Some of the biggest names in women’s football will become immortalised as digital avatars, as part of a new partnership between Sure and FIFA World, launched ahead of this month’s FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™.
The global governing body’s immersive fan experience, which launched last year ahead of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ will once again come to life within Roblox; with Sure female football ambassadors including Trinity Rodman, Lauren James and Melanie Leupolz featuring in the virtual environment as digital avatars, allowing its community and football fans around the world the chance to interact with the players in social spaces, earn rewards and digital collectibles.
Through the integration of its female ambassadors in FIFA World, Sure hopes to empower more girls with the confidence and opportunity to play football.
This latest collaboration comes as Sure launches its Breaking Limits: Girls Can series, with the ambition of equipping and inspiring more girls to play football and other sports. Sure’s global FIFA Women’s World Cup™ campaign will also see its ambassadors feature across a range of local and globally relevant assets and platforms, including TV, social, digital, OOH, retail and experiential.
Kathryn Swallow, Sure Global Brand VP, said:
“The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023TM is set to be one of the sporting events of the year and we’re delighted to be involved as official sponsors of the tournament and to bring this ground-breaking partnership to life in FIFA World.
Together with FIFA, Sure is committed to getting more girls to play football and we are thrilled to launch the Sure Obby in FIFA World, a space where everyone can feel confident to move – regardless of race, gender or perceived ability.”
Eduardo Solis, Head of Marketing Partnerships at FIFA, added:
“Sure’s commitment to developing football has always been clear to us, and that’s why they’ve been a perfect partner for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, and it’s great to see them engaging with our digital experiences to encourage the next generation – we’re excited to see what their ambassadors can bring to life within FIFA World.”
Sure female football ambassador, Lauren James, said:
“It’s so exciting to see a digital version of myself in Roblox and I think this just shows how far women’s football has come in a short space of time. I’m proud to be a part of a campaign with Sure that is helping to break down barriers for young girls and inspire them to follow their dreams.”
In part one of this series Callum Chambers, Head of Marketing at EngageRM, looks into the differences between the game day experience for fans in the NBA, UK and his native Australia.
After living in the UK for the past six years as an Aussie expat, I was introduced to a rich sporting culture that bore some similarities, but many more differences to my home country across their three major sports – cricket, football and rugby.
Then about a month ago, I was fortunate enough to be in Denver for the NBA Finals series against the Miami Heat. With the promise of a first franchise championship, and being a lifelong Nuggets fan, I made the decision to head to the action and be amongst ‘my people’, fellow fans.
Callum in his seats for Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
After speaking with NBA teams for this article, as well as what I encountered in Denver, it brought into stark contrast the difference between the two game day experiences. A very traditional UK sports culture compared to a commercially focused U.S. market, makes for an interesting dissection.
Game Day
Game day is where the most obvious distinction is and it’s where we’ll start this series. All five of my senses were blown into oblivion when I was in Denver before game 1.
Fans were out in droves, scattered about in front of Ball Arena while all the bars down-town were full for hours in advance of tip off. That feeling was amplified when you got inside, with merchandise stalls spanning the concourse, random chants breaking out of nowhere and a buzz you don’t just feel anywhere else in the world.
Head inside and you’re looking at a light show crossed with a rock concert and for a moment you forget you’re actually there to watch basketball. At every break they’re firing t-shirt cannons at you, Drake is blaring over the sound system, cheerleaders are dancing, and the mascot is trying to nail half court shots. There isn’t a moment where you’re afforded to draw a breath.
“First and foremost, we want to ensure that we create an environment where our team has an advantage to win”, said Becky Kimbro, SVP for Brand at the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs.
“That is the sole purpose of why we’re all so passionate about doing what we do, because we believe that we can help the team win if we’re creating that environment.”
With that high level focus of simply creating a home court advantage, means lots of smaller tactical activations and moves are aimed at getting the crowd as physically hyped as possible. For Becky and the Spurs brand and marketing team, they put fans into three different buckets.
“The strategy is to create an environment that engages core, casual, and curious fans”, said Kimbro.
“We try to do things like find themes (Star Wars night, Marvel night, etc.) for the curious fans to get them interested in attending just one game. We also do pre/post-game concerts, as we believe if we can get them in the building, our game environment can get them to come back.
“For the casual fans, we try to deepen their affinity to the sport and the team. We do things like alumni autograph sessions, or pre/post-game group activities like fan tunnels on court or the anthem.
“For core fans, we try to do different things during each game. Likely these are season ticket members, so we want to give an experience that is familiar but not ever tired.”
Meanwhile in old blighty
Across the Atlantic, the no-frills, traditional approach to a Premier League game day hasn’t changed a lot over the years.
I’m generalising a bit here, but typically before a match, you’ll likely spend your time in the pub, telling your mates how rubbish your manager is, and how you were originally picked in the academy team until you did your knee at 15.
If you weren’t going to the match, you were huddled into a pub watching the big screen, praying you’re not accidentally standing in front of a tattooed, middle-aged geezers view of the tele.
If you did have a ticket, you made the pilgrimage to the ground (after being at the pub for an hour, obviously) with all your scarf wearing brothers (90% men), passing by the pop-up food stalls before heading straight into the stadium.
This is where you start to notice the opportunity for teams to begin the physical engagement journey before kick-off, a time for younger fans to get actively involved.
Things like a VR pop up area just outside the stadium, where kids can try and fire a penalty past Aaron Ramsdale. Or a sponsored fan zone where you can take some selfies and get a free t-shirt (in exchange for your precious email address). Families, who teams and leagues should all be targeting, would be all over that and more likely to come back again and again. As Becky mentioned, this is all commonplace in the U.S.
During the game, it’s difficult for football and rugby. Without the stoppages that basketball, baseball and NFL have, there are limited moments to take advantage of.
Some of the gimmicks like kiss-cam at a place like West Ham probably wouldn’t go down all that well either.
But cricket has that opportunity. Steeped in tradition and heritage, cricket is caught between two worlds, one that Tim East, Fan Engagement Manager of The KIA Oval home of Surrey CCC is balancing.
“It is an interesting mix with Surrey County Cricket Club as we work hard to celebrate and maintain the tradition and heritage of the Club, whilst acknowledging that it is hugely important to attract new audiences to our venue”, said East.
“The U.S. teams and venues have built their match days into huge multi-faceted events. Fans, especially young fans, want more out of their matchday, outside of just watching the sport – whether this is live music, interactive games, half time entertainment, or competitions and prizes.”
The KIA Oval has a dedicated heritage department to help intertwine the past and the future, ensuring they don’t move too quickly and totally forget the celebrated history of the ground and Surrey County Cricket Club.
North of the Thames, one place that isn’t too worried about that is the brand spanking new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, who have dived into that future.
While it helps to have brand new state of the art facilities, it is a purpose-built entertainment venue that is capable of so much more than football. It has the world longest bar inside with a Beavertown microbrewery serving up pints inside the venue. They host NFL games here, have held gigs with Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Guns N’ Roses – it is by far the most commercialised and ‘Americanised’ venue in the UK.
Is that a glimpse into the future for all the other teams and leagues?
Where are we headed?
The U.S. is a younger country, so isn’t beholden to the same traditions and customs that the UK teams and leagues are. They also have an enormous appetite for innovation without even as much as a glance in the rear-view mirror.
But it also means they miss out on that hard to quantify ‘soul of the game’ that is unique to the UK. There isn’t and never will be, anything like being at Anfield with 50,000 Liverpool fans belting out You’ll Never Walk Alone.
But the major strategic difference seems to be that U.S. teams aren’t just focused on obtaining new and diverse fans, they’re obsessed with it.
“At the Spurs, we sit in one of the fastest growing regions in the country,” said Kimbro.
“There’s a ton of job creation and population growth there. There’s just a boatload of opportunity within that corridor.
“When you look at the demographics, the younger generations are increasingly more multicultural and more diverse, which I think really is a great thing for a sport like basketball that has a really diverse appeal.”
If the likes of cricket, football and rugby want to attract younger fans, they need to focus on more than just the on-field entertainment of the game. This generation wants to feel more connected to the players on the team, so they must start to think outside the box.
Inspiration can be drawn from the USA, not necessarily from the bravado and over the top match day stunts, but from their laser focus on the acquisition of a younger and more diverse set of fans.
This can be done without selling their soul and forgetting their rich history that has got them to where they are today.
And if you know your fans inside and out, giving them what they want is made a lot easier. More on that in part 2.
Click here to connect with Callum on LinkedIn or here to find out more about the work being done by EngageRM
After the huge anticipation leading up to the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2023 around the world premiere of the ASB glass floor, what did everyone make of it now that it’s in play?
We’ve been getting all the feedback from a momentous and historic Quarter-Finals day in Madrid and we’re also looking forward to see what new designs are in store for the Semi-Finals and Sunday’s all-important Third Place and Final games.
A red-hot start in the debut game
If there was anybody still around who had doubts about the innovative surface, they were swept away with a memorable and brilliant first-ever game on it as France and Japan served up an overtime treat.
There were also some incredible individual displays, including Leila Lecan of France who fired 36 points – one of the highest ever recorded in the competition.
She said: “Maybe the glass floor brought me some luck. I will need to ask my club to always play on this glass floor. I must say that I fell on my knees and strangely it didn’t hurt as normal. Maybe there was something magical in the floor and also it was really cool with the design and the animations.”
Lapena loves the new look
Canada senior play-caller Victor Lapena, who has also been part of the coaching setup for his native Spain at all levels was sat courtside. He also gave a great review of the state-of-the-art court.
“When you see it on the big screen, it’s amazing – it’s marvelous. We have to give it some time, but it’s the future and it’s here to stay.
“For the public especially, it’s amazing. Who knows, but I’m sure the fans will soon interact and have the chance to appear on the court with their face or something – it’s unique and it’s a blast.”
“It’s great what FIBA is doing for the benefit of women’s basketball and basketball in general,” added Lapena.
Spanish ace Martin Carrion can’t quite believe it…
Playing on the court in a competitive game for the first time was something that Spanish star Iyana Martin Carrion will remember for a long, long time. She propelled her country into the Semi-Finals with an 18-point display against Lithuania.
She enthused: “Wow, playing in this court was unbelievable. I had never played in a court like this and it was crazy!”
“We’re really proud that it was done for the first time ever in a women’s tournament and we’re grateful because it gives exposure to our sport,”
In this week’s Member Insight piece, Richard Brinkman tells us what makes a sporting event cut-through and why jeopardy is the thing you need above all else.
Mid to late summer is a wonderful time of year for sports fans. There is an abundance of top quality events to either attend, watch or follow; and no shortage of ways in which one can connect with them.
In recent weeks the UK has been spoilt by Wimbledon, Ascot and other top-quality horse racing, Men’s and Women’s Ashes Cricket, Tour de France, Diamond League Athletics, various F1 Grand Prix, T20 Finals Day, World Aquatics Championships, Henley, and major golf championships for both men and women. This is even before you consider the Women’s Football World Cup; the beginning of Premier League pre-season and the (usually foolish) eternal hope that springs from new signings, squads and rhetoric; and the build-up to the Men’s Rugby World Cup.
There is pretty much something for everyone. We are truly spoilt for choice. However, through the great luxury of choice sports fans are brought face-to-face with two of the principal challenges that sport and its administrators are grappling with in the 2020s.
The first issue is that of attention and cut-through – gaining a significant enough share of voice and impact to keep your event moving forward both commercially and in terms of popularity and participation.
The second is the importance of jeopardy – balancing the fundamental meritocratic ethos of rewarding excellence from a level playing field with creating an entertaining event that can surprise, amaze and inspire.
Of course, these issues are not mutually exclusive – they are intrinsically linked and have a fly-wheel effect on each other in that if one is moving particularly positively so invariably will the other. However, unfortunately the opposite is also generally true.
Only this weekend the influence of jeopardy, and intrinsic excitement that it generates, was brought into stark focus for me. I am left feeling that, of the influential factors that determine whether an event is successful or not, a sense of jeopardy is the most important and vital.
I often find that the views and discussion points of other sports fans (some avid, others more casual) that I encounter at work and as I go about my social life (generally organised by my partner!) is very revealing and a good barometer of the attention and cut-through that sporting events are creating.
Indeed, last week it was very clear that, even by Wimbledon standards, the Men’s Final had transcended the sport and, indeed, the event itself. This was not solely due to the outstanding quality of the tennis. Nor the myriad of inventive ways that the AELTC had put in place for viewers to interact with the event.
Most of the discourse I heard very much focussed on the “master and apprentice” narrative revolving around the potential passing of the dominant status in tennis away from the Federer/Nadal/Djokovic hegemony to a new generation of exciting players. The conversation was very much focussed on the jeopardy that Alcaraz and his flair could, perhaps, unseat the efficiency and relentlessness of the “King of Centre Court”. And so it (thrillingly) transpired.
This weekend there was seemingly more interest in regular weather updates from Manchester, where significant sporting outcomes still very much hung in the balance, than in Lewis Hamilton’s pole and the Hungarian Grand Prix, the fall-out from the Lionesses’ hard-won opening World Cup game, or the leaderboard at The Open.
This further reinforced to me the critical nature of jeopardy and its predominance over quality and accessibility/connection.
Why would the rain at Old Trafford be of greater interest than an F1 race or the final round of one of only 4 Majors each year? The key reason, to me, is that there was still a lot riding on the outcome of Old Trafford and that an event of great consequence was still highly competitive and to be decided by the team that delivered a memorable performance. The compelling nature of the cricket played across the matches, even if not always of the highest quality, has also helped build interest.
Contrast this with Red Bull’s 12th consecutive victory in Hungary (by a very comfortable margin) and a final round at Hoylake where the leader had a decisive lead over the rest of the field going into Sunday that was never threatened or dented. There is little joy to be had in watching a Pro playing a conservative round to maintain a lead. There was certainly none of the thrill that Alcaraz and Djokovic created the previous week.
Of course, the well-documented awkwardness of Women’s World Cup match start-times for European audiences will have played a part in dampening conversation beyond the avid fan about the Lionesses and their tournament chances. A traditionally laboured opening performance from an England team does not help either.
In a world where much of what we know and love about sport seems uncertain, where a lot seems to change and shift at an ever-increasing pace it is, perhaps, reassuring that the oldest principle of all holds firm – genuine competition and uncertain outcomes – ie jeopardy – trumps all else when trying to build cut-through and presence for an event.
Yes, the quality of that competition and people’s ability to connect with it are also important but without a significant amount of jeopardy about the result (i.e. the result matters and is uncertain) a significant share of voice is tough to generate. Particularly in a world where we are spoiled for choice for world-class sporting action.
It’s a shame about the awkward time difference for European viewers because the Women’s World Cup would be drawing the biggest TV audiences of the year in many countries. But even if everyone was watching the games on TV, the impact on ordinary girls playing the game every day might not amount to much.
A comparison with recently ended Wimbledon, the biggest annual women’s event, is timely.
In the UK we have the Wimbledon phenomenon in participation. During the fortnight men and women, boys and girls are suddenly out of the tennis court knocking a ball around, many of them people who don’t often play tennis.
The true success of the Women’s World Cup will be shown when it has a similar encouraging effect on the public’s sporting behaviour, when you see girls out in the park kicking a football around the same way that boys do with their jumpers for goalposts.
You don‘t see girls doing that very much yet. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a group of teenage girls playing football with each other in a park near me.
Whose fault is that? Whose responsibility is it to get girls playing for fun? It not FIFA’s. It’s not really the FA’s either.
In fact there is a governance gap when it comes to casual participation and it’s not an easy one to close.
When sporting bodies speak of ‘participation’ and ‘grassroots’ sport what they’re usually talking about is organised sport, formal competition and instruction with referees and accredited coaches and the like. This is basically sport that requires kids to affiliate to an NGB to take part in. In a nutshell, it’s what parents of junior footballers have to pay the FA or recognised clubs for.
The comparison with tennis is again apt.
The casual players crowding courts during Wimbledon don’t have to affiliate to the LTA to enjoy playing although the places where they play are officially homologated as tennis courts. You can’t play that sport otherwise.
But you can play football. Kicking a ball in the park doesn’t require a proper pitch. And I dare say most of boys’ football is played informally in parks or in the street or on the beach.
If girls’ football is really going to grow they need to be encouraged to get together with their friends and play informally in the same way just for fun. That’s what sport is about and it’s where future stars begin.
Every morning the parks of London are full of women and girls who are out for a run. They don’t need to join anything, they don’t need to pay anything to some official body. They simply get out to enjoy running and staying fit.
I’m not going to get into how important this activity is for reducing the long-term burden on the health system. If I didn’t know better I’d say it’s up to the government to get more girls playing football to help the NHS.
I’d venture to say the biggest encouragement ever given to running for fun was Nike’s Just Do It slogan.
Girls’ football could use a similar push to encourage everyday fun participation.
Just Kick It.
Never mind that it might sound like an anti-addiction campaign. Imagine if Adidas were to go there.
The ensuing fireworks would be as entertaining as any World Cup final.
As we get closer to the start of a new Premier League season, we decided to turn the focus of this month’s Sponsorship Index, powered by caytoo, to the 20 teams which make up the league.
Sponsorship of Premier League teams is something that is in the news a lot at the moment because of Chelsea’s failure to find a front of shirt sponsor. This will be the first time they haven’t had a name on the front of their shirts since Gulf Air became their first shirt sponsor in 1983.
Another hot topic around the league is the banning of betting brands as front of shirt sponsors. The government-imposed ban will not come into effect until the 2026/27 season. Compared to ten months ago, one fewer club has a gambling sponsor and overall the number of gambling sponsors has dropped 18%.
We have looked into the partnerships held by each Premier League side to determine the key trends in sponsorship.
In a similar vein to the likes of the NBA and MLB, three sectors dominate sponsorship among English Premier League teams: Food & Beverage (accounting for 15.6% of sponsors and the three most common individual sponsors – Monster Energy, Cadbury and Heineken), Consumer Services and Financial Services (both 11.1%).
Food & Beverage is driven by Alcohol (5.7%, the 2nd most prevalent sub sector) and Soft Drinks and Nutrition & Supplements (both 3.9%) while Consumer Services is driven by Gambling (6.9%, the most prevalent sub sector). Financial Services is driven by Payments/Transfer (3.3%) and Investment/Trading (2.7%) firms.
However, over the last 10 months, Financial Services and F&B have seen the biggest decline in the number of sponsorships, falling 31% and 21%, respectively. Financial Services’ decline has been down to Investment/Trading (a 40% drop in the number of deals, despite eToro’s recent splurge on PL teams to become the joint 4th most prevalent sponsor), Insurance (-44%) and Payments/Transfer (-27%). While F&B’s drop is down to Soft Drinks (-38%), Alcohol (-24%) and Foods (-42%).
This drop among traditionally dominant sectors such as Financial Services and F&B has resulted in a slight consolidation (or more even spread) of sponsors between the different sectors. For instance, 10 months ago, the difference between the most and least dominant sectors was 17.7 percentage points but this has dropped to 14.4. This suggests PL teams may be starting to do a better job at looking beyond the ‘usual suspects’ for sponsors.
In contrast, Travel & Tourism and Industrials have seen the biggest increase in the number of sponsorships, rising 53% and 100%, respectively. T&T’s growth – a trend identified by caytoo earlier this year – has been driven by Travel Agencies (up 83%), notably including Destination Sport Travel who sponsor three teams (Burnley, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United).
In this week’s View from Lausanne piece Michel Cutait, Acting Secretary General for the World Obstacle Federation, takes a look at the need of sports partnerships to have a purpose and why they are so much more powerful when they do.
Partnerships have become a driving force for growth, innovation, and social impact in the constantly evolving sports sector. Currently, purposeful partnerships have emerged as the foundation for success, going beyond financial gains to align values, develop stakeholders, and contribute to society.
However, these partnerships require a cultural shift within organisations to adopt collaboration and shared goals. Leveraging the power of data and strategic collaboration, purposeful alliances are reshaping sports management, paving the way for sustainable success.
Purposeful partnerships in the sports sector transcend traditional transactional relationships. They are built on a shared purpose, common values, and a commitment to achieving collective goals. Organisations need to view their collaborators as strategic allies, working towards a greater cause. This requires open communication, transparency, and a willingness to co-create innovative solutions to confront societal challenges.
In the realm of sports, intentional partnerships between teams and brands are driven by a mutual commitment to enhancing fan experiences, fostering brand loyalty, and promoting social impact. By leveraging comprehensive databases, organisations can identify partners aligned with their vision and values. These partnerships go beyond sponsorships, creating authentic connections that resonate with fans and consumers. Understanding fans’ preferences allows for personalised and impactful experiences, deepening the relationship between the parties.
Collaborations between leagues and federations have the potential to drive transformation and growth in the sports sector. By joining forces, these entities can pool resources, share best practices, and promote innovation. The power of purposeful partnerships is amplified when public and private entities come together to promote positive changes.
These collaborations enable the development of initiatives that ensure the implementation of social programs, interaction with local communities, promotion of social inclusion, as well as job creation and economic development, with the ultimate goal of social responsibility.
Purposeful partnerships between brands, organizations, and athletes with non-profit organizations create significant social impact. They require a commitment to collective success that places social impact at the center of the relationship. It’s important that in these partnerships the parties’ values share a purposeful identity, precisely because this synergy will enable social goals to be achieved.
Some examples of purposeful partnerships that continue to generate important results include:
– NFL Player Engagement and All Pro Dad: This purposeful partnership between the NFL Player Engagement and All Pro Dad focuses on strengthening family relationships among NFL players. Through initiatives promoting involved fatherhood, the partnership supports players on their journey as parents and provides resources for healthy family relationships.
– NBA and Basketball Without Borders: The NBA collaborates with Basketball Without Borders, a foundation with global initiatives, to organize basketball camps worldwide. This partnership has reached 66 camps, impacting over 3,900 campers from 134 countries. It promotes cultural exchange, provides development opportunities for young athletes, and supports social causes in local communities.
– MLS NEXT All-Star Game presented by Allstate: The partnership between MLS and Allstate prioritizes the growth, development, and safety of young soccer players in North America. The MLS NEXT All-Star Game showcases rising stars and creates a positive and exciting environment for the next generation of athletes.
Looking to the future, several trends are shaping the landscape of purposeful partnerships in the sports sector. The integration of technology, artificial intelligence, and data analysis is set to revolutionise the way partnerships are formed and managed. This means that organisations will be able to identify compatible partners more effectively, leveraging advanced analytics and data-driven insights.
Furthermore, the increasing emphasis on social responsibility and sustainability presents an opportunity for purposeful partnerships to promote meaningful changes in society.
Sports organisations are increasingly focused on reducing their environmental impact, promoting diversity and inclusion, and supporting social causes. Purposeful partnerships that align with these values have the potential to create a powerful platform for change, such as promoting environmentally friendly practices, raising awareness about sustainability issues, and inspiring fans and consumers to take initiatives themselves.
As the sports sector continues to evolve, purposeful partnerships will play a crucial role in its success, forging enduring alliances that drive growth, innovation, and positive social impact. Purposeful partnerships in the sports sector are transformative and offer exciting possibilities for the future. By adapting to emerging trends, like the integration of technology and focus on social responsibility and sustainability, organizations can create purposeful partnerships that make a real difference.
These transformations promote a culture of collaboration, shared purpose, and a commitment to creating a positive impact in the world of sports. Sports organizations, brands, athletes, and entities with social purposes can shape a future of growth, innovation, and social change in the sports sector.”
Michel Cutait is a senior executive, consultant, and professor driving business development, strategic management, and sustainable growth for international organizations. With over two decades dedicated to the real estate, retail, and sports industries, he currently serves as Acting Secretary-General at World Obstacle, the international sports federation governing obstacle sports (OCR, Ninja and Adventure Racing). He holds a Masters in Social Relations (Brazil), Marketing (Australia), and a Masters in Sports Administration and Technology from EPFL (AISTS) in Lausanne, the Olympic capital. He has written 5 books, the last one entitled Management Performance Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Since the merger between Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Sport was announced, humble sports fans have been wondering what this will mean for them.
Well, as the clocks ticked to 6:00 am on Tuesday, we got our answer as all BT Sport social media accounts, channels and apps became TNT Sports.
You would have to have been living under a rock – to not have seen the advertising campaign for the rebrand which, with its “New Name, Same Game” tagline, was plastered all over our screens at the back end of last season.
So, what does this all mean for the humble fan at home?
Firstly, and most importantly, existing BT Sport subscribers don’t have to do a thing. Everything is transferred seamlessly.
Now, onto the nitty gritty.
Well, we have some new on-screen talent. All football coverage will be hosted by one of their four female hosts. Leading the line, replacing Jake Humphrey is two-time SJA award-winning presenter Laura Woods. Woods is joined by Jules Breach, the new touchline reporter, Reshmin Chowdhury and Lynsey Hipgrave.
The majority of the pundits and commentators will be staying the same with the welcome addition of fan-favourite Ally McCoist as a regular co-commentator and studio pundit.
“The most important thing for us is that the people on the screen are relatable and genuine,” Scott Young, Senior Vice President Content and Production, WBD Sports Europe. “We want to be right by the fans, everyone that is working on all our shows are incredibly passionate about sport, they are fans as well, and we want to get that across.”
Andrew Georgiou, President and MD of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, added: “We can laugh at ourselves, we’re approachable, and we don’t take ourselves too seriously, with a bit of that British humour, which I think the BT Sport brand did have and I think it’s something that we definitely want to keep as part of that TNT Sports brand..”
Now onto the all important price. BT Sport customers currently pay £29.99 a month and this will remain the same, and as an added value TNT subscribers will be able to access the Discovery+ app.
The app and platform will also host all of the TNT Sports content and in the next 18 months all the Eurosport channels will be included in the offering as well.
There are plenty of new technological features on the app as well, that are going to add to the live experience including the ability to watch along with friends around the world. As with all these things though it will come down to how easy they are to operate, the inevitable wifi problems and how much they disrupt the live viewing experience.
Can they not just compete with Sky, but knock them off their perch?
This is an important question and I certainly think nobody has been in a better position to do so in the past decade. They will have the energy of a rebrand and the financial muscle of a large-scale multinational media company to try and push them forward.
They are also already in possession of some of the UK’s most valuable sporting rights being the home of European club football, club rugby and also cricket in Australia. Adding the rights packages held by Eurosport into this will only strengthen their offering.
Georgiou said: “We are a premium sports broadcaster and our 100% stated ambition is to remain a premium sports broadcaster.”
When pushed on the upcoming Premier League rights tender, Georgiou refused to commit either way, but it is hard to see a world where TNT are not going to look to increase their share of Premier League games. They currently have 32 Saturday lunchtime games and two rounds of midweek fixtures.
The next round of Premier League rights will see an extra 70 games being broadcast, taking the total to 270. We are yet to see how the different packages will look like when the league carves them up and who else is going to enter the bidding war, but this is something to keep an eye on over the next year.
As with everything in sport it always comes back to the rights and nothing drives subscriptions and viewers in the UK like Premier League rights.
By Alex Brinton, Content Manager for iSportConnect
This month’s iSportConnect Business Index sees big wins among betting brands, broadcasters and gaming business. Twice CityAM Analyst of the Year, Ian Whittaker gives his views on what has happened over the last month.
We have started into the Q2 results season and sentiment in the markets has turned more positive as inflation continues to come down on both sides of the Atlantic and market perceptions of the chances of a soft landing increase off the back of hopes of still robust jobs data and consumer data. One factor that has boosted the markers is the expectations that future interest rates are likely to peak soon, and that helps the Tech sector in particular. Nasdaq had its strongest 1H in its history and that is reflected in the performance of the Tech names in our index such as Apple, Microsoft and Netflix.
Elsewhere, more sector or industry specific factors had a major impact amongst several names. In apparel, Puma has had a strong run after.a long time in the doldrums as analysts and the market start to believe that the company is on the road to recovery. Madison Square Garden and LiveNation both benefited from general positive sentiment off the back of continued resilient consumer demand. The (ex-China) Games names also saw a 9-10% increase as surging optimism the Microsoft takeover of Activision would go through led investors to buy the names in the hope of future M&A activity. However, perhaps the strongest sector-wide rise was in the Betting space, where several of the names we look at also benefited off the back of expectations of improving earnings.
We will have a clearer picture once results season is over but so far, economic sentiment seems to be improving and that bodes well for the names in our index.
UK Athletics have appointed Sportsbeat and PRTNR Strategies to deliver a comprehensive content, digital, communications and PR brief, in an exciting new partnership for the sport.
The two agencies, both part of Beat Media Group, work with some of the biggest names and brands in sport, including Team GB, The Open, FIFA, Six Nations Rugby and the National Lottery, as well as a host of other national and international governing bodies.
PRTNR, the newly formed comms division of Beat Media Group, will team up with content and syndication specialists Sportsbeat to deliver a totally integrated solution, producing content at scale to channels owned and earned.
The brief also includes activities at next year’s World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow and the 2026 European Championships in Birmingham, as well as auditing and revising the digital strategy for UK Athletics’ social channels.
UK Athletics Chief Executive Jack Buckner said: “We are delighted to announce this partnership today which will ensure exciting and engaging digital output across our channels. UKA have enjoyed working with the Sportsbeat brand over the last 20 years, and more recently that relationship has grown as they have supported our content output throughout our events and also at championships.
“We are looking forward to telling stories and working with athletes more closely to promote them and their channels to grow the athletics audience.”
Beat Media Group Managing Director James Parsons said: “There is no more diverse and inclusive sports team competing on the international stage than UK Athletics and we’re looking forward to telling those stories.
“This is a long-term partnership using our full range of PR, content and syndication services. We’re delighted UK Athletics has joined our roster of blue-chip sporting clients.”
