Highlight Reel: World-Renowned DJ, Diplo launches his own Run Club 🏃♂️
Plus, PBR partner with Kid Rock for a new team-format event, and Alexis Ohanian plans to franchise the first women’s sports bar in the world
Welcome to Sports Pundit, the sports business newsletter delivering insights from across the industry.
In today’s email;
Diplo Launches own Run Club 🏃♂️
Has Sport Got Too Liberal? 🇺🇸
Franchising the First Women’s Sports Bar 🍻
Thanks to Jeff for coming on the Podcast - and thanks to everyone who has listened and shared feedback!
Thanks also to the 93 of you that came by on Wednesday to hang out at the latest Social Club happy hour in London!
Attention now turns to New York (on the 22nd of May). I’m going to be in town for a few days beforehand and would love to see as many of you as I can so please drop me a note!
Happy Friday!
Andy 😊 🙏
The Sports Pundit Social Club (SPSC) is designed to bring together a diverse collective of executives, founders, investors and athletes from across the sports industry.
This now incorporates both the physical and digital.
That’s because I’ve launched a WhatsApp Group for readers of the newsletter.
Before you can access SP Chat, where most of the action happens, you need to first make an introduction in the SP Intro channel. We’ve already had 177 introduce themselves. Please include you name, what you’re up to, and a link to your LinkedIn - you’ll then be able to join other channels.
RUNNING TO THE BEAT
World-Renowned DJ, Diplo, launches his own ‘Run Club’ 🏃♂️
Run clubs are emerging in all shapes and sizes, and increasingly from unexpected places, from community groups, small businesses, local sports shops & retail stores, to large, blue-chip brands, social media influencers and, now, Grammy award-winning music producers…
Famous for songs like ‘Where Are U Now,’ Diplo is bringing his passion for both running and music to create an innovative run club experience.
Scheduled to debut in September, these ticketed events will kick off in San Francisco and Seattle. Offering a fresh take on the traditional 5K series, participants can expect not only a 5km run but also electrifying afterparties featuring DJ sets, including performances from Diplo himself.
Matthew Hughes (Founder, Notice) asks, could this new event concept be a sign of things to come?
What he said:
“What’s in it for Diplo?
New revenue: His run club events are ticketed, and although costs are low (compared to one of his regular concerts) and it appears to be a pilot given it’s only in 2 x locations, if the concept works it could be expanded to unlock an entire new revenue stream in the future.
Earned media: He’s created a unique event concept by combing 2 x popular things (running + music festivals) and this novelty, combined with his star-power generates mass public interest and talkability
More music streaming: Our relationship with music has changed over time and today, it's more functional than passive. Music has become a tool to enhance our daily activities, and this includes running.
Recognising the above trend, and to capitalise on the coverage he receives through launching this new concept, he’s created a new Spotify playlist relevant for runners.
There are millions of people around the world who run regularly, and by building an association between his music and running, more people from the global running community will be inclined to stream his music whilst pounding the pavement.
With 602m Spotify users worldwide, other brands with similar intentions such as Nike, Peloton, and the Gymshark have created curated playlists of their own.
Moving forward:
Will this new event concept take-off?
Will we see more run clubs emerge from unexpected brands, personalities and places?”
P.S. Check out this post from Harry Salmons (Creative Strategist at edition+partners) on why ‘Running is the new streetwear’
Not yet a subscriber? Join over 2,000 sports business leaders, from Formula 1 to the Premier League, that read Sports Pundit every week to get impactful industry insights.
HIGHLIGHTS
Liverpool FC is poised to announce a new kit supplier deal with Adidas that will begin with the 2025-26 season ⚽️
Elon Musk-owned X (formerly Twitter) will soon have to its own smart TV app that will show you videos on the big screen 📺
Infinite Reality, a creator of AI-powered experiences, has acquired the Drone Racing League for $250 million 💸
Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian has announced plans to launch the 776 Invitational, a women’s track event, offering the largest-ever purse for a women-only competition 🏃🏾♀️
Ferrari have announced a ‘historic’ multi-year title sponsorship deal with Hewlett-Packard and will now race under the name Scuderia Ferrari HP from the Miami Grand Prix 🏎️
Apple TV is nearing a $1 billion global streaming deal for the FIFA Club World Cup - a fee less than a quarter of what the governing body had reportedly been targeting 🏟️
Serie A Champions Inter Milan and front-of-shirt partner Paramount+ have collaborated to present a new, exclusive jersey collection dedicated to Star Trek 👽
ROCK N’ RIDE
Rock n’ Rodeo: Kid Rock Launches Special Event with Professional Bull Riders 🐂
“In the times we're living in right now, it's the last great American 'non-woke’ sport.”
That’s how Kid Rock recently described the rodeo when appearing on Theo Von’s podcast ‘This Past Weekend’.
Partnering with the Endeavor-owned Professional Bull Riders (PBR), he has put together a rodeo team series called Kid Rock’s Rock n’ Rodeo.
As well as having live performances from Kid Rock himself, the league is focused on positioning itself to be ‘non-woke’ and pro-American, with everyone expected to take their “hats of for the flag”
Their plan is pretty simple: “If we can get this to work and people think it's a great event, we can make it fun, and then we can start to sell teams to perspective owners.”
Sports Pundit says
The question that this got me to ask is, ‘Is sport too liberal?’
Whether you like him or not, 74 million Americans voted for Trump in the 2020 presidential election, and it’s likely that, if able to stand again, a similar number will turn out in support for him later this year.
Despite that, almost no sport positions itself specifically to target the Republican demographic which he speaks to...Is this a mistake? As Michael Jordan reportedly once said, 'Republicans buy sneakers, too.'
FURTHER READING
How to Get Ahead in Sports By Roger Mitchell, Albachiara 🔜
The Sports Bra announces plans to franchise with investment from Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian By Ryan Clarke, The Oregonian 🍻
Do Music Festivals Have a Superstar Problem? By Dan Runcie, Trapital 🎵
Thailand pursuing F1 race as part of tourism push By Cian Brittle, Blackbook Motorsport 🇹🇭
If Taylor Swift Ran Sport By Claire Kelly, Gemba 🎤
What if F1 Academy Launched a Jewellery line? By Ece Caliskan 💍
‘Title partnerships have the most impact for us’ | Michelle Taylor, TCS By Faaez Samadi, SportBusiness 🏃♂️
THE PODCAST
Want to hear more from my conversation with Jeff?
We discuss applying lessons from telcos, working for a Virgin business, what differentiates the Formula E product, balancing purpose and product, retaining competitive balance, hosting an E-Prix on the streets of Tokyo, whether men and women compete in the same racing series, and going behind a paywall in the UK.
Listen to the full podcast via the link below - and I’d love to hear what you think! 👇
Want to hang out in person?
I’ll be heading over to New York in May as we relaunch the the Social Club in collaboration with Maxwell, a social club set in the heart of Tribeca. If you’re based in New York, it would be wonderful to see you there.
Please feel free to drop me a message if you’d like to grab a coffee while I’m around.
You can RSVP to New York and to our next London event via these links below 👇
RSVP for New York (Wednesday 22nd May) 👉 Here
RSVP for London (Thursday 30th May) 👉 Here
JOB BOARD
International Commercial Director - Kosmos (London, UK)
Digital Product Manager - England Cricket Board (London, UK)
Brand Associate Manager - AC Milan (Milan, Italy)
Director, Village Management - LA28 Olympic & Paralympic Games (Los Angeles, US)
Premium Sales & Hospitality Coordinator - Professional Bull Riders (Texas, US)
Do you have a job you’d like to promote to the amazing readers of this newsletter? Email me 📩
The Highlight Reel is brought to you by the Global Institute of Sport!
The Global Institute of Sport is the leading destination for Master's degrees, executive education and professional qualifications in sport around the world.
They count world-famous stadiums and surrounding venues among their state-of-the-art campus facilities across the globe, including London's Wembley Stadium, Miami's DRV PNK Stadium and Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Ready to master the global sports industry? Enquire today about their in-person and online courses.