Fan United: Addressing the Male 'Friendship Recession' ⚽️ 📲
Plus Messi's Inter Miami impact, the kick-off of the Women's World Cup, and Livy Dunne launches a fund to help fellow female college athletes.
Welcome to Sports Pundit, where getting up to date with sports business news is as fast as Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s 100m return 💨
In today’s email;
Addressing the Male ‘Friendship Recession’ ⚽️ 📲
Is it Time for Brands to Stop Keeping Score? 🤔
How the MLS Took Their Shot with the G.O.A.T 🐐
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TOP STORY
Fan United: Addressing the Male ‘Friendship Recession’ ⚽️ 📲
The number of men reporting that they have no close friends has jumped from 3% to 15% since 1990, according to the Survey Center on American Life (SCAL).
Worse still, in 2018, a UK study by the Movember Foundation found one in three men asked could not name a single close friend.
These were two powerful stats recently shared in a post by the author of ‘Billy No-Mates,’ Max Dickins.
When Dickens got engaged, he realised he had no one to be his best man, forcing him to introspect, before taking a wider look at the issue at what SCAL has dubbed the male ‘friendship recession’.
While female friendships tend to happen ‘face-to-face’ and be based around talk, he suggests male friendships are more club-like (Think: shared activities like 5-a-side football). However, as men enter middle age, they can often withdraw from these sorts of activities.
There is also an increasing lack of “third spaces” – places that are not home or work – "like churches, rotary clubs, proper ‘local’ pubs," – where both men (and women) can meet to make and maintain friendships.
While Dickens provides a number of personal tips for men looking to address this issue, it also poses an interesting question for the wider sports industry: How can sport help tackle the structural problems associated with the male ‘friendship recession’?
One example that caught my eye was from FanHub, who discovered something really interesting amongst their users - prompting them to launch a new feature on their app.
While it may seem obvious that the fanbase of a major football club like Man United would be distributed across the UK, FanHub’s data showed the same was true for all clubs, even those in lowly League 2.
“Every club was the same - it seems that ‘life’ causes a high proportion of fans to live in different areas to where their club is based - university, jobs, partners, supporting a team through a connection rather than locality etc.,” wrote Gareth Lippiatt (CEO and Founder, Fan Hub) on LinkedIn.
This caused the launch of FanHub Discover – a social feature that allows fans to connect to find a carshare to the next home game, or simply someone to watch the next game at the pub with that lives in their area.
While of course this is not limited to men, this is an ingenious solution for connecting people with a shared interest and, as a result, it will help a lot of men experiencing that ‘friendship recession.’
🤔 I’ve always strongly believed in sport’s power to bring people together and solutions like this, among many others, will help to make that belief into a reality.
Do you run, work for, or work with an exceptional business within the sports industry Tell me about it and get yourself free publicity in the process 👇
OPINION
Is it Time for Brands to Stop Keeping Score? 🤔
With the 2023 Women’s World Cup kicking off this week, purpose-driven activations (such as Orange’s viral video of les bleues disguised as les bleus, and Hannah Waddingham’s rally cry to watch more women’s sport for Johnnie Walker) have predictably ramped up.
But, as Amar Singh points out in his excellent weekly newsletter, The Sports Marketeer, there is another school of thought emerging around the women’s game, calling for a (much needed) shift in tone:
“As viewership around women’s sport rises and athletes become household names, should we continue to focus on the struggle?
By focusing on game changers, pioneers, and journeys, are we deflecting from the spectacle of what women’s football provides?
Some argue that the language around women’s sports is detracting from giving it the hype and attention it needs to grow.
Data suggests that fans are moving on from treating women’s football as a ‘movement’ and instead are focusing on the ‘moments’.
A study by my MKTG colleagues across the Pond, found that general sports fans are 1.5 times more likely to watch women’s sports because they enjoy the sport and quality of play rather than to support the movement.
While 67 per cent agree that they have more respect for brands that get involved in women's sports BUT treat it like any other sport.”
HIGHLIGHTS
Netflix’s next act is investing in video games - and new release ‘Oxenfree II’ may be just the beginning of a long-term plan 🎮
BT Sport has rebranded to TNT Sports, a new joint venture between BT Sport and US-based Warner Brothers Discovery 📺
Inspired by professional golf, Formula 1 is exploring idea of displaying drivers’ biometric data ⌚️
Washington Commanders announce partnership to control the commercial inventory within their licensed virtual stadium 🏈
G2 Esports and Ralph Lauren to launch a first-of-its-kind luxury clothing line 👔
Livy Dunne has launched a fund to help female athletes at LSU secure NIL deals 💸
MESSI EQUITY
Investing Inter Miami: How the MLS Took Their Shot with the G.O.A.T 🐐
According to Inter Miami’s managing owner Jorge Mas, Lionel Messi’s arrival is expected to double the MLS club’s revenues over the next 12 months.
Mas also said his team’s valuation could reach up to $1.5 billion in the next year (up from Forbes’ most recent estimate of $600 million).
Given his influence, it’s perhaps no surprise that Messi commanded a contract which includes:
A stake in the club, Inter Miami
A share of Adidas’ profits from all MLS merchandise sold
A revenue share from every new Apple TV subscriber
However, it worth also remembering that the ingenuity of this offer came about due to necessity.
There’s a salary cap in the MLS – a cap which is also largely responsible for making David Beckham an owner in Inter Miami – and that meant offering Messi comparable wages to Europe or Saudi Arabia was out of reach.
That salary cap has caused the MLS to think outside the box when it comes to attracting star talent to the league, but what if the same principles were applied elsewhere?
Referring to professional basketball, Chamath Palihapitiya (CEO, Social Capital and part-owner in the Golden State Warriors), recently stated on Twitter,
“The big win for NBA players would be the creation of a phantom equity plan that allows the players to earn long term capital gains, during their playing time, on the increase in equity value of the franchises.”
“Said differently, MJ literally 10x’ed the entire value of the NBA but made less than $100M in total salary. You can make a very strong case that he deserved $1-5B with respect to the increase in team values that he helped usher in.”
In fact, around the time that Messi was forced to leave his boyhood club FC Barcelona due to financial problems, Sequoia Capital’s Sir Michael Moritz raised a similar suggestion in a column for the Financial Times.
“Imagine if every football club set aside about 25% of its equity for player compensation, requiring that players sell their shares upon leaving the club… If Barcelona had compensated Messi with a combination of 50% cash and 50% equity, both he and the club would be far better off today.”
Using approximate figures, when Messi made his debut at the Camp Nou, FC Barcelona was worth around $400m. Today, it is valued well over $5bn. So, Moritz argued, “if, as his value became clear, Messi had been granted shares or options, for about 10% of the club, that would be worth about $500m today.”
Given Joan Laporta attributed a third of the Catalan club’s income to the Argentinian at the time of his departure, 10% could easily have been justified 🤷♂️
🤔 Besides Messi, who else could this principle be applied to across the sporting landscape?
My thoughts are that it could become an increasingly popular tactic to attract or retain star talent for both new challenger leagues, as well as for more established leagues that are now struggling to match the financial terms of the market leaders.
JOB BOARD
Partner Manager - Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team (Brackley, UK)
Head of People Operations - Red Bull Racing (Milton Keynes, UK)
Digital Product Lead - Chelsea FC (London, UK)
Partnerships Marketing Manager - Aston Martin F1 Team (Silverstone, UK)
Player Services Manager - National Women’s Soccer League (New York, US)
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