I was watching the opening games of Euro 2020 and it struck me how many of the sponsors are no longer the kind of 'blue chip' brands we've been used to seeing over the years. The image below show Euro 2000 vs. Euro 2020 main sponsors. Many of the brands and even categories on the … Continue reading How things change
With Euro 2020 almost upon us, I wanted to take a look at the demographics, interests, brand and media preferences of football fans from across the continent. I've used GWI data to paint a picture of football fans from England, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Turkey. Here are some … Continue reading Anatomy of a European football fan
The Lions just announced a partnership with skincare brand Dove Men+Care for the upcoming tour of South Africa. According to the announcement, the activation theme will be about ‘respect and caring’ - and specifically showing how the players balance rugby with parenthood. “Dove Men+Care will work with brand ambassadors and the Lions to showcase what … Continue reading Do rugby fans moisturise?
On the day the UK goes to the polls in various local and national elections, here's a look at the political leaning of the country's sports fans, plus a few other insights that I found interesting. #1 F1 fans are the most conservative Actually it’s neck and neck between F1 and golf - 33% of … Continue reading Ten quite interesting things about UK sports fans
On the same day as the ESL project bit the dust (at least for now), the PGA Tour launched its Player Impact Program in which an extra $40m bonus pool will be shared out among the players who “move the needle” the most in terms of social media impact and brand recognition (but not directly … Continue reading So what exactly is a future fan?
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 Masters starts tomorrow. It’s one of my favourite sporting events of the year. Something about the familiarity of the venue and the fact that (to me at least) it heralds the proper start of a new sporting year. I remember as a teenager watching the final rounds unfold on TV during the European ‘golden … Continue reading Is golf doing enough to engage 16-24s?
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?
