So Jim Ratcliffe just bid $5.3bn for Chelsea.If that's what Chelsea ends up being worth, based on the club's global fan base that's about $15 per 'fan' (GWI shows 333m people with at least some interest in Chelsea across 47 of the main global markets).But what is a fan?'Only' 96m of those people support Chelsea … Continue reading Is Chelsea worth $5.3bn?
Author: Eddie May
Gen Z and sport – some actual data
The sports biz has something of an obsession with “Gen Z” - constantly analysing, debating and attempting to second-guess what these mythical creatures want, think and do when it comes to sport. This is perfectly understandable. Children are the future, after all. But what exactly is a “Gen Z” and can we get beyond some … Continue reading Gen Z and sport – some actual data
Spurs finally win something!
The Deloitte Football Money League is out and I thought it'd be interesting to compare 2021 revenues with the global fans/followers for the top 15 clubs. Despite having only the 4th largest global following, Man City manage to top the revenue charts, helped by the highest level of broadcast income and 4th highest commercial revenues … Continue reading Spurs finally win something!
Barca x Spotify
The long-trailed partnership between Barcelona and Spotify was finally confirmed yesterday - reportedly a £235m shirt and stadium deal over four years. Spotify's statement talks about being in it for the thrill of bringing music and football together... “We could not be more thrilled to be partnering with FC Barcelona to bring the worlds of … Continue reading Barca x Spotify
Fans, followers and football club valuations
When The Athletic was sold to the New York Times for $550m the other day, the valuation prompted a few comparisons to other sports properties, specifically European football clubs. The same thing happened when MLS team Real Salt Lake (average attendance 15,000) was acquired for around $400m, with Newcastle (av. attendance 51,000) going for a … Continue reading Fans, followers and football club valuations
the PGA TOUR and netflix
The PGA Tour just announced a tie-up with Netflix to produce a behind-the-scenes series, along the lines of F1: Drive to Survive, which gets credited for exposing F1 to a new, younger audience. Golf does slightly suffer from the same challenge as F1, with not that many opportunities to really get to know the players, … Continue reading the PGA TOUR and netflix
The European Tour and DP World
Pretty big news in the world of golf yesterday, as the European Tour announced a long-term partnership with DP World. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ3Td-foqx0 This deal means the tour will now be called the "DP World Tour", and aside from anything else it's a handy way to reposition the 'European Tour' as a much more global entity (it … Continue reading The European Tour and DP World
The fan intelligence index 21/22
Ear To The Ground is an agency with a really valuable consumer insight platform called the Fan Intelligence Network. This is a collective of over 11,000 sports, esports and gaming fans from all over the world - all plugged into what's going and with a finger on the pulse of local culture. It's a powerful … Continue reading The fan intelligence index 21/22
UK sports fans & Cryptocurrency
With NFTs gaining traction pretty rapidly in sport, and crypto platforms also getting involved in sponsorship, there's some quite interesting data here from GWI's recent Zeitgeist survey (Sep '21), looking at awareness and attitudes to all things crypto. I've compared people in the UK with an interest in watching sport, with the UK general population. … Continue reading UK sports fans & Cryptocurrency
Let’s play the sports marketing cliché game!
I wrote this piece for the Unofficial Partner blog, but thought I'd share it here as well because it's quite fun and hopefully useful too. Sport loves a cliché, Brian. And, at the end of the day, sports marketing is no different. In fact, quite a lot of the discourse and strategic thinking that surrounds … Continue reading Let’s play the sports marketing cliché game!
So, what events should be in the commonwealth games?
The Commonwealth Games made a few headlines this week by announcing that, after 2022, only two sports will be mandatory: athletics and swimming. Future hosts will get to decide for themselves which events to include, with a recommendation of 15 in total. A lot of this is about making it viable for more cities to … Continue reading So, what events should be in the commonwealth games?
The UK SPORTS AUDIENCE: SEP ’21
A big part of how I work with clients in sport is to help them gain a deeper understanding of their audience through data, leading to insights that provide the foundation for building a marketing and engagement strategy. One of the most useful external data sources I use is Global Web Index, a quarterly online … Continue reading The UK SPORTS AUDIENCE: SEP ’21
Can Emma get more people playing tennis?
Emma Raducanu winning the US Open as a qualifier, in only her second grand slam event. Stories in sport don't get much more fairytale than that, and for my money it was one of the most incredible and uplifting things we've seen in years. On the back of these type of things happening we get … Continue reading Can Emma get more people playing tennis?
Sport and the climate emergency
As if we needed it, the IPCC report should be a huge wake up call to all of us to urgently tackle climate change. This will continue to be one of the top things on the agenda for sporting organisations and sponsors in the coming years, and most sports can take comfort that the majority … Continue reading Sport and the climate emergency
The pressure of being a superstar athlete
Kudos to Simone Biles for prioritising her mental health over simply "pushing through" and performing because that's what everyone expects her to do. It really does feel like things have changed recently, with top athletes being more open about the pressures of doing what they do. None of us can really imagine what it's like … Continue reading The pressure of being a superstar athlete