Highlight Reel: The Women’s Football Revolution Won’t be Televised (in Europe) 📺
This week's top stories feature Gianni Infantino, FIFA Women's World Cup, DAZN, JJ and Kealia Watt, Burnley FC, Leonardo DiCaprio, All Elite Wrestling, Brad Pitt, and Formula 1
Not yet a subscriber? Join 1000+ sports business leaders, from the PFL to Premier League, that read Sports Pundit every week to get impactful industry insights.
Welcome to the Highlight Reel, where keeping up to date with sports business news is as effortless as a Stefano Tsitsipas first serve.
This week's lineup includes…
The Women’s Football Revolution Won’t be Televised (in Europe) 🏆
DAZN Seeks to Reach New Audiences FAST 📺
JJ and Kealia Watt score investment with Burnley FC ⚽️
Wrestling Fans in UK All In for AEW’s Wembley Event 🏟
Pitt’s Stop at British GP Part of F1’s Next Big F1 Media Promotion 🏁
Thanks to Alex, Dan, Paul, Nick, Alexandra, and Lucas for liking last week’s Highlight Reel!
ICYMI: My latest newsletter for JohnWallStreet: Tik Tok: A Matter of Time Before Other Rights Holders Embrace Social Live Streams📱 dropped on Wednesday… Let me know what you think!
The Women’s Football Revolution Won’t be Televised (in Europe) 🏆
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has threatened to ban the upcoming Women’s World Cup from certain countries in Europe due to "disappointing" offers from broadcasters which he’s described as a "slap in the face" of all women.
Rebecca Snowden, founder of Team Heroine, replied to this with a warning that “scolding broadcasters for under-valuing women's football when you've spent decades under-valuing, under-investing & under-promoting women's football is the wrong approach.”
Instead, the ex-Football Fern put forward a series of short and long-term solutions she’d like to see implemented to create a win-win situation, including pay-outs as certain viewership figures are reached and everyday advocacy and education around the value of women's football.
DAZN Seeks to Reach New Audiences FAST 📺
In line with its strategy to get more sport in front of more fans, DAZN Group has announced the launch of two new global free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels: DAZN Combat and DAZN Women’s Football.
The move follows launch of the DAZN Rise FAST channel in Germany and Austria in March and George Pyne, Founder & CEO, Bruin Capital believes the trend has several benefits.
As the channels are available to consumers without a paid subscription, they can be a useful tool to building general awareness for DAZN outside of their avid OTT users, and can even act as a funnel into its core service.
The move also provides a new monetisation strategy for their media rights portfolio as they can generate a fresh revenue stream (through ads).
JJ and Kealia Watt Score Investment with Burnley ⚽️
Former NFL star JJ Watt and his wife Kealia, an ex-US Soccer international, are set to invest into recently promoted Burnley FC.
The move continues a trend of athletes and celebrities pouring into sports properties, including within English football.
Whilst most prominently highlighted through the success of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney at Wrexham AFC, LeBron James is a minority partner in Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group, Michael B Jordan is a minority owner of Bournemouth.
Leonardo DiCaprio could soon join that list. It’s reported that he has joined forces with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff to launch a take-over of Charlton Athletic FC.
Wrestling Fans in UK All In for AEW’s Wembley Event 🏟
The three-day presale for August's All Elite Wrestling (AEW) All In has ended in success for the company's impending debut in London.
The brand's CEO and Fulham FC owner Tony Khan said that over 50,000 tickets have already been sold for the event at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, August 27, equating to a gate of more than £5.2 million ($6.5m).
AEW is an American professional wrestling promotion and considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the US behind WWE, which is also set to venture across the pond this summer with its Money In The Bank and SmackDown events happening at The O2 in June.
Pitt’s Stop at British GP Part of F1’s Next Big F1 Media Promotion 🏁
The Formula 1 movie which Lewis Hamilton is helping produce is set to begin filming on-site at the British Grand Prix, with reports suggesting Brad Pitt will drive on track.
While stressing the importance of the as-yet-untitled film in terms of promoting the sport, series CEO Stefano Domenicali has stressed that F1 will need to control the production as to not interfere with the action on race weekends.
The movie is F1’s latest bid to stay fresh and build awareness, claims Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei, who warned the sport cannot rely on Drive to Survive as a long-term promotional tool.
Are you enjoying this week’s Highlight Reel? Forwarding this email or sharing on social to show some love would be greatly appreciated 🙏
JOB BOARD
Head of Client Partnerships - TTB Sport Capital (London, UK)
Partnership Sales Manager - Brentford FC (London, UK)
Partnership Design Assistant - Liverpool FC (London, UK)
Director, International Content EMEA - PGA TOUR (London, UK)
Senior Project Manager - Manchester United (Manchester, UK)
Director, Strategic & Digital Communications - MLS (New York, US)
Vice President, Partnerships - 160over90 (New York, US)
Do you have a job you’d like to promote to the amazing readers of this newsletter?Drop me a note at andy@sportspundit.org
Not yet a subscriber? Join 1000+ sports business leaders, from the PFL to Premier League, that read Sports Pundit every week to get impactful industry insights.