Hebert de Almeida 🎯’s Post

Is it the most wonderful time of the year already? Not yet, but it might be equally interesting 🎾 Tonight, a few months after a golf showdown featuring Formula 1 drivers and PGA Tour golfers, Netflix will give us another in-house sporting event - The Netflix Slam, an exhibition tennis match between Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz. As the competition itself can be interesting (it’s been a while since these two played against each other and when they do, their matches are excellent), it is worth considering how this event expresses strategies of both Netflix and tennis authorities. ▶️ Netflix has already made its impact in the world of sports - the success of the “Drive to Survive” and similar sports docuseries has proven enormous interest of viewers in exclusive, behind-the-scenes formats and a great potential for sports right holders to unlock in order to reach new audiences. We now know that it was only a starting point - the most notable recent activities of Netflix in sports that we have witnessed are the staging of the above-mentioned Netflix Cup and the finalization of a 10-year contract with WWE to broadcast weekly WWE Raw. Built on the initial engagement in tennis through the “Break Point”, The Netflix Slam is another, surely not the last step in their presence in sports. It is, in my opinion, the loudest one, considering the star power gracing the court tonight. ▶️ Considering professional tennis, such initiatives are very well-needed and the presence of such high-profile players like Nadal and Alcaraz should not be a surprise, considering the current challenges that this sport has to face in order to ensure its further development and audience growth in the future. A few years ago research showed that the average age of a tennis follower is 61 years old, which Novak Djokovic described as “alarming”, while average age of an F1 fan is just 32 years old. Considering that and also lengthy matches and tournament formats that provide too few chances for an upset, tennis could be perceived as unattractive for Gen Z / Millennial fans that are overall described as “crunch-timers”, as those who are not watching sports events in full as much as older generations do and finally as those who tend to watch sports content more on streaming platforms instead on TV. Set of actions such as NextGen ATP Finals, Ultimate Tennis Showdown with refreshed match format, “Break Point” and finally The Netflix are aimed to reach younger audiences where they mainly are and present tennis as an attractive, dynamic, and dramatic sport - not only enjoyable to play, but also good to watch. I will surely tune in for tonight’s Netflix Slam and I hope that Netflix will expand their involvement in in-house sports events and in sports broadcasting in general, and as a cycling fan, I have an idea - how about gathering elite pro cyclists for a climbing showdown at Alpe D’Huez? 😏 📷 Netflix #sportsbusiness #streaming #tennis #netflix #sportsmarketing

Congratulations to Major League Soccer #MLS for a record-breaking 2023! The arrival of one of the best players of all time, Lionel #Messi boosted many of MLS's KPIs exponentially in 2023. Here are just a few of the key performance metrics that Messi shot up in 2023: Attendance. The league set records for attendance in 2023. A record 82,110 fans attended the “El Trafico” showdown at the Rose Bowl between local archrivals LA Galaxy and LAFC. The 4th of July clash recorded the highest attendance of a stand-alone MLS match in the league’s history. Overall for the entire 2023 MLS season, a total of 10,900,804 fans attended matches, for an average of 22,111 per match, both all-time records. [https://lnkd.in/efGpQpHV] News media coverage and social media impressions. Messi's arrival to Inter Miami yielded prominent and substantial news media coverage for the league from the nation’s most influential news media outlets, from USA Today to the New York Times, to many TV and cable news networks in the country and just about everything in between both in the United States and around the world. The news coverage about all Messi-related activities in MLS was comprehensive in quality and quantity. Who in the United States, and around the world, does not know that Messi is here, I ask? That is the common sense metric to measure his news media attraction prowess. In terms of social media, following his arrival, interactions spiked across MLS’ social media accounts (Twitter by 1125%, Instagram by 517%, and Facebook by 2488%). Additionally, 22 million of the 24 million followers MLS has gained since last season have come since Messi’s arrival was announced in June. https://lnkd.in/e2UxQFFR Coinciding with Messi’s arrival, the league announced a deal with #Apple that provides the league a global platform to broadcast matches. Apple’s $2.5 billion, 10-year worldwide deal with MLS streams all the games live, with no blackouts, across Apple devices in 100+ countries.  https://lnkd.in/eyWn7vK9 MLS Commissioner Don Garber summed the Messi impact succinctly when he spoke with USA Today. “With Messi, every game is almost like the Super Bowl, with the celebrity presence and the global media presence,” Garber said. https://lnkd.in/eFfM9dZq The next few years, 2024 through 2026, will bring even more global attention to the United States soccer market. Copa America (2024), the FIFA Club World Cup (2025), CONCACAF Gold Cup (2025) - and, of course, the biggest futbol-soccer tournament of them all -the 2026 #FIFA #WorldCup- will all be played in the United States. 👍 ⚽

The National Basketball League (NBL) just wrapped up another successful season, and the league is on a positive growth trajectory. The NBL was in poor shape when it was purchased by Larry Kestelman in 2015 for $7m. Since then, things have turned around and it's grown to have an estimated annual revenue of $40m, and has become one of the fastest growing sporting leagues in Australia. NBL CEO David Stevenson previously stated that the league is in its “strongest-ever position, on and off the court”, and post the Tasmania JackJumpers' thrilling Finals Series win on the weekend, he posted some off-court season highlights: Attendance  1.1m attendees (+12% ) Highest ever average attendance (7,131)  40 x games sold-out Broadcast +26% growth Game 5 of Finals Series was the highest ever viewed game App & Web  +118% views across app + web +53% in app downloads The growth of the NBL has been supported by several factors: 1. Strong participation: There's 1.3m+ people who play basketball in Australia and it’s the 2nd most popular sport to play behind soccer 2. Increased Australian interest in the NBA: The 2022/23 NBA season saw a 35% uplift in viewership in Australia compared to the year prior, and ESPN continues to increase the number of games broadcast in Australia every year 3. Success of Australia’s national teams: The Boomers and Opals have qualified for the Paris Olympics and are ranked in the world’s top 4 The NBL’s traditional revenue streams appear healthy:  Sponsorship The league has a portfolio of blue-chip sponsors such as Hungry Jacks, Mitsubishi, Blackmores, Powerade, Chemist Warehouse, Kmart, Bunnings and Sportsbet Broadcast The league's 3-year broadcast deal with Foxtel, ESPN and News Corp was worth $45m and expired at the end of the season – there's reported interest from every FTA network and multiple streaming services  Aggressive expansion plans Locally, the league has a goal of adding 3-5 teams over the next 5 years – among the front-runner destinations are Sydney (a 2nd team), Newcastle and the Gold Coast Globally, basketball is the 3rd most popular sport in the world – the sport has 450m+ players from 200+ countries, and 2.2b fans around the globe. To capture a slice of this global interest, the NBL is looking to cement itself as the world’s 2nd best league and become a proven pathway to the NBA. The NBL: - Has a proven track record of helping players prepare for the NBA draft – LaMelo Ball and Josh Giddey were both top 10 draft picks - Has recruited players from the US, Europe, Asia who are shaping to be promising NBA draft candidates      The league is also looking to expand internationally and partnerships will be key. In January, the league announced the signing of a strategic MOU with the Japan Professional Basketball League (B.LEAGUE) which will see the two leagues work closely to promote the growth of the sport and their respective competitions in both countries. #sportsmarketing #sportsbusiness

🎾 Tennis HISTORY was made at the Australian Open on Sunday. Here's what went down.... 😲 Yannick Sinner's win against Danil Medvedev was the FIRST time in 10 years that a player other than the Big 3 (Federer, Djokovic, Nadal) had won the tournament. But, away from the IRL action other FIRSTS were made. It was the first digital twin broadcast of a LIVE Tennis match. Using 3D skeletal tracking data provided by Bolt6, Tennis Australia were able to create a virtual recreation of the live action. Featuring: ➡ Animating Ball Tracks. ➡ Unseen POV angles. ➡ New AO owned animated IP "Racquet Rascals". 🔥 Over 700,000 Next Gen fans tuned in to watch this alternative broadcast 🔥 ___ Why this matters? Rights holders are scrambling to find new ways to engage gaming native GenZ & Alpha audiences. Player tracking powered virtual recreations & alternative broadcasts have been seen as a silver bullet: ESPN's "NHL Big City Greens Classic" attracted an average viewer age of 12 vs 52 for typical broacasts. ____ Whats next? Whilst it may just be a POC, AO has created a new monitisable asset class opening the window for: 💰 New virtual sponsorships 💰 New rights to sell to broadcasters 💰 Direct to fan revenue by partnering with the Apple Vision Pro to sell digital tickets to a full immersive and controllable experience. 2024 : The year immersive Sports experiences become the next "Drive to Survive" for advancing fan engagement. ____ For more on Web3 Sport & Entertainment follow Joe Farren FANZON3

Marketing Lesson of the Week: Know Where Your Audience Hangs Out Interesting data points in this article: - Volleyball up; Golf down - No gender gap in the audience for Football (pro and college) - Huge gender gaps in audience in the Olympics, College Basketball, NHL, Volleyball (larger share of women) and International Soccer, UFC, and Golf (larger share of men) What do you think? https://lnkd.in/eYeHWwup #sportsmarketing #marketingdata #marketingstrategy

Before you even hit that first shot, there are a few key conversations you need to have with your partner. From targeting the right opponent to leveraging your strengths, this quick chat could be the difference between a W and a lot of “my bads.” 😅 Check out the top 5 things you should communicate before the match begins. 💬 #pickleball #upyourgame #sports #teamwork

Via Alex Wauthy: "The PWHL's latest partner, trading card and sports collectables company Upper Deck, plans to release two PWHL hockey card products before the end of 2024, Paul Douglas Zickler, Director of Sports Brands for The Upper Deck Company, told The Hockey News. This news comes days after Upper Deck released its free 'Inspirational Icons' digital trading card set [get your cards by March 26: https://lnkd.in/gPKDur-5 ] on International Women's Day to kick off its historic partnership with the league... There are two products in the works for Upper Deck. The trading card company aims to have both in the hands of collectors by the end of 2024. The first is a scaled-down set likely containing some physical components, with creative photography. This set Upper Deck hopes to release in-season. The second will mirror some of the company’s standard trading card products, have an expanded checklist, and potentially feature autographs. The checklist will not be as expansive as their flagship Upper Deck Series One and Two products. Still, it will be a sizable addition to the Upper Deck line while having quality representation across all six PWHL clubs... "It's important for us to create high-quality, innovative products, and we are excited to bring those products to the PWHL," Zickler said. "As all collectors would say, people like to hold on and memorialize these collectables forever, so we're excited about capturing this exciting and important moment in women's hockey history and being able to commemorate that with trading cards is exciting.” "These are going to become collectables forever." 📰 Read more: https://lnkd.in/gP_7SEhF #hockey #womenshockey #pwhl #sportscards #upperdeck #sportsmarketing #sportsmedia #womeninsport #womeninsports #sports #linkedinsports #nhl

MUST READ: Football included in American sports to feature on multi-platform service: Warner Bros, ESPN, and FOX have all united in their partnership to launch a sports streaming platform that will offer 15 various networks, covering all of America’s major sport leagues - amongst the likes of the NBA, NFL, MLB, only to mention a few. The streaming service will also broadcast matches of the 2026 Men’s FIFA World Cup, with it indisputably being the most important sporting event on a global scale to feature on the platform. In addition, it is also set to welcome NWSL, MLS, LALIGA, Bundesliga, UEFA and CONCACAF competitions. The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the first World Cup to be played across three nations including Canada, Mexico, and most fundamentally, the United States of America. The United States is arguably the most polarising country across the globe. Whether it’s within their pop-culture, rich history, or “ American way” of doing things - they have seemed to yet again trailblaze another industry. While the power play has been acknowledged, on paper it seems to be a reasonable idea to merge multiple platforms together to become the platform. However, question marks surrounding the quality of the broadcast begin to prosper. Given the high volume of variety in which the platform possesses, will the World Cup receive the dedicated, articulative broadcast it deserves? The basis for the questioning arrives at the irrefutable fact that United States viewers tend to showcase more appreciation for national sports leagues, such as the NBA or NFL. Given their enormous respective markets, it is of assumption that the three-way partnership is opting to dedicate their primary focus to their cash-cows. Time will ultimately tell, however it is also safe to presume that given the United States are primary hosts of the greatest sporting event, in which arrives every four seasons, it is not irrational to believe that they will dedicate themselves adequately to provide tremendous coverage to the prestigious event. Given there’s no personnel change due to the potential of cutting costs across the board to accommodate all multiple sporting juggernauts, Fox will keep their greatest pundits available for the decorated competition. The post Football included in American sports to feature on multi-platform service appeared first on Soccerscene. #Football #Soccer #FootballNews

ICYMI: Football included in American sports to feature on multi-platform service: Warner Bros, ESPN, and FOX have all united in their partnership to launch a sports streaming platform that will offer 15 various networks, covering all of America’s major sport leagues - amongst the likes of the NBA, NFL, MLB, only to mention a few. The streaming service will also broadcast matches of the 2026 Men’s FIFA World Cup, with it indisputably being the most important sporting event on a global scale to feature on the platform. In addition, it is also set to welcome NWSL, MLS, LALIGA, Bundesliga, UEFA and CONCACAF competitions. The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the first World Cup to be played across three nations including Canada, Mexico, and most fundamentally, the United States of America. The United States is arguably the most polarising country across the globe. Whether it’s within their pop-culture, rich history, or “ American way” of doing things - they have seemed to yet again trailblaze another industry. While the power play has been acknowledged, on paper it seems to be a reasonable idea to merge multiple platforms together to become the platform. However, question marks surrounding the quality of the broadcast begin to prosper. Given the high volume of variety in which the platform possesses, will the World Cup receive the dedicated, articulative broadcast it deserves? The basis for the questioning arrives at the irrefutable fact that United States viewers tend to showcase more appreciation for national sports leagues, such as the NBA or NFL. Given their enormous respective markets, it is of assumption that the three-way partnership is opting to dedicate their primary focus to their cash-cows. Time will ultimately tell, however it is also safe to presume that given the United States are primary hosts of the greatest sporting event, in which arrives every four seasons, it is not irrational to believe that they will dedicate themselves adequately to provide tremendous coverage to the prestigious event. Given there’s no personnel change due to the potential of cutting costs across the board to accommodate all multiple sporting juggernauts, Fox will keep their greatest pundits available for the decorated competition. The post Football included in American sports to feature on multi-platform service appeared first on Soccerscene. #Football #Soccer #FootballNews