Not yet a subscriber? Join 1000+ sports business leaders from Fnatic to Formula 1 that read Sports Pundit every week to get impactful industry insights.

Subscribe now

Happy Friday!

Before eyes turn to Saudi Arabia to watch a YouTuber (Jake Paul) fight a Love Island contestant (Tommy Fury) for a purse of around $13m, here’s a look at five other stories from across the sports industry which caught my attention this week 👇

PGA Tour and LPGA announce historic mixed team event set to take place this year
Europa League broadcaster partners with Twitch streamer Domingo
Dapper Labs’ NBA Top Shots may be considered securities by federal judge
BT Sport set for explosive rebrand to TNT following Warner Bros. Discovery JV
Ally agrees multi-million-dollar media deal with 90% committed to women’s sport

P.S. Thanks to Mazhar, Alex, Paul, Nick, Damiola, and Dave for all liking Tuesday’s newsletter on the NBA’s All-Star tech strategy. You are all stars in my eyes.

PGA Tour and LPGA announce historic mixed team event set to take place this year ⛳️

The PGA Tour and LPGA have announced a new mixed-team event that will see men and women compete together in a co-sanctioned tournament.

The Grant Thornton Invitational will debut this December at Tiburon Golf Club and the Ritz-Carlton Naples in Florida. The event will consist of 16 PGA Tour and 16 LPGA players competing for a $4 million purse.

The move follows the European and Ladies European Tour, which hosted the inaugural Scandinavian Mixed in 2021, which brought together 78 men and 78 women to compete against each other in the same tournament for the same prize money.

PGA TOUR @PGATOUR

The @GrantThorntonUS Invitational, a new mixed-team event, will see @LPGA and PGA TOUR players compete together in a unique co-sanctioned tournament.

Europa League broadcaster partners with Twitch streamer Domingo ⚽️

The first leg of the Europa League clash between FC Barcelona and Manchester United saw an interesting broadcast collaboration come to life last week.

RMC Sport, the official broadcaster of the tournament in France, shared its TV rights with popular Twitch streamer Domingo (1.6 million followers), who live broadcast the match for free on his channel, inviting two popular content creators to co-host.

This stream saw an average concurrent audience of 162k, with a peak of over 200k – all the more impressive when you consider the linear French broadcast average was only around 390k.

RMC Sport @RMCsport

🚨 ALERTE DINGUERIE ! 🚨 📺 RMC Sport est fier d’annoncer le 1ᵉʳ crossover : détenteur de droits TV foot x créateur de contenus ! ⚽ RMC Sport permettra à @Domingo et sa communauté de vivre la + grande affiche foot de l’histoire de Twitch avec @AmineMaTue et @WilooFootball !

P.S. The move follows in the footsteps of the FIFA+ streaming deal with Brazilian streamer Casimiro and also pays homage to the broadcast strategy implemented by Pique’s Kings League.

Dapper Labs’ NBA Top Shots may be considered securities by federal judge 🏀

A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that the offering of Dapper Labs’ NBA Top Shots NFTs could be securities.

The ruling on a motion to dismiss comes a year and a half after a class-action lawsuit was filed against Dapper Labs and its CEO, Roham Gharegozlu.

The lawsuit alleges that they violated federal securities laws by offering a the NFT collection without first registering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), citing the Howey four-prong test1 – a system used to determine whether an “investment contract” exists.

Hypemoon @Hypemoon

SEC vs @dapperlabs/@NBATopShot has been the talk of the town this week and the case is bigger than you think. Here's why 🧵

Not yet a subscriber? Join 1000+ sports business leaders from Fnatic to Formula 1 that read Sports Pundit every week to get impactful industry insights.

Subscribe now

BT Sport set for explosive rebrand to TNT following Warner Bros. Discovery JV 📺

BT Sport is set to become TNT Sports across the UK and Ireland from July 2023.

The move comes as part the joint venture formed between Warner Bros. Discovery and BT and seeks to unify their offerings across BT Sport and Eurosport.

The TNT Sports name is already synonymous with premium live sport in a number of countries and is a sign of the scale and expertise Warner Bros. Discovery brings to their partnership with BT.

While “excited to contribute its global scale and capabilities” to BT Sport’s offering, Andrew Georgiou, Discovery Sports President, also stressed “Remaining authentically local will remain key to our success.”

Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe @WBDsports

Warner Bros. Discovery confirms TNT Sports as the new name that will replace BT Sport in the U.K. & Ireland from July 2023. Read more: media.discoverysports.com/post/tnt-sport… @wbd | @btsport | @eurosport

Ally agrees multi-million-dollar media deal with 90% committed to women’s sport 🙌

Ally Financial Inc. and The Walt Disney Company have announced a first-of-its-kind initiative that turns the tables on traditional media buying within sports.

The financial services company has agreed a multi-year, multimillion dollar investment to increase representation and drive greater coverage of women's sports. The collaboration features a media investment of more than 90% in women's sports, focused on expanding game highlights, branded content and features across the ESPN networks, including regular SportsCenter segments that highlight top women's sports accomplishments.

The move comes after Ally challenged Disney late last year to create a sponsorship package that could advance the brand's pledge to reach 50/50 media spend across men's and women's sports.

FanClub Sports @fanclubsportshq

Increased women's sports coverage is coming to ESPN following the Ally/Disney deal. More on the plans from the sports giant -> #womenssports #nwsl #wnba #nwhl

Did you enjoy this week’s Highlight Reel? Hit like, forward this email to a colleague, or share on social to show some love 🙏 👇

Share

(Unpaid) Promotion

Celebrating the achievements of black people across the sports industry 👏

The Black in Sport Summit was launched in 2022 to celebrate the achievements of black people across the sports industry and to inspire a new generation of sports industry professionals.

With the backing of Sky and Loughborough University, the Black in Sport Summit returns in 2023 at the iconic London Stadium in Stratford – home of West Ham United Football Club and the host venue for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The movement was also borne out of a desire to change the narrative in sport and to tackle discrimination and underrepresentation of black people in the sector. With the themes for 2023 - “Excellence, Leverage, and Influence”, BISS continues to build a community of current and aspiring professionals in the sector and promotes the idea that a career in sport is available to everyone.

Now in its second year, the 2023 event will be hosted by Sky Sports presenter Mike Wedderburn alongside Anita Abayomi. Taking place on Saturday 25th March 2023, it will feature a high-profile line up of keynote speakers, panel discussions, and networking opportunities with current and future professionals in the sports industry.

Get Tickets

1

Howey four prong test: (1) An investment of money, (2) in a common enterprise, (3) with the expectation of profit and (4) to be derived from the efforts of others.

Sports Pundit

Highlight Reel: How a Europa League…