Highlight Reel: Wrexham AFC’s Women Find an Ally in Financial Services Firm ⚽️
Plus Netflix calls Game, Set and Match on tennis docu-series 'Break Point', and Under Armour’s AI-driven ad causes a stir
Welcome to Sports Pundit, the sports business newsletter delivering insights from across the industry.
In today’s email;
Ally Brings Wrexham’s Women to America ⚽️
Are Sports Docu-Series Reaching Breaking Point? 🎾
The World’s First AI-powered Sports Commercial 🤖
It was great to see new and old faces in London yesterday! Thanks to all of you who came along. And thanks also to Michael for being the latest guest to come on the podcast. There’s more exciting news to come on Supertri shortly…
Happy Friday!
Andy 😊 🙏
P.S. Next week (20/21st) I’m going to be in Dusseldorf for the DFL’s SportInnovation Summit. If you’re also in town for the event, drop me a message!
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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.
MAKING A STATEMENT
Wrexham AFC’s Women Find an Ally in Financial Services Firm ⚽️
Wrexham AFC’s men and women are both coming to the United States this summer, taking part in the 2024 “Wrex Coast Tour.”
The women’s appearance across the pond for the second edition of The Soccer Tournament, a 7v7 $1 million winner-take-all competition, is largely thanks to Ally Financial, who have been announced as a sponsor and as the presenting partner of the tour.
The financial services company, which is the US’ largest all-digital bank, became interested in the club after the women’s squad was featured in the second season of Welcome to Wrexham.
It’s the latest investment in women’s sports for Ally, which has positioned itself as one of the biggest corporate backers of gender equality across sports sponsorship - something which has generated huge awareness for the brand, as well as pride among its employees, including Joanna Tyson (Senior Recruiter - Auto & Insurance, Ally).
What she said:
“Ally Financial [has] announced its historic sponsorship with Wrexham AFC Women to help bring the club to the U.S. for the first time this summer…
Two years ago, we pledged to reach equal spending on advertising between men's and women's sports within five years.
As a former soccer player, I love that my company is elevating and investing in women athletes, challenging the status quo, and championing greater visibility for women's sports. We’re in the game, are you?”
Bravo to Ally for being so steadfast in their mission!
The fact they are spending equally and yet getting such notoriety specifically from their investments in women’s sport also says something, right?
ANOTHER THOUGHT… 💡
Amidst all the applause, the focus of this news (on elevating international presence and advancing the commercial landscape) does also provide an opportunity to highlight a crucial aspect which I believe remains broadly under-discussed regarding women's sport: the performance and wellbeing of female athletes.
Ensuring that the support for female players—in terms of player care, equipment, and facilities—evolves in tandem with their commercial responsibilities is vital for sustainable growth and to achieve holistic development within women's football.
Currently, they appear (to me, from the outside) to be growing on different trajectories…
All this to say, let's celebrate amazing commercial advancements like this one with Wrexham and Ally (which truly will do wonders for the game), but let's also consider the consequences of these increased commercial expectations and the steps we might be able to take in order to mitigate the negative ones.
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HIGHLIGHTS
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has launched a $2 billion (£1.56bn) deal to merge the men’s and women’s professional tennis tours 🎾
Logan Paul-backed Prime has become the WWE’s ‘largest sponsorship in company history’ with the drinks brand set to appear prominently at live events 🧃
Liverpool re-appoint Michael Edwards as their chief executive of football amid plans from Fenway Sports Group to pursue a multi-club (MCO) model ⚽️
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is exploring the possibility of establishing its own standalone league in Europe 🏀
NWSL and Amazon expand their business partnership with ‘Fanatics-like’ merch-on-demand deal ⚽️
Grammy Award-winning and multi-platinum recording artist Akon will perform live to conclude day two of LIV Golf Miami ⛳️
BREAKING POINT?
Netflix Calls Game, Set, and Match on Tennis Docuseries 🎾
Netflix has halted the production of tennis documentary series 'Break Point' after just two seasons due to disappointing viewing figures and difficulties in securing desired access to top-tier players and storylines.
Initially unveiled by the streaming service in January 2022, 'Break Point' aimed to leverage the growing popularity seen by Formula 1's 'Drive to Survive' by offering an inside look into the world of tennis.
The endeavour was backed by an unprecedented collaborative agreement among the sport's key governing bodies, including the ATP and WTA tours, as well as Wimbledon.
Nonetheless, the series didn't live up to expectations.
While this may in the short term seem a kick in the teeth, experienced sports marketing consultant (and host of Sports Pundit’s Manchester events) Rich Johnson has suggested the news actually provides the ATP and WTA Tour with an opportunity to think and act differently.
What he said:
“It's no secret the docuseries-ification of sports via streaming platforms has been perceived as a trawler to widen the net of fandom following [the success of] Drive to Survive.
We've seen this [now reaching a] potential saturation point in sports where the spark that ignited the genre needs evolving.
I hear collective groans in WhatsApp chats now when new sports documentaries are announced.
There will be casualties as we are seeing with Break Point but the opportunity to evolve for the Tennis Tours is staring them right in the face.[‘The opportunity?’ You ask,] …is taking back ownership and optimising for reach via weekly storytelling on YouTube.
Raw, authentic, vlog style, creating a community around the content.
Not just 'behind the scenes' camera rolling content. [This should be] considered storytelling and platform-first editing & optimisation. Something that is still, to my disbelief, well underserved within sports.
I say this as someone who was part of the INEOS team as we decided participation in the Tour de France documentary equivalent, but also took the decision to continue our weekly vlog storytelling format, Off-Script, [which is] still very popular to this day.
[We did this based on the belief that] the touchpoint for giving fans a peek into the lives of the talent shouldn't purely be an annual event, it should [also] be weaved into the fabric of the calendar. And taking this [social-first] approach will bring far more new and existing fans into the ATP and WTA ecosystem…”
If their recent video ‘The Tour: A Reality Show’ is anything to go by, the ATP certainly has the talent in front of and behind the camera to do something compelling in this space.
FURTHER READING
Merging of Sports Leagues: And Why We Will See More By Andrew Petcash, Profluence Sports 🤝
‘AI-powered’ ad ignites creator controversy on Instagram By Devin Coldewey, TechCrunch 🤖
And what if PE doesn’t actually work for sport? By Roger Mitchell, Albachiara Sunday Column 💸
Could this be the most controversial end to a Premier League season yet? By Sheridans Sport ⚽️
Podcast: How Cadbury rallied 14 football clubs to build a pitch for Grenfell Athletic FC By The Sports Marketeer, Amar Singh 🍫
Watch: Ronaldo plays Sunday League football as the worst team in England gets the ultimate Super Sub courtesy of Paddy Power 🔜
THE PODCAST
Want to hear more from my conversation with Michael?
We discuss his initial interest in Triathlon, identifying a gap in the market, coming up with the idea for Supertri, unlocking new venue opportunities, generating revenues without the big media cheque, hosting the eSports World Championships for Triathlon, and much much more.
Listen to the full podcast via the link below - and I’d love to hear what you think!👇
The Sports Pundit Social Club (SPSC) was designed to enable you to hang out with other readers (i.e. exceptional folk from across the industry) without the heavy cost that often goes with traditional sports industry events.
This month, we’ve hosted an event in London and have ones coming up in New York, and Manchester (LA will return next month) 👇
JOB BOARD
Various Seasonal Roles - NFL UK (London, UK)
Head of Communications - NewCo (Women’s Super League/ Championship) (London, UK)
Marketing & Sustainability Executive - Extreme E (London, UK)
Strategy & Ventures Manager - Manchester City (Manchester, UK)
Chief of Staff to CEO - League One Volleyball (Remote, US)
Do you have a job you’d like to promote to the amazing readers of this newsletter? Email me 📩
The Big Idea 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.
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.