Moving Swiftly: NFL and Kansas City Chiefs Capitalise on Taylormania! 🏈
Plus, praise for Luton Town's approach to sponsorship and Spotify launch a pilot for AI-powered podcast translation.
Welcome to Sports Pundit, the sports business newsletter almost as hotly anticipated as the launch of EA FC 24 🎮
In today’s email;
Kelce Jersey Sales Surge 400% 🏈
Luton Consider Opportunity Cost 🤔
Spotify Pilot Podcast Translation 🎙
Thanks to everyone who joined me in London yesterday, as well as to Ian, Chris, and Scotty, who liked last week’s newsletter on Substack. We’ve added 26 new subscribers this week, which takes the number of SP readers up to an incredible 1496!
👉 If you enjoy today’s edition, pease forward it to a friend or colleague.
👉 If you really enjoy today’s edition and you are interested in sponsoring future editions, please drop me a note andy@sportspundit.co
TOP STORY
Moving Swiftly: NFL and Kansas City Chiefs Capitalise on Taylormania! 🏈
Taylor Swift's presence at Travis Kelce's Kansas City Chiefs game last Sunday showcased her undeniable influence is enough to make even America’s most popular sport stop and take notice.
While Swift-related content made up only 7% of the NFL's social media posts that day, it accounted for an incredible 56% of their NFL Sunday engagement, as reported by Zoomph.
However, Swift's impact also went beyond the digital realm.
Following her appearance at Arrowhead Stadium, jersey sales for All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce saw a meteoric rise.
Coinciding with the Anti-Hero singer’s appearance, Fanatics reported that Kelce became one of the top 5 best-selling NFL players on Sunday. He experienced a nearly 400% surge in sales across the Fanatics network of sites, including NFLShop.com.
Sports Pundit says
🤔 While this is a unique case (it’s not every day that a sports league or team will have one of its star players dating the most adored pop star in the world), it does show the opportunity to tap into entertainment and other areas of fandom when the chance emerges – with the game drawing 24.32 million viewers and unsurprisingly scoring the highest ratings among female demographics aged 12-17 and 18-49.
On the flip-side, pushing back against this sort of influence can be painful, as Alejandro Balde found out.
With the Barcelona starlet leading Real Madrid’s Jude Bellignham in the race for the Golden Boy title, a los blancos fan account shared a quote from Balde on X (formerly Twitter) in which the left back had said that he didn’t like Swift’s music.
The result? Balde’s share of the vote plummeted and Bellingham’s climbed from 30% to a staggering 89%.
I guess Swifties would call that Karma…
📚 Further Reading: How Taylor Swift cultivates community (and what sport can learn from her)
📚 📚 Further Further Reading: Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert film is set to be released in UK and worldwide and expected to boost cinema revenue globally.
FREE DOWNLOAD
What is happening in the Sports Industry? 🎱 🤔
Sports Pundit has published 75 newsletters over the course of the year so far... In the process, covering a number of trends from application of AI, to competitive socialisation 📰 🗞
While some examples become dated, many of the lessons written about continue to apply... including these eight stories aggregated below in this free to download PDF 👇
OPINION
Sweet Example: Optimising Your Brand Values 🤔
Last week, SportsBusiness reported that Luton Town’s CEO Gary Sweet believes the decision to forgo engaging with gambling sponsors is costing the newly promoted club between £2m and £3m this season in lost income.
However, Sweet also stated that he has no intention to reverse his stance on the matter. Instead, he has cited the opportunity cost as an 'investment in culture' - something which sports marketing consultant Rich Johnson was strong to praise and encourages others to also consider.
“Now my point isn't whether gambling or crypto partners should be allowed, and I'm certainly not saying that rights-holders shouldn't explore whatever partners they see fit.
But Gary and Luton have decided this doesn't align with their values, and instead have a clear filter for exploring partnerships that is right for them.
"One of the golden rules, is if we advertise a sponsor, a Luton Town supporter should be able to buy that product in Luton," [Sweet explained ].
[In doing so,] They aren't just optimising for who can give them the most cash, for Luton the starting point for exploring fit is that fans must be able to engage with the product.
I love examples like this, and I think we are going into an era where brand identity and purpose of rights-holders and athletes will have much more visible threads both on and off pitch.”
HIGHLIGHTS
LaLiga’s Javier Tebas “Talks to Google” about deleting piracy apps from a 1.1 million phones in Spain 🏴☠️
Adidas and Stella McCartney have collaborated on Arsenal Women's first bespoke kit, set to debut on October 6 away to Man United ⚽️
WHOOP has unveiled the new WHOOP coach powered by OpenAI, the first wearable to deliver Highly individualised performance coaching on demand 💪
AC Milan have announced plans to build a new 70,000-seater stadium which would see them move away from the iconic San Siro 🏟
The Golden State Warriors are reportedly close to bringing a WNBA franchise to the Bay Area 🏀
Ad-supported TV streaming service Tubi is launching a content discovery tool powered by OpenAI, allowing users to ask questions and discover new shows 📺
SPEAKING MY LANGUAGE
Breaking Barriers: How Spotify’s AI Tool Can Translate into Commercial Opportunity 🎙
This week, Spotify launched a pioneering feature to aiming to shatter existing language barriers.
The new feature, aptly named "Voice Translation for podcasts," utilises cutting-edge AI technology to seamlessly translate podcasts into multiple languages while retaining the original podcaster's voice.
To kick off the pilot phase, Spotify has collaborated with renowned podcasters such as Dax Shepard, Lex Fridman, and Steven Bartlett to create AI-powered voice translations of their podcasts, which were released this week in Spanish, with French and German set to roll out in the coming days and weeks.
Ultimately, Spotify envisions this feature building deeper connections between listeners and the creators that use their platform - as was well summarised by Steven Bartlett:
"I foresee a very near future where every piece of content you upload will be automatically translated, by the platforms, into every language - breaking down barriers, making your content boarder-less, more inclusive and bringing the world closer once again.”
Sports Pundit says
🤔 Of course, Spotify is focused on podcasting, but this has huge implications for all creators of content…
The total addressable market which they can now reach has been extrapolated overnight with the removal of one of the biggest barriers to growth.
Only 5% of the world's population are native English speakers. That means, regardless of how great a piece of content is, 95% of people will be unlikely to listen because of the language alone.
Applying this technology to athletes then opens up an enormous commercial opportunity…
For instance, Leo Messi can now record an interview in Spanish (where he is most comfortable) and have this content published in his voice in English for MLS fans in the US - as well as in the native language of any other key markets for the league or his commercial partners.
JOB BOARD
Athlete Marketing Manager - Red Bull (London, UK)
Research and Insights Senior Manager - Arsenal (London, UK)
Manager, Commercial Partnerships - McLaren Racing (Woking, UK)
Senior Director, Marketing Golf - Endeavor (London, US)
Digital Partnerships Director, International Content Partnerships - NBA (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.co
Not yet a subscriber? Join 1000+ sports business leaders, from Formula 1 to the Premier League, that read Sports Pundit every week to get impactful industry insights.