Highlight Reel: EverPass' Move to Bring Sunday Ticket to Bars a Total Knock Out š»
Plus, Liquid Death puts NASCAR fans in the driverās seat, and FC Porto create a transparency portal as AVB rings the changes at Portuguese giant...
Welcome to Sports Punditās Highlight Reel ā your go-to roundup of the latest sports business news, insights, and trends shaping the industry.
Each week, we bring you the key stories and developments that have captured the attention of sports executives and leaders across our global network.
In todayās email;
EverPass has the Biggest Ticket š»
Liquid Death Take An Alternative Route š
FC Porto Create A Transparency Portal ā½ļø
Happy Friday!
Andy š š
P.S. Congrats to Jenny Mitton, our latest āContributor of the Week.ā
While this is an award usually given out to reward positive contributions to the SP WhatsApp Group, Iāve decided to expand the remit this week to cover positive contributions to the sports industry.
For context, Jenny, alongside her co-founder Ali Donnelly, has launched Women of Union, a platform dedicated to supporting women who work in or who are deeply engaged in rugby.
Huge congratulations to them both, as well as to the rest of the amazing people behind the launch.
O-O-H IS BIG BUSINESS
EverPass' Move to Bring Sunday Ticket to Bars a Total Knock Out š»
In July, EverPass Media, a leader in live sports and entertainment distribution for businesses, was bolstered by investment from TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of UFC and WWE.
Around the same time, it also acquired UPshow, a platform specialising in on-premise entertainment and marketing, enhancing its capabilities with new streaming, consumer engagement, and marketing tools.
The moves position EverPass to capitalise on the growing demand for premium sports content in commercial settings.
With UPshow now fully integrated, EverPass is preparing to offer NFL Sunday Ticket streaming to commercial venues for the first time later this yearāan under-reported development which was recently highlighted by JohnWallStreet.
What he said:
āHistorically, the NFL has relied on satellite distribution to place its out-of-market games into commercial establishments. A quarter century long partnership with DirecTV enabled the league to build a robust network of commercial establishments with Sunday Ticket subscriptions (think: tens of thousands).
But cable and satellite are no longer sufficient pay TV solutions for those venues.
āYou canāt have five different subscription apps on 15 screens,ā [Kevin] LaForce [(managing director, RedBird Capital Partners)] said. āIt doesnāt scale, notwithstanding the technical challenges.āĀ
So, RedBird aligned with the NFL, built a new digital media entity, and introduced its product to the market ~15 months ago.
EverPass benefited from the leagueās decision to grant residential Sunday Ticket distribution rights to YouTube TV. The move opened the door for the company to include the NFLās out of market games within its product from the outsetā¦ā
SOCIAL CLUB
The Sports Pundit Social Club is a monthly series of industry Happy Hours happening in New York and London.
These free gatherings are designed to connect individuals who might not meet at conventional industry events. Our community includes senior and junior executives from rightsholders, founders of venture-backed startups, private equity investors, and even (a few) professional footballers, all bringing unique value to the table - and very rarely mixing in other settings.
With July events now behind us, make sure to RSVP now for Septemberš
New York š½ (Wednesday 18th September @ Maxwell Social)
London š” (Thursday 26th September @ Eight Club London, Bank)
HIGHLIGHTS
Formula 1 has decided to refinance a $1.7 billion loan alongside efforts to raise $850 million for its parentās pending acquisition of MotoGP World Championship šļø
Known for its smart ring that delivers personalised health insights and daily guidance, ÅURA has announced an agreement to acquire Veri, a Finnish company specialising in personalised metabolic health tracking š
The LTA has launched its new strategy for padel in Britain, with a vision to grow the sport by making it more accessible, welcoming, enjoyable and inspiring š¾
Cosm has announced a funding raise of over $250 million to drive long-term growth of its āShared Realityā venues as well as its technology and media business units šæ
Portuguese giants FC Porto have created a transparency portal that every fan can view information like transfer payments, player salaries, agent commissions and more ā½ļø
Private equity firm The Chernin Group has invested $38.5m in Classic Football Shirts, a British company selling authentic football jerseys from clubs around the world š
SWITCHING THE PLAY
Liquid Death Puts NASCAR Fans in the Driverās Seat š
Liquid Death, the brand that markets canned water like a heavy metal band, is shaking things up again.
Instead of activating their NASCAR sponsorship with celebrity drivers, theyāre focusing on everyday driversāthe grocery runs, carpools, and weekend trips that make up the real road battles.
This week, they launched the āLiquid Death Pro Driverā contest, offering three fans a $30,000 sponsorship to turn their cars into rolling Liquid Death billboards, styled like the iconic āThirst Hearse.ā
Greg Fass, VP of marketing, shared the campaign's rationale in an interview with The Drum.
What he said:
āEver since we became the official Iced Tea of Nascar in April of this year, weāve been bringing our funny, irreverent way we market to a new, super passionate audience of fans.ā
It all started with their mascot, āMurder Man,ā announcing the partnership at Talladega Superspeedway. Now, theyāre flipping the script by sponsoring fans instead of famous drivers.
āNow, weāre poking fun at how brands have traditionally gotten involved with the sport of Nascar by flipping the script and sponsoring Nascar fans instead of famous drivers,ā adds Fass. āPlus Nascar drivers canāt drive their race cars covered in logos to drop off their kids at school, or to the grocery store where you can buy Liquid Death Iced Tea, so we see a ton of value in sponsoring their cars.ā
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FURTHER READING
Business Beyond the Game: Mario Gƶtze By Sportico šļø
Footballer Inc. How the Sports Elite Build Their Brands By Gregg Evans, The Athletic ā½ļø
Warming Up: The Planet Can't Afford Sport's Big Event Growth Plan By Unofficial Partner ā»ļø
The Premier League clubs maximising YouTube monetisation By Rob Kelly, Sport Industry Group š„
OneFootball Launch Web3 Loyalty Program - OneFootball Club By Pet Berisha, Sporting Crypto ā½ļø
Runningās Cultural Renaissance By Truant, UNCLTRD š
JOB BOARD
Head of Marketing & Comms - Commonwealth Games England (London, UK)
Senior Designer - Manchester United (Manchester, UK)
Partnership Manager - The R&A (St Andrews, UK)
US Sponsorship Manager - BP (New Jersey, US)
Product Marketing Lead - Kalder (New York, US)
To see these jobs, and more jobs like these, visit the Sports Pundit Job Board, hosted by Peak 72.
Do you have a job youād like to promote to the amazing readers of this newsletter? Email me š©
Getting insights and news via email is great, but there's so much untapped knowledge in our community. We want to open up the floor and hear from everyone.
Itās all part of moving from mass emails to meaningful, one-on-one conversations.
Not yet a subscriber? Join over 2,500 sports business leaders, from Formula 1 to the Premier League, that read Sports Pundit every week to get impactful industry insights.