TikTok Tactic: Juventus tap into the Freestyle World Championships ⚽️
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TikTok Tactic: Juventus tap into the Freestyle World Championships ⚽️
Plus, PLL teams are assigned their home markets, and can we learn anything from the revitalisation of shopping centre staple, Claire's?
Welcome to Sports Pundit, the sports business newsletter delivering news as fast as the growth of the NWSL’s broadcast rights ⚽️
In today’s email;
Juventus’ TikTok tactic ⚽️
Claire’s is on a major glow up ✨
PLL team’s assigned homes 🏡
Yesterday saw the inaugural New York meet up take place! Thanks to Drew and everyone who came along, hopefully this is the start of something really fun. London and Los Angeles are next up on the agenda.
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TOP STORY
TikTok Tactic: Juventus tap into the Freestyle World Championships ⚽️
In May, Juventus hosted and showcased their first freestyle contest on TikTok. The event was won by Brazilian Adonias Fonseca, who was then named the club's official freestyler.
Later this month (November 25th), Adonias will be present in Nairobi to participate in the Freestyle World Championships: the largest Freestyle event in the world.
Juventus will also be present, and not just due to Adonias’ presence.
Uniquely, the club has become an official media partner of the event, which brings together the 32 best freestylers from around the world. As part of this partnership, the event will even be broadcast live on the club’s official TikTok account.
Juventus are one of the most active clubs in the world when it comes to TikTok and boast an incredible 28.8 million followers on the platform – more than AC Milan (14.2m) and Inter Milan (12.1m) have combined.
Sports Pundit says
🤔 Last week, I wrote about the IOC and FIFA’s partnerships with Brazilian streamer Casimiro, enabling them to tap into new audiences and benefit from his distribution.
It’s interesting to now see this dynamic is also being embraced by rightsholders, who have a potential opportunity to aggregate rights to events and content that is relevant to their audience – such as freestyle football.
Juventus’ innovative approach and prolonged success on TikTok is almost no doubt a direct result of the launch of their Creator Lab earlier this year.
Prior to this partnership, the Creator Lab was responsible for the creation of ‘We The Next Gen” - a series that developed to be native to TikTok, from vertical shooting methods to episode length, and following the immersive and creative storytelling typical of the platform.
I’m curious where else this broadcast partnership strategy could be applied… Could we, for instance, see the King’s League broadcast via FC Barcelona’s TikTok account in future?
SOCIAL CLUB
The Sports Pundit Social Club (SPSC) was designed to enable you as readers to hang out with one another without the heavy cost that often goes with traditional sports industry events.
So far, it has achieved that goal. We’ve had 40+ attendees at the past three events in London and expanded the concept to New York 😀🗽
Rounding out the year, we’ve got events on the 7th of December in London (here) and Los Angeles (here) 🥳 (with plans to launch in Manchester in the new year).
If you’d ever like to come to one of these events, or you’d like to request a future meet up location (current suggestions include Sydney, Dublin, and Lisbon), please register your interest below 👇
OPINION
What could we possibly learn from Claire’s glow-up? 🤔
Claire's is joining forces with Sony Pictures Television – Kids (SPT – Kids) to develop a fresh series targeting a young, global audience.
The company, which you’ve no doubt seen at your local shopping centre or ‘mall’, is going through somewhat of a glow up.
In this inaugural collaboration, Claire's aims to build upon its widespread presence, which includes more than 2,750 stores, franchised locations across the world, a unique Metaverse experience, a loyal membership exceeding 18 million, and a thriving e-commerce platform.
Utilizing the expertise of SPT – Kids' content creation team, the collaboration seeks to bring fresh and engaging content to young viewers with opportunities to then create merchandise and experiences associated with the upcoming series.
This collaboration of community, content, and commerce is, as pointed out by Cynthia Millar (Head of Innovation at 11:11 Media), a really really smart move:
This builds on their recent "Dear Claire" Youtube series, which authentically hands the mic to Gen Z/Alpha girls to talk about the things that matter to them. Take note of how this visionary consumer brand is strategising around their IP:
Creating Youtube short-form content centred around customers,
launching an evergreen Shimmerville world on Roblox,
expanding the Shimmerville IP to cute products sold in brick and mortar,
and now, leaping to an immersive series.
[As Kristin Patrick explains in the press release,] "We will partner to not only produce highly original programming and IP, but also amplify the brand’s global resonance and expand our consumer interaction through content that is socially immersive and shoppable entertainment.”
HIGHLIGHTS
CAA has launched CAA Evolution, a sports investment bank that will serve the global sports, entertainment and media sectors 💰
An unnamed IPL franchise has made a bid to buy Yorkshire CCC, rivalling front-runner and former Newcastle United owner, Mike Ashley 🏏
Sports-focused private equity group, Arctos, has invested into Aston Martin Formula 1 team at a valuation of £1 billion 🏁
UK sports marketing group LimeLight has entered administration after the sale of mass participation unit 🏃♂️
Robert Lewandowski and Andy Murray have become team owners in the new high-profile padel tournament, the Hexagon Cup 🎾
Fortnite makes Lewis Hamilton the latest recruit for its “Icon Series” skin collection which includes athletes, celebrities, musicians and content creators 🎮
A PLACE TO CALL HOME…
PLL Aims to Catch on in Local Markets with Home City Assignments 🥍
Earlier this year, the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) announced that beginning in 2024, all eight PLL lacrosse clubs will be assigned to home cities with the hope that the move will unlock deeper, more connected relationships between fans, teams and players.
Marking the biggest investment in the league since its inception, the PLL will maintain its touring model but now with eight of the league’s 10 regular season game weekends happening at ‘home’ venues, which we now know will include Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Maryland, Carolina, Utah, and California.
With so many viable cities and regions in the running, the locations for the original teams were reportedly based on a combination of fan votes, ESPN viewership numbers, public census data, and venue availability.
“This was a very difficult decision to make — with only 8 teams and 3x as many deserving cities,” explained Paul Rabil (Co-Founder and President of the PLL). “And we want nothing more than to have 30 teams one day like the NBA. Expansion will come when the time is right.”
The remaining two regular season weekends, as well as The All-Star Game, will be played at neutral sites – potentially used to draw and engage with fans in these future expansion markets.
Sports Pundit says
🤔 It will be interesting to see how adding these geographical ties influences fandom within the league.
It’s particularly exciting to hear that as part of the league’s effort to grow the game and build fan affinity in each home location, the PLL is also making investments into youth lacrosse participation.
It’s reported that PLL Youth will establish community driven, team-branded programming that is focused on increased participation, access to the sport, and fostering a deeper connection between PLL teams and the next generation of athletes.
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