I'm going to guess that not too many of you were watching the final stages last night of the Valspar Championship on the PGA Tour? This is Peter Malnati, who won the tournament, celebrating with one of his young sons. https://youtu.be/ZDbFyOIcsLc?si=0pfTf6EugvXk-1tM This was just Malnati's second win in 259 PGA Tour events (the first was … Continue reading The power of the unexpected winner in sport
Football (soccer) is, by a distance, the most popular sport in the world, reaching hundreds of millions of people right across the planet. This presents an opportunity for teams, leagues and events to grow and monetise their fanbase. It also makes the game a magnet for all sorts of brands looking to tap into the … Continue reading REPORT: Football fans across the generations
As soon as I saw the tweet I thought "uh-oh, this isn't going to go down very well". https://twitter.com/BritishCycling/status/1579449650553069568?s=20&t=qR-ymZhagb9chsg79W220Q And it hasn't gone down well at all. Thousands of extremely negative comments on social media, people cancelling their British Cycling membership, critical media coverage, open letters signed by Greenpeace and others, and no doubt much … Continue reading British cycling and the sponsorship conundrum
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
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!
Yesterday I wrote up a few thoughts on the ESL and the concept of "future fans". YouGov have now released some initial data on how the ESL proposal has gone down with fans in the UK. The topline result is that 79% of football fans oppose it, with only 14% showing any support. Even among … Continue reading ESL: No-one likes us, we don’t care?
So the proposed European Super League has caused quite a stir. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a proposal be met with such universal disapproval from fans, media, NGBs, federations and governments. Putting aside the general debate on whether this is good for the game as a whole (I don’t think it is), does the … Continue reading ESL and the ‘fans of the future’
The story of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bidding to takeover Wrexham AFC is quite extraordinary. Two movie stars buying a National League club from a (let's face it) not especially glamorous corner of Wales and wanting to turn it into a 'global force' has corny Hollywood script written all over it. But, they produced … Continue reading An extraordinary statement
Ear to the Ground is an agency I sometimes work with - one of their unique assets is a global 'Fan Intelligence' network of 11,000+ culturally influential young people. They've tapped into it to create a top 40 ranking of the most culturally relevant brands in sport today i.e. brands in sport that are leading culture … Continue reading The most culturally relevant brands in sport?
YouGov Sport put out some nice research the other day, looking at sports fans across various European markets. One of the most startling pieces of data is that only 26% of sports fans in the UK are female - a much lower figure than any other country in Europe, where it's at least 40%. Can this … Continue reading Can it be true that only 26% of UK sports fans are female?
The milk brand Oatly got into some hot water (see what I did there?) last week when Twitter 'erupted' with allegations about one of its major investors, Blackstone. Allegations that don't exactly live up to Oatly's highly purposeful, sustainable positioning. This being social media, it quickly led to a #boycottoatly campaign with lots of people … Continue reading Do #BrandBoycotts make any difference?
The agency Two Circles just published a typically sharp piece of analysis around the future for sports media and the implications for rights holders. Sport is still a huge pull, but as consumers tighten belts and cut back on TV subscriptions, only the most premium sports can expect to secure big rights deals from traditional … Continue reading The future media model for rights holders
I went to Six Day London last night, at the Velo Park in Stratford. It was loud, it was frenetic, it was fast and a lot of the time I had no real idea what was going on, but as an overall experience (for someone who isn't an avid cycling fan) it was great. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2Pt4y7vPrY … Continue reading An esport that actually feels like a sport
It's been quite a week for Nike. Last Friday, they reacted to the four year doping ban of Alberto Salazar by swiftly shutting down the Oregon Project that the coach had led since its inception. It's kind of admirable that they acted so quickly to shut the project down, but what choice did they really … Continue reading When does innovation become cheating?
The England & Wales Cricket Board copped some flack last week over the unveiling of KP Snacks as lead partner for the new competition, with various KP brands (from Tyrrell's to my personal favourite, Pom-Bear) adorning the front of the new team kits. Almost immediately, a variety of children's health charities were issuing statements condemning … Continue reading Is the ECB nuts to partner with KP?
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