Tee Off: Fenway Scores Second City-Based Golf Team 🏌️♂️ ⛳️
Plus Hollywood Stars invest into Formula 1 team Alpine and Nike releases its first female football boot, the Phantom Luna
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In today’s email;
Fenway buys TGL’s Boston-based team ⛳️
Nike’s first football boot designed for women 💁♀️
Hollywood stars among buyers of Alpine F1 team 🏎
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TOP STORY
Fenway Scores Second TGL Team 🏌️♂️
Fenway Sports Group (FSG) recently announced the latest addition to their portfolio, securing the second of six teams for the newly formed TGL.
TGL, for anyone not in the know, is the tech-forward, primetime, team golf league developed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TMRW Sports in partnership with the PGA TOUR set to tee-off in January 2024.
Despite the competition being staged at a singular indoor facility at Palm Beach State College in South Florida, each team is expected to be designated a geographical affiliation.
It makes total sense then for FSG, most famously the parent company of the Boston Red Sox, to have a team representing Boston and the New England region.
Likewise, the owners of the first TGL team (led by Alexis Ohanian Sr. and Serena Williams) is set to represent Los Angeles - where the power couple already have an ownership in National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchise Angel City Football Club.
🤔 The adoption of city-based teams to bolster fan engagement is a trend that has gained significant traction across various other sports and the TGL is further testament to its potential.
Most notably, Premier Lacrosse League 🥍 recently pivoted to a city-based team concept after it become evident that attaching a team to a specific location could create a more deep-rooted emotional connection between fans and their respective teams (see JohnWallStreet's piece with Michael Rabil for more on this).
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 👇
NEW BOOTS, PLEASE!
Finally, a Female Football Boot ⚽︎
Nike has just launched the Phantom Luna, its very first football boot designed for women 💁♀️⚽️
Until now, boots have been designed for, and based on, male players.
IDA Sports sought to serve this gap in the market, launching a boot for female footballers back in late 2020, but Nike is the first major sporting brand to address the disparity.
The release, which comes just months out from the FIFA Women’s World Cup, coincides with a timely problem in the women’s game - ACLs.
Recent studies have alluded to the link between the prevalence of ACL injuries and boots being designed for men and, with more than 25 top players tearing their ACL in the last 12 months, the issue has become front and centre.
🤔 Much overdue, this launch provides a strong metaphor for how the sports industry has approached women’s sport more broadly - and the consequences that come with not approaching women's sport with a female-first mindset.
Trying to retrofit what has worked for men's sport onto the women's game is damaging - in some cases like this, quite literally.
🎥 Must Watch: 'Shrink It & Pink It': A series exploring the brands pioneering a female-first approach to manufacturing sports equipment, including IDA Sports 👚 👛
HIGHLIGHTS
The best clubs from around the world are set to come to the United States – and this time it’s not for a pre-season tournament 🇺🇸
Disney have teamed up with England Football to release an animation on their women’s European Championship success ⚽️
Wimbledon is set to introduce AI-powered commentary and captions to its online highlights clips thanks to their partnership with IBM 🎾
ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup trophy was attached to a bespoke stratospheric balloon and launched into space 🚀
Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha and British rap icon Stormzy have agreed a deal to buy their hometown club, non-league AFC Croydon ⚽️
Lego and Epic Games remind everyone that reports of the metaverse’s demise have been greatly exaggerated 🗺 (See also recent Fenty x Roblox and Wimbledon x Fortnite announcements)
RENAULT OR REYNOLDS?
Renault or Reynolds? 🏎
While Wrexham AFC are set to meet Manchester United on the field this summer, their celebrity owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are set to join Alpine Racing on the track.
Renault, the Formula 1 team’s parent company, announced today that the Hollywood actors, alongside Otro Capital and RedBird Capital Partners, are part of an investor group taking a 24% equity stake in team.
Commenting on the €200 million ($218.10m) deal, which values Alpine at around $900m, chief executive Laurent Rossi has said the investment will boost the F1 team's media profile, which in turn can support their "performance over the long term".
🤔 It's not clear how much Reynolds and McElhenney have invested personally in this deal yet they are the faces attached to every media post about it. It's interesting to consider how they 1️⃣ value and 2️⃣ balance their involvements as they are invited to be involved in more sports properties (as they inevitably will be) - and also whether there is an economies of scale or a diminishing return on their media impact in doing so.
JOB BOARD
UFC Global Partnerships Intern, Fall 2023 - UFC (Las Vegas, US)
Manager, Partnership Marketing - US Soccer (Chicago, US)
Account Manager - Genius Sports (London, UK)
Senior Account Director / Manager - CSM Sport & Entertainment (London, UK)
Insights Manager - Formula One (London, UK)
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