Highlight Reel: Passions Converge at New NBA Event 🏀
This week's top stories feature the NBA, Nike, Strava, MLS, San Diego, EuroLeague, and Serie A
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Welcome to the Highlight Reel, where keeping up to date with sports business news is as effortless as a Mac McLung slam dunk.
This week's lineup includes…
Fashion, Music, Art, Cuisine and Technology to Converge at NBA Con 🏀
Nike and Strava Partner to Better Serve Athletes 🏃♂️
San Diego Set to Become MLS’ 30th Franchise ⚽️
EuroLeague Seeks International Expansion amid Continued Growth 📍
Serie A Fragments its Media Offering in Bid to Close Broadcast Revenue Gap 📺
Thanks to Alex, Dan, Paul, Nick, Alexandra, Damilola, and Lucas for liking last week’s Highlight Reel!
ICYMI: My latest newsletter for JohnWallStreet: EuroLeague was Early on OTT, Sees VR as Next Big Opportunity dropped on Wednesday… Let me know what you think!
Fashion, Music, Art, Cuisine and Technology to Converge at NBA Con 🏀
The NBA has announced the launch of a new fan event centred around fashion, music, cuisine, art and technology.
Named NBA Con, the event will debut in, you guessed it, Las Vegas, running in conjunction with the NBA 2K24 Summer League (July 7-9).
The three-day event, which the league plans to have connected to all its marquee events – including its international games, will include exclusive product drops and interactive brand experiences featuring augmented and virtual reality games.
Musical performances, live podcasts and creator studios featuring athletes, artists and media personalities are also set to be part of it – with announcements coming soon…
Nike and Strava Partner to Better Serve Athletes 🏃♂️ 🏟
Nike and Strava are partnering up to improve data sharing between their connected fitness platforms, as well as serving curated content to athletes.
Interestingly, Nike plans to use the partnership to also host curated challenges on Strava, an initiative which it will begin later this summer.
The company says that these hosted contests will “inspire connection and engagement around a shared goal” and indicates that by taking part, users will be able to unlock rewards - a concept that was covered earlier this week on Sports Pundit by SBA MBA’s George Gardner.
San Diego Set to Become MLS’ 30th Franchise ⚽️
MLS Commissioner Don Garber announced Thursday that San Diego will become Major League Soccer’s 30th franchise.
The new club, which has reportedly paid $500m to secure the expansion slot, is set to begin play in 2025 at Snapdragon Stadium – the 35,000-seat venue that's already home to the NWSL's San Diego Wave FC.
San Diego’s project is steered by co-owners Mohamed Mansour and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation. Mansour is an Egyptian billionaire, while the Sycuans will become the first Native American tribe to have an ownership stake in professional soccer in the US.
EuroLeague Seeks International Expansion amid Continued Growth 📍
The EuroLeague, which today heads into its showpiece Final Four event, is aiming to soon expand from 18 to 20 teams - with the UK and France particularly attractive markets.
The league has experienced continued growth this season, setting an overall attendance record (2.6 million) and seen overall viewership grow by 20% across its hundreds of media partners worldwide and OTT platform, EuroLeague TV.
They have also streamed selected matches, including the upcoming Final Four, in VR - something that I covered in more depth for my article published this week within JohnWallStreet.
Serie A Fragments its Media Offering in Bid to Close Broadcast Revenue Gap 📺
Serie A is targeting up to €7.2 billion ($7.9 billion) from its upcoming sale of domestic TV rights and seeks to extend the duration of some of it contracts to up to five years.
The league, which is desperate to try to close the revenue gap with other domestic leagues, has set up eight different tender schemes.
Each scheme features contracts ranging from three to five years and packages of games with different degrees of exclusivity - including bids for single Saturday night matches and for specific matches ahead of big retail events such as Valentine's Day and Black Friday to appeal to specific buyers.
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JOB BOARD
Commercial Partnerships Manager (Tennis) - IMG Arena (London, UK)
Associate Manager, Business Analytics - Dream11 (Mumbai, India)
General Manager, Player Development & Wellbeing - Australian Cricketers’ Association (Melbourne, Australia)
Tour & Operations (Events) Manager - Professional Bull Riders (Queensland, Australia)
Global Sports Marketing Coordinator - Nike (Beaverton, US)
Associate, Partner Solutions - Legends (Chicago, US)
Director of Athlete Marketing - Professional Fighters League (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
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