Rugby Union6Running
Wellness Sports7Tennis
Gymnastics8Rugby League
Rugby League9Gymnastics
Dancing10Boxing

Participation is an important element of the female sports engagement narrative. The Index shows that amongst the top 20 sports for female engagement, 11 are also leaders in female participation. Female participation often focuses on sports with low barriers to entry like running, cycling, hiking, wellness, aerobics and dancing. These are all accessible sports, with physical health benefits, many of which also foster community experiences. By contrast, few traditional team sports rank highly on the female participation charts, with netball as the exception.

Tal Hewitt, Sports Strategy Lead at EY-Parthenon, said: “The latest analysis from the Sports Engagement Index suggests that Gen Z behaviour is markedly different to other demographics. Our understanding of Gen Z leads us to believe that it’s possible more of these younger female engagers will remain engaged with sport as they mature. Over time this is likely to impact not only how sports need to engage with their fan bases, but also which sports will top the leaderboards in terms of popularity.

“Sports organisations must recognise and adapt to the needs of their current and future female audience to avoid being left behind. By nurturing female participation, attendance and followership, they can ensure that this vibrant fanbase continues to grow and evolve, retaining engagement throughout women’s lives, and ultimately, reshaping the industry for decades to come.”

Women’s sports are helping to attract female engagers, but are currently driven by male engagement

Women’s sports are helping to shift the dial in female engagement figures, but there is still progress to be made. According to the Index, men currently drive most of the engagement with women’s sporting formats, except for cycling, gymnastics, badminton and skiing. Cycling and badminton’s women’s formats show the highest gender shift of all the sports considered, as both pivot from being male driven for the male format to female driven for the female format.

Women’s sporting formats in cricket, Rugby Union and boxing are particularly male driven. However, of the three, boxing appears to be the most successful in attracting a higher proportion of female followers to its women’s format.

Given the high degree of focus recently on women’s football, it is also interesting to note that only 40% of its engagers are women, albeit this is a higher number than for men’s football, where women only make up 34% of the engagement base.

Furthermore, the Index highlights the importance of mixed gender formats in driving participation. This is particularly true for tennis and badminton, with 17% of tennis engagers only engaging in the mixed format of the sport.

Tom Kingsley, Sports Industry Group Leader at EY, said: “If sports attempt to properly understand female sports engagers, they can better serve, grow, and monetise this engagement base more successfully. Sports, such as tennis, that successfully engage a female fanbase not only give themselves a larger market to target, but a better chance of winning when competing for family time, attention and budget. By doing so, they also extend their appeal to a broader range of commercial partners.

“Understanding the opportunities that lie within the female sports engagement population, including the evolution of women’s sporting formats and the new trends being set by Gen Z, will help to plan for future growth and engagement strategies. Ignoring these shifts could mean missing out on substantial segments of the audience poised to shape the future of sports.”

Puma inks global partnership with Hyrox

Global sports company PUMA, has announced a worldwide partnership with HYROX, the world series of fitness racing. The partnership sees PUMA become the official apparel and footwear partner for all HYROX races from 2024 to 2027.

PUMA has been a local partner to HYROX since the first ever race, held in Hamburg in 2018 with 600 competitors taking part. PUMA’s new worldwide partnership is testament to the global success of HYROX, which has seen more than 175,000 participants compete in over 65 races during the 2023/24 season.

The global partnership will see PUMA develop a full range of HYROX apparel, utilising its innovative Cloudspun technology that features dryCELL moisture-wicking properties. PUMA will also release bespoke HYROX colourways of existing footwear models, including the award-winning Velocity NITRO™ 3, Deviate NITRO™ 3 and Deviate NITRO™ Elite 3 – enhancing HYROX competitor performance during one of the most well-rounded tests of fitness on earth.

Commenting on the announcement, PUMA CEO Arne Freundt said: “Fitness has found a new dimension in HYROX and we are delighted to start the next chapter in the PUMA and HYROX story, bringing the exciting sport of fitness racing to an even broader audience.

PUMA and HYROX have been pioneering the sport for more than six years at a local level, and as the community grows, we will continue to work in collaboration to identify innovative ways to engage consumers and revolutionise the fitness experience for competitors across the globe.“

HYROX Founder and CEO, Christian Toetzke, said “This is the natural partnership for HYROX. PUMA has been on this journey with us since the start, and we are delighted that a brand with performance at its heart, across multiple sporting disciplines, will continue to innovate and support us as we build the global sport of fitness racing. We believe this style of training and competition is the optimal solution for the global training community and PUMA will be a fantastic partner to help us continue to spread and amplify that message over the coming years.”

View From Asia: “The 2024 TATA IPL Report Card”

In his latest View From Asia column, Unmish Parthasarathi, the Singapore-based Founder of Picture Board Partners, Monetisation & Communications practice, shares insights from the recently concluded Indian Premier League.

The 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (officially called TATA IPL 2024) ended recently with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) winning their third title.

For the under initiated, the IPL’s a cricket tournament played every March-May in India, involving 10 privately owned clubs who play 74-matches over eight weeks in over a dozen cities across India. Founded in 2008, the match format of the IPL is the Twenty20 – a shortened, three-hour version of the traditional one-day (six hour) 50-over format that was pioneered by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003.

The IPL’s the most successful Twenty20 event in the world, with the best talent in the world on show – financed and fueled by media rights values that have exponentially grown to a 10x multiple since inception.

To give a European, or even global context, the IPL, as a commercial success, is akin to the English Premier League; the world’s most successful domestic football league.

The IPL’s media rights have grown 20% YoY with each match in the current cycle worth $15 Mn – the second highest globally, after the NFL, and exceeding the English Premier League (which admittedly has 5x the match volumes and a nine-month season duration compared to the two-month IPL)

A “back of the envelope” economic analysis of the IPL and the EPL (launched in 1992, a decade and a half before the IPL) stacks up to a ‘Perfect Storm’ scenario in both cases. For example, much like the EPL, the IPL has also consistently grown on the back of a media rights deal that financed access to the best talent, which further improved the product and set in motion a compounding effect.

In both cases, we have the confluence of a young audience, a TV friendly event format in an already popular sport with mass appeal, a smart group of administrators, ambitious media platforms in the Pay-TV and OTT space, and economic tailwinds. This creates a “must have” juggernaut with a proven product market fit that enjoys a loyal audience and high barriers to entry (or moats in investor speak!) for challengers.

In sum, my #TopFiveTakeaways from the 17th IPL are

1. Sponsorships

Also referred to as brand partnerships and different from TV ad buys, Sponsorships felt some head winds in 2024. 

The most frequently mentioned reason is the drying up of venture capital fueled marketing spends of recent years. Occasional references were also made to the elections coinciding, an occasion that saw over half a billion people voting in six weeks (April 19th-June 1st). 

But this is only half the answer since both on-ground and on jersey spends in Sport facing head winds is a global phenomena. It’s due mainly to being an analogue sales entitlement that doesn’t meet the digital and data related needs of the brand marketers. 

This is a global trend that is making its presence felt in India for the order time, and has been revealing as the tide went out on frothy, near-zero interest rate capital funding marketing budgets.

2. TV/OTT Media Consumptions

This year’s report card is a complex read of the tea leaves. 

For context, the 2023 season was the first year of a new media rights deal that sold two packages – concurrently – of broadcast and streaming. Back then, the respective winners of both these platform rights – Disney Star Sports and Reliance Jio – had been competitors. In January 2024, less than three months before the second season of the current year deal, the two platforms merged in a cash & stock deal for the Mouse House. 

In addition, the larger fact often ignored is that Reliance Jio, the dominant 4G telco with 400 Mn subscribers has marketed the IPL “for free” – or no subscriptions. This does not get away from that the telco makes it money from data. Hence the richer or more dense the video, the more data consumed on a per second basis. Upgrading the host broadcast to 4K, a video format that needs more bandwidth on streaming, was a smart move that’s been under player but very remunerative.

3. Host Broadcast Production 

Speaking of host broadcasting in 4K, what remains consistent with the IPL’s host broadcasts is its continued focus to place Fandom front & center. 

Disney Star Sports and Jio Cinema engaged over 150 commentators, notably 20% female, in a dozen languages across English, Hindi and 10 regional vernaculars (Marathi, Gujarati, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Haryanvi). 

Jio Cinema also provided multi camera views for the fan to choose points of view to their liking as one more of a long list of featured functionalities that have empowered the fan community to remain engaged during and outside the live match window. 

Localisation by language at this scale has never been done before. Anecdotal evidence suggests its impact goes beyond sports consumption. The mass market appeal of the IPL, concentrated by the prime time telecast slots of 80% of the matches, has led to Bollywood – the Indian Hindi language cinema industry that’s second to Cricket in popularity and income – is now reticent to launch movies in the March to May window! 

4. Talent Takes Center Stage

The IPL’s ability to attract the best global talent – on and off the pitch – has been enabled by budgets are fixed for all franchises but growing proportionally as a function of the ballooning media rights dividends. 

The 2024 was especially notable for a new trend – a former winning captain proving himself as adept off the field as he had been on it. Gautam Gambhir, who twice led KKR to IPL titles, returned to the Calcutta franchise as Mentor and made two telling calls. First, he paid a record $3 Mn fee for Mitchell Starc; the Aussie showed his big match temperament to be Man of the Final. Gambhir then got West Indian Sunil Narine – who was more known for his bowling – to open the batting which had a devastatingly positive set of consequences!

The IPL has also been known to surface talent, and especially for players from non Indian countries who make a mark in India before being picked for their national team. Australia’s David Warner was the first instance of this trend a decade ago, who played in the IPL before donning the Baggy Green cap. 

The 2024 edition will be remembered for three other non-Indian players who announced themselves on the international stage. Jake Fraser-McGurk, a 22-year old Aussie was a late replacement, who scored 330 runs at a strike rate of 234. Tristan Stubbs, a 23-year-old South African, with a bargain purchase price of $60,000, was the tournament’s top finisher with a “final overs” strike rate of 297!!! And, 25-year-old Will Jacks secured a place with England for the ICC Twenty20 tournament, being played this month in Caribbean and US, with explosive performances that helped his IPL franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore, make the play-offs. 

5. Format Changes | Player Substitution

The IPL needs to be credited for its many firsts.

These include promoting a plethora of female talent on-air as commentary, from almost a decade ago, in 2016. It’s expanded into vernacular language commentary for over half a billion who their Mother Tongue to English or even Hindi. It’s invested in Fan Parks, that visited 50 Indian cities besides the 14 that hosted IPL matches 

In over a decade of innovation, there seems to have been only one step that has been remiss – the Impact Player concept.

Introduced in 2023, the Impact Player option is meant to enhance Jeopardy – a key ingredient that makes Sport akin to unscripted drama, with its own plot lines and characters. All teams are allowed to make one substitution so long as he’s an Indian player unless less than the maximum quota of four overseas players has been used.

Public comments from last and present India captains suggests that the Impact Player concept may need to be revisited. The rationale being that, substitutions, in Cricket, reduces – rather than elevates – the degree of jeopardy unlike making the competition more intense as substitutions do in Football, Basketball or Rugby.

Either way, the IPL juggernaut promises to roll on and remain a success – on and off the field. In addition, its women’s edition, that preceded the men’s event by a month, enjoyed a strong second season – another positive trend that Cricket, not only in India but globally, shares with Football (Soccer).

Red Bull buys a minority stake in the Leeds United Football Club

Leeds United Football Club has signed a new multi-year agreement with Red Bull, making them the club’s front of shirt partner starting next season.

Red Bull will be joining forces with Leeds United reinforces the international popularity and significance of the club. Beginning in the 2024/2025 season, Leeds United will feature Red Bull branding on the front of Leeds United men’s and women’s first team kits. Red Bull will also become the club’s Exclusive Energy Drink Partner with branding featured inside Elland Road and during the club’s official media appearances.

“I am thrilled that Red Bull is joining us to build a bright future for Leeds United and shares our deep respect for this truly special club,” said Paraag Marathe, Chairman of Leeds United. “As Chairman, our consortium of investment partners will be invaluable to me as we approach this important moment for the club, now and into the future. Red Bull’s addition is a historic milestone that will further empower the club to reach its full competitive potential.”

“We are delighted to be an important element and partner of Leeds United. A club that is certainly one of the biggest in England and has a rich and successful history. The ambition to bring Leeds United back to the Premier League and establish themselves in the best football league in the world fits very well with Red Bull. We look forward to the partnership and are optimistic and energized about the future“, said Oliver Mintzlaff, Red Bull CEO Corporate Projects and Investments.

The deal brings in new commercial revenues as well as additional capital investment for a minority ownership stake that will further enable the club to compete on and off the pitch as the club seek promotion next season. The name and logo of Leeds United Football Club will remain unchanged.

View From The US: DOJ’s Ticketmaster-Live Nation Case Has Seats For Sports Fans

In this View From The US piece, Michael McCann , Legal Analyst and Senior Sports Legal Reporter of Sportico explains more about the US Department of Justice’s latest decision to breakdown on Live Nation and Ticketmaster.

The U.S. Department of Justice, 29 states and the District of Columbia sued Live Nation and its subsidiary, Ticketmaster, Thursday in the Southern District of New York, accusing the companies of wielding monopolistic power to thwart competition in the sale of tickets. The government seeks the separation of Live Nation from Ticketmaster, which until merging with Live Nation in 2010 was a rival.

While the bulk of the allegations center on the concert business, the sports-ticketing market plays a role in the antitrust case.

Most of the alleged misconduct concerns tickets and venues in the entertainment industry, especially in how concertgoers buy tickets and pay accompanying fees. The Justice Department accuses Live Nation and Ticketmaster of using what it depicts as monopolistic market power. The company wields that power, per the DOJ, to deny the rise of potential competitors; acquire rivals before they pose a genuine threat; cause venues to lose “concerts, revenue and fans” if they don’t pick Live Nation and Ticketmaster as promotion and ticketing services; and compel venues to sign long-term exclusive contracts that cuts off business with rivals.

The sports industry and the rights of sports fans mainly surface when the DOJ depicts Live Nation and Ticketmaster as wielding excessive control and exhibiting conflicts of interest as “promoter, ticketer, venue owner and artist manager.”

To that point, the DOJ views sports teams’ season ticket policies as key to understanding Live Nation’s “tentacles” in the primary ticketing services market. In this market, Live Nation allegedly harms “artists, venues, and fans” by suppressing competition.

Primary ticketers for major concert venues, the DOJ underscores, often “must provide support for distributing a team’s season tickets” when that venue also hosts sporting events. In other words, the sale of tickets to live concerts is linked to the sale of tickets to games.

As Sportico explained Monday, the DOJ has previously expressed concerns about the role of Ticketmaster and the sale of tickets to games given that venues are expected to bundle sports and concert tickets. This is not an isolated phenomenon; in 2010 the DOJ claimed that 66 major concert venues hosted pro teams, including those that sell season tickets.

Through Ticketmaster, Live Nation is described in Thursday’s complaint as a monopoly in primary ticketing services for major concert venues. In 2022, Ticketmaster allegedly accounted for “at least 70% of total face value associated with all tickets sold at large arenas and amphitheaters,” with no rival ticketing more than 14%. The DOJ contends Live Nation uses this power to “threaten and retaliate” against venues that don’t agree to its terms.

This alleged conduct, the DOJ insists, amounts to a violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act. That provision bars illegal monopolies, with the Justice Department arguing that Live Nation threatens to divert live music shows to other venues, delay the sale of secondary tickets and refuse to publicize shows when a venue uses a competing ticketer.

The complaint contains other allegations of unlawful activity, including through exclusive dealing. There are 27 total claims, most of which are brought by states under their antitrust laws. A jury trial is sought, monetary and injunctive relief demanded.

The sports industry and fans who like to attend games could have sizable stakes in the outcome of the case. The DOJ suggests that should it prevail, the sale of tickets would become more competitive, leading to lower prices, fewer fees and better customer service.

But the DOJ’s arguments will be aggressively challenged by Live Nation’s attorneys. As a preview of legal defenses, Live Nation issued a statement Thursday blasting the complaint as betraying basic logic and ignoring economic realities. The company says the DOJ might gain a “PR win” by calling Ticketmaster a monopoly, but empirical evidence shows “the bulk of service fees go to venues” and that “competition has steadily eroded Ticketmaster’s market share and profit.”

Live Nation’s portrayal of facts suggests that if the DOJ wins, consumers, artists and venues would be worse off. Entertainment services—including sports—would be reshaped by a court in ways that might prove haphazard and inconsistent with the market.

Expect the case to last years unless a settlement is reached.

The Raine Group and Deloitte to work as financial advisors for ECB to attract investments

The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has confirmed the advisory team who will support the game’s efforts to attract private investment into the eight teams in The Hundred.

Entering its fourth season, The Hundred has brought new fans into cricket, attracted more women and children, brought significant revenue into the game, and given young home-grown cricketers experience of performing on the biggest stage.

Given the context of the global cricketing landscape, and the significance of The Hundred as an important source of the revenue which funds English and Welsh cricket at every level, it will play a vital role in the future of our sport.

The ECB has consulted extensively with its members over recent months, and they have been supportive of the direction of travel for seeking private investment into the eight teams. The ambition is to seek partners with the expertise to help take the competition to the next level, while ensuring any investment benefits the whole of the game.

The ECB will continue working closely and collaboratively with its members through the process, including finalising how proceeds will be distributed among the First-Class Counties, MCC and the recreational game.

The Raine Group and Deloitte will work together as financial advisors on the process to secure private investment into teams in The Hundred.

The Raine Group, a global merchant bank within the sports, media, entertainment and technology sectors, will be the lead advisor on the transaction process, including sourcing partners and negotiating investment terms and structure.

Deloitte will be providing strategic advice to the ECB throughout the transaction process in respect of proposed team investments. Deloitte’s Sports Business Group has advised on some of the sport industry’s most ambitious M&A transactions and are renowned for their work supporting the long-term growth and financial sustainability of sporting organisations.

Latham & Watkins and Onside Law LLP will act as legal co-counsel. Latham & Watkins recently led on the sale of Manchester United and Dorna (MotoGP), and the acquisitions of Chelsea FC and a minority stake in Liverpool FC. The firm regularly advises on investments, strategic partnerships, commercial agreements, and regulatory issues across global sport, including in football, rugby, motorsport, fight sports, tennis, and the major US sports.

Onside Law LLP is the long-standing primary legal services provider to the ECB and a market-leading sports law firm with unrivalled knowledge and experience of the sector.

ECB Director of Business Operations Vikram Banerjee, who is leading the process on behalf of ECB and the wider game, said: “We have identified this moment as the opportunity to take The Hundred to the next level while capitalising on the global interest in the competition to underpin the structure of the whole domestic game.

“The opportunity to engage new global strategic partners will help us unlock the future potential of The Hundred. We will be looking to engage the very best in world sport to grow The Hundred into a competition which can benefit the whole of cricket for years to come.

“With proceeds from any investment going direct to the recreational and the county game, it will support the other parts of cricket which are so cherished by fans and players alike and play an important role in identifying and developing talent.

“We are delighted to have appointed an advisory team with the experience, nous and ability to ensure any deals that are brokered are the right ones for the sport. The Raine Group, Deloitte, Latham & Watkins and Onside Law LLP will be valuable partners and advisors as we take this step forward as a game.”

iSportConnect Business Index: “What’s going on with Warner Bros.”

Carlo De Marchis “A Guy With A Scarf” pens down this month’s Business Index.

Global markets are strong and confidence has returned so there is naturally more green than red on our monthly index. The outstanding winners are Guild ESports but they are tiny so today let’s look at a long term decliner and talk Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) where all is not rosy. The past few months have been a rollercoaster ride for Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and its investors. The media giant’s stock has experienced a significant decline, hitting an all-time low of $7.36 on Tuesday, May 1, 2024. In fact the longer view is truly troublesome since April 11 2022 when the media and streaming firm was formed from the $43-billion merger of Discovery Inc and assets of AT&T Inc. Initially this was to compete directly with the likes of Netflix and Disney. Since then WBD shares are down nearly 70% and as a reference, Disney is down 15% and Netflix is up more than 50%. Something isn’t working.

This recent plunge can be attributed to a combination of factors, including concerns over the potential loss of NBA broadcast rights and the company’s struggle to adapt to the rapidly evolving media landscape.

One of the primary reasons for the stock’s recent tumble is the looming threat of losing the NBA broadcast rights to NBCUniversal. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, NBCUniversal is prepared to pay an average of about $2.5 billion a year to air NBA games, effectively doubling the current fee paid by WBD. This bid threatens to eclipse WBD, which has aired NBA games on its cable network TNT for many years.

The potential loss of the NBA rights could not come at a worse time for WBD CEO David Zaslav, who has been grappling with the challenges of selling Wall Street on his vision for a one-stop, one-size-fits-all streamer to compete with Netflix. Since WBD first began trading on Wall Street, the stock has lost roughly 70% of its value despite a huge rally in early 2021. While investors have been patient, shares plunging to a new all-time low on Tuesday is not a welcome development.

Moreover, WBD has made significant investments that hinge on maintaining the rights to NBA games. TNT has built a programming slate around the NBA, most notably the highly rated “Inside the NBA” show. Charles Barkley, a key figure on the show, recently signed a new, 10-year deal with WBD worth up to $200 million. Losing the NBA rights could jeopardize the value of these investments and make it harder for WBD to charge distributors for carriage of its channels.

The potential loss of the NBA rights also raises questions about WBD’s recently announced deal with Disney and Fox Corporation to launch a sports super-streamer. The absence of NBA games could throw aspects of this business partnership into question and undermine WBD’s pitch to consumers about live sports being a key differentiator for its flagship streaming service, Max.

While it’s possible that WBD will overtake NBCU’s bid or at least secure some NBA games, the current state of play is not a welcome development for Zaslav and chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels, who have been known for their cost-conscious management of the company.

The optics of the situation are far from ideal, given that executives such as Zaslav and Wiedenfels have been handsomely compensated while investors have watched their assets evaporate over the years. According to recent financial disclosures, Zaslav’s 2023 compensation package grew to nearly $50 million, while Wiedenfels’ topped $17 million.

It’s important to note that WBD is not alone in facing these challenges. Legacy media companies are struggling to adapt to the rapidly changing media landscape, with consumers cutting the cord in favor of streaming options. Disney CEO Bob Iger has openly spoken about the numerous challenges he is navigating, and Paramount Global is engaged in merger talks with David Ellison’s Skydance Media as it fights to find a path forward for survival.

In this context, securing sports rights has become even more crucial for media companies. Live sports are one of the few remaining pillars supporting the traditional cable television package, which has been a lucrative revenue stream for companies like WBD. As legacy media companies search for audiences and try to entice the public to sign up for their streaming platforms, securing these sports rights is more important than ever.

For Zaslav and WBD, the battle for NBA rights could not come at a more inopportune time. With other aspects of the business struggling, the NBA becomes an even more critical asset. The potential loss of these rights, combined with the company’s ongoing challenges, has contributed to the significant decline in WBD’s stock price over the past few months.

However, a glimmer of hope has emerged in the form of a new streaming bundle announced by Disney Entertainment and Warner Bros. Discovery on May 8, 2024. The bundle, which includes Disney+, Hulu, and Max, is set to launch in the U.S. this summer, offering subscribers access to an unprecedented selection of content from the biggest and most beloved brands in entertainment. This partnership could help drive incremental subscribers and stronger retention for WBD, potentially offsetting some of the losses incurred by the potential loss of the NBA rights.

As WBD navigates these turbulent waters, it will be crucial for the company to adapt quickly to the changing media landscape, secure valuable content like the NBA rights, and convince investors of its long-term vision. The recently announced streaming bundle with Disney Entertainment could be a step in the right direction, but the company will need to continue to innovate and evolve to remain competitive in the rapidly changing media industry.

The tumultuous decline of Warner Bros. Discovery stock serves as a stark reminder of the challenges faced by legacy media companies in the age of streaming. As the battle for the NBA rights unfolds and WBD continues to grapple with its internal struggles, investors and industry watchers alike will be keeping a close eye on the company’s next moves. The success of the new streaming bundle and the outcome of the NBA rights negotiations will likely play a significant role in determining the future of WBD and its stock price.

Here’s the full index:

Telmont appointed Official Champagne Supplier of the UIM E1 World Championship

Telmont’s constant concern is to break the codes of Champagne, transforming environmental respect from a mere obligation into a vibrant source of inspiration and innovation. In 2021, the Maison launched its “In the name of Mother Nature” project, aiming to craft the highest-quality Champagne with the greatest respect for the environment. This project is accompanied by numerous initiatives aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of the company. Telmont aims to be Climate Positive by 2030 and Net Positive by 2050.

E1 is the world’s first all-electric raceboat championship and has a sustainability mission to accelerate the electrification of marine transport through clean technology with ambitions to inspire and support iconic coastal cities such as Venice in transitioning to a greener future. The nine teams of male and female pilots race in locations around the world including Monaco and Hong Kong and are owned bysome of the biggest names in world sport, music and business.

Champagne Telmont will be served at the VIP Ocean Club and to members of the public at all E1 events, and this service began last month at the E1 Venice GP on the 10th and 11th May 2024.

“E1 has looked for partners who have the same shared vision as us when it comes to striving for high performance, and a positive impact on the environment. With high net-worth individuals attending our events, it’s important we offer some of the finest champagne in the world, and it is a pleasure to have Champagne Telmont join the E1 Championship.” Rodi Basso, CEO of E1

“Leveraging on innovation and technology, E1 is revolutionising – and decarbonising – a prestigious sport, a discipline of excellence, while continuing to offer an exceptional experience. This is exactly the spirit in which Maison Telmont acts in Champagne: innovating to help reduce our impact on the environment, while upholding traditional know-how. We are proud to be an official supplier of the UIM E1 World Championship.” Ludovic du Plessis, President of Maison Telmont

The Devil is in the detail for INEOS

In this week’s Member Insights piece, David Alexander, the founder and MD of Calacus PR looks into ups and down of Manchester United.  

Running a football club is never easy.

The fans are demanding, the media makes a drama out of every incident and results are everything.

Since Sir Alex Ferguson left Manchester United more than 10 years ago, the Red Devils have struggled to compete for the Premier League and Champions League, trophies they were always contenders for under the Scot.

American owners the Glazer family could not longer rely on the mercurial Sir Alex to bring them regular success and leveraging their takeover through debt and receiving dividends into the bargain hardly helped matters.

At last count, eight different coaches have been given control of the United first team, with limited success. 

The United brand endures, though, and according to Deloitte’s Football Money League, they remain among the most commercially viable clubs around, raising commercial revenue to over £300m in 2023. 

British Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe has already shown his interest in sport by taking over the former Team Sky cycling team and backing the British America’s Cup bid as well as Ligue 1 club Nice and one-third of the Mercedes Formula 1 team.

Sir Jim has been incredibly successful in business and understandably wants to bring that United after taking a 27.7% stake in the club.

“We will bring the global knowledge, expertise and talent from the wider INEOS Sport group to help drive further improvement at the Club, while also providing funds intended to enable future investment into Old Trafford,” said Sir Jim at the time.

“We are here for the long term and recognise that a lot of challenges and hard work lie ahead, which we will approach with rigour, professionalism and passion.”

Football is an emotive sport, but regardless of his minority stake, it was clear that Sir Jim has ambitious plans to help the club compete for the biggest trophies once more.

A quick win among his initial reforms was to announce that he would instigate a three-year freeze on dividend payments, bucking the controversial trend set by the Glazers.

A central part of this journey, says Ratcliffe, is investing in the right people to ensure success can flourish, leading to changes in the club’s leadership team including the inclusion of Dave Brailsford, the director of sport at INEOS.

Brailsford is a veteran in the world of competitive sports, having supercharged British Cycling to unprecedented heights during his role as Director of Performance with Team GB cyclists winning eight Olympic golds at the London 2012 Games while Team Sky, rebranded INEOS Grenadiers in 2019, won the Tour de France in the team’s third year under their new name.

Former Manchester City Commercial Director and Chief Football Operations Officer Omar Berrada was appointed as the new Chief Executive of the club in January as a precursor to Sir Jim’s official arrival the following month, a post he will most likely assume this summer after his gardening leave. 

Berrada has an extensive background in football, particularly when it comes to player contracts and transfers, which will be crucial for United in the coming months and years.

But it hasn’t been all plain-sailing for Sir Jim and INEOS, with some clumsy communication underlining the scrutiny United constantly finding themselves under.

The proposed appointment of Dan Ashworth and United’s poaching of Technical Director Jason Wilcox from Southampton, further underlines Sir Jim’s intention to transform the club.

The pursuit of Ashworth has been controversial, after details of his covert email negotiations with Berrada were discovered, highlighting the fact that Ashworth was being tapped up, breaching Premier League guidelines and confidentiality agreements. 

An audit of United staff and the club’s facilities has led to some clumsy communications that further underline the importance of listening to expert PR support.

In late April, Sir Jim made the decision to cut staff perks as part of his money-saving measures ahead of the men’s FA Cup final. A company-wide email outlined that while staff would be given a free ticket to the final, employees would have to pay for their own travel to and from the stadium. 

Other perks such as the pre-match party, hotel accommodation and the ability for employees to bring friends and family to the match were also scrapped. 

This was just one of many announcements Ratcliffe made to staff, detailing his cost-cutting programme and general displeasure at the way the club was being run

In early May, after a tour of the Trafford Training Centre, Sir Jim sent another email to staff condemning the state of the training ground: “I had a good tour around some of the facilities. I am afraid I was struck in many places by a high degree of untidiness. In particular the IT department which frankly was a disgrace and the dressing rooms of the U18 and U21 were not much better. These standards would not come close to what we would expect at INEOS and we are a chemical company.”

Sir Jim also cited email traffic statistics to Manchester United staff as the basis for a ban on working from home and told them to seek “alternative employment” if they are not willing to come to club premises, despite United’s lack of sufficient office space and some consultants on contracts whose terms do not require them to be in the club’s Manchester or London business complexes.

According to reports, these communiques have turned the atmosphere at the Carrington training centre ‘toxic,’ although it is understandable that Sir Jim wants to get the basics right and fix United’s organisational challenges.

When United lost 1-0 to Arsenal in May, it created a raft of further embarrassment.

With the rain pouring down, the dilapidated Old Trafford could not cope, with 41mm of water cascading through the roof, later dubbed the ‘Old Trafford waterfall.’

Sir Jim has made his plans for Old Trafford clear from the start, with a vision to create the ‘Wembley of the North’ and provide a stadium that the club can be proud of after years of neglect under the Glazers.

Sir Jim spoke of claiming funds from the public purse to help upgrade the stadium, which lacked self-awareness seeing as he has officially moved to Monaco to avoid paying UK tax.

By attending the game against the Gunners, Sir Jim also missed the women’s FA Cup final at Wembley, which United won 4-0 against Tottenham to earn their first major trophy. 

Many disgruntled fans took to social media voicing their concerns over this alleged favouritism, presenting Sir Jim with a further communications set-back, this time with the fans, despite INEOS representation at Wembley.  

On X, @TheUnitedWayyyy posted: “Zero excuses for INEOS, Ratcliffe & his representatives not attending the Women’s FA cup final at Wembley.

“The game against Arsenal is not going to decide anything for us. The men’s team’s fate has been decided & is done for. Think it reeks of biased priorities. Not a good sign.” 

Sir Jim was keen to right this wrong, sending a message of congratulations to the women’s team later that day calling it a “wonderful achievement” and a “historic moment” for the club. 

For many, this was compared to the Glazers’ reign of operational disinterest, and when it was later revealed that the women’s end-of-season awards dinner was to be cancelled, it raised further concerns that the women’s team is not an INEOS priority.

Given that United finished eighth in the Premier League in the 2023-24 season, their worst finish since 1990, and with a goal difference of minus one, the future of manager Erik ten Hag has been under scrutiny.

Ahead of the men’s FA Cup final, there were reports that the Dutchman was almost certain to be fired, regardless of the result. 

The shock 2-1 win over Manchester City prompted a delay in that potential development, with fan groups writing an open letter to INEOS urging them to have patience with ten Hag’s project. Either way, the timing of the story was embarrassing and avoidable.

Ratcliffe has certainly made an impact during his early leadership, with executive appointments, cost-cutting measures and his overall strategy for Manchester United’s governance. 

These drastic measures demonstrate an unwavering commitment to getting Manchester United back on track in the long-term, and any attempt to instil a degree of vigour should be welcomed with open arms. 

But it’s also a reminder that senior leaders, however successful they have been in their professional lives, would do well to work closely with their communications teams so that unpopular but necessary decisions can be planned and communicated sensitively. 

So often we see that the best intentions, clumsily delivered, can do more harm than good that undermines credibility, trust and the support of those key audiences that leaders seek to engage.

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