Laura (Bernstein) Grover’s Post

Everything you need to know in #SportsBiz today: 1. NFL reveals it's scouting Australia as potential international games host 2. US Senators demand DOJ and FTC probe into F1's rejection of Andretti 3. NBA 2023/24 sponsorship revenue hits record US$1.5bn, according to SponsorUnited data 4. Channel 4 and YouTube partner on Paris 2024 Paralympics coverage in UK 5. Caitlin Clark becomes first basketball player to sign signature deal with Wilson since Michael Jordan 6. English soccer regulator must ‘fight fire with fire’ but not cross the line with governing bodies, says interim chief 7. Infront agrees five-year deal to manage Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 media rights across Europe and APAC 8. FSA survey reveals 90.7% of English soccer fans want dedicated TV slot for women's matches 9. 20m illegally streamed Fury-Usyk title fight, according to Yield Sec study for the Daily Mail 10. PGA Championship final round scores 4.96m viewers for CBS, up 10% YoY 11. First two rounds of Stanley Cup playoffs are most-watched ever in the US, averaging 1.16m viewers 12. ESPN extends FA Cup broadcast deal for 79 exclusive live games per season in the US 13. New Zealand Rugby faces civil war as players union threatens breakaway amid governance review Keep your finger on the pulse with all the major stories and news announcements by checking out The Wire - our one-stop-shop and super-feed of sports business news 👉 https://lnkd.in/dJKSjMv5

🏀 She Shoots - She Scores! 🏀 NCAA basketball tournaments are underway, and Numerator surveyed nearly 500 consumers to find out their tournament-watching plans. Here’s what we found: ⛹️♀️ 30% of consumers plan to tune in to the 2024 NCAA women’s basketball tournament. The top reasons for watching the women’s tournament include: 🎉 They like the social aspect (32%) 🏀 They generally enjoy watching women’s college basketball games (31%) ⛹️♀️ They like watching specific players (23%). ⛹️♀️ Among those consumers who like watching specific players, the favorites were Caitlin Clark (79%), JuJu Watkins (26%), Angel Reese (23%), Paige Bueckers (21%), and Aaliyah Edwards (17%). ⛹️♀️ When asked how much they agreed/disagreed with the statement "Caitlin Clark has had / is having a positive impact on women’s sports," 59% of all NCAA tournament viewers somewhat or strongly agreed, 19% neither agree nor disagreed, 3% somewhat or strongly disagreed, and 19% did not know of Caitlin Clark. #Numerator #MarchMadness #NCAAbasketball #basketball #MarchMadness2024 #survey

How do you attract an audience? As many of you know, I've become quite the volleyball enthusiast over the past 3+ years because of my kids. And it's not just me - the craze for this sport is sweeping the nation! 🏐 Take the Nebraska women's team, for example. Can you believe they draw crowds of 95,000 to a single game? That's right, 95,000! The passion and energy in that arena are mind-blowing. In fact, I just came across a mindblowing statistic: the top eight NCAA women's volleyball teams pull in larger crowds than most football games. Yes, you read that right - volleyball is outshining football in terms of audience engagement! 🏈 This got me thinking... How do these teams attract such massive audiences? What's their secret to capturing the hearts of fans? Is it the thrill of the game, the dedication of the players, or the spirit of the community? Whatever it is, it's working. How can other sports learn from the growing popularity of women's volleyball and apply it to our businesses? How do you attract an audience? #Volleyball #NCAA #WomenInSports #AudienceEngagement

“Despite what media coverage might suggest, talent in women’s hoops is not a new phenomenon (as Clark alluded to in her SNL segment) and knee-jerk labeling Clark as the GOAT of women’s hoops is shortsighted at best. This isn’t to take away from Clark’s obvious talent, but to highlight the vast depth of skill in women’s basketball, both college and pro, that has largely gone unnoticed thanks to a lack of investment and media coverage from traditional sports media outlets. Thankfully, that is set to change–women’s sports have been dramatically increasing in coverage and popularity, particularly since the pandemic–but for those on the sidelines and in the media who have been watching women’s basketball for years (or even decades), it’s a bit of a slap in the face to hear so much commotion surrounding one singular player when there have been plenty of Clark-esque talents throughout the years. … Of course, there’s Dianna Taurasi, the three-time WNBA champion, two-time Finals MVP, and the only player to score over 9,000 points at women’s basketball’s highest level. There are also the players Clark paid homage to on SNL like her proclaimed basketball hero, Maya Moore, four-time WNBA champ, whose career potential was never fully realized as she left the game in 2019 to focus on criminal justice reform. And Sheryl Swoopes, the first-ever WNBA Draft pick, consecutive four-time WNBA champion, and both a three-time WNBA MVP and Defensive Player of the Year. Or Lisa Leslie, the four-time Olympic gold medalist who helped lead the 1996 Olympic Dream Team to its third gold medal–the first of seven consecutive gold medals for Team USA–as a formidable center and a feared defender. By now, everybody knows Dawn Staley, who has won two national championships and only suffered three losses in the last three years as the head coach at South Carolina long after her own impressive college, Olympic, and professional playing careers concluded. As Clark pointed out, Cheryl Miller, whose playing career was cut short by a devastating knee injury, also deserves praise after winning two national championships and the Naismith Player of the Year three times at USC in the 1980s.” I have nothing but respect for Caitlin Clark and her skill is undeniable. But focusing so much media attention on one player when women’s basketball has seen so much talent over the years is a disservice to fans—especially those like me who have been watching for over a decade. It’s my hope that sports media won’t make the same mistake with current college players like Paige Bueckers, Juju Watkins, Hannah Hidalgo, and others in coming seasons. My full take for Awful Announcing:

Madisen Skinner is the 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 player this college volleyball season, thanks to her social media presence, on-court talent, and successful brand partnerships. With 𝟏.𝟕𝐌 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 tuning in for last year’s championship, breaking viewership records, this season has already set a new high for regular-season viewers just last weekend. Her NIL partners (VKTRY Gear, H-E-B, Red Bull, Olay, JBL Professional) are: 🅐 Tapping into volleyball's record-breaking viewership 🅑 Enhancing brand visibility with a rapidly growing athlete in a rising sport 🅒 Capitalizing on Skinner’s unparalleled content creation skills and the high engagement of female athletes on social media With women’s volleyball growing at an unprecedented rate, brand’s can’t afford to miss this opportunity. To help brands tap into the rising visibility of volleyball’s top athletes, we're excited to announce the release of our NCAA Women’s Volleyball Report. For the complete analysis of this season's top players, including full marketability profiles, NIL deal cost, brand partnerships, and more, click the link in the comments! #NIL #SocialMedia #SportsMarketing #InfluencerMarketing #NIL

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

Basketball is the 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 in the US with over 26 million people playing every year and one of the most popular sports in the world with over a billion global fans. The NBA is the torch bearer of this massively popular sport since the last 8 decades or so. Team 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐥𝐞 analyses the 77 year old history of the NBA since 1946, spanning 71 teams across 42 franchisee and presents the performances of the 10 best teams of all time in details. Although the teams have not been ranked on any scale and open to interpretations, factors like games won, championships won, home and away win percentages and several other performance based factors have been considered to select the best performing teams across 77 seasons and over 65,000 games. Spoogle’s elaborate and deep databases when churned brought out some interesting insights at the end of the 2022-2023 season : - 𝐁𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 and 𝐋𝐨𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 have each won the championship a record 17 times. - The 𝐋𝐨𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 have also appeared in the most finals – 32 - 𝐁𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 have played the most regular season games – 6032, won the most overall games – 3570 and the most road games – 1398 - 𝐒𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 have lost the most games - 3221 Comment as to who is the all time best NBA team in your opinion. Power of Data at Spoogle, if nothing else!!! #sports #nba #basketball #top10 #sportstech #sportsanalytics #bostonceltics #lakers

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME BUT AT WHAT COST? ALAN SNEL TALKS SPORTS & BUSINESS Alan Snel, whose popular website, LVSportsBiz.com, reports the business side of Las Vegas’ expanding sports industry, joins me on “Talk About Las Vegas With Ira,” https://lnkd.in/gZHTrNCk & all your favorite platforms, including #YouTube (https://lnkd.in/gWAN7dWT). In this episode of “Talk About Las Vegas With Ira,” Alan talks about the biggest sports story of 2023, F1 and its public cost; the restructuring of Endeavor, with UFC and WWE working side by side; more on the A’s stadium plan; the VGK Stanley Cup win; why his website will no longer publish economic impact figures without first meeting with the sports organization to review the methodology and the math;  how the Sphere will be hosting a sports event; and why every new major sports venue requires the needs of the public side to be considered. #sports #sportsbusiness #vegas #MLB #VGK # #WNBA #LVCVA #Raiders #LasVegasAthletics QUICK CLIP (Alan on the perfect timing for his specialized website):

Exciting news in the world of women's professional sports: Athletes Unlimited has announced that all four of its leagues - basketball, volleyball, softball, and lacrosse - will be featured on ESPN platforms this year. This landmark multiyear rights renewal not only showcases the growing appeal of women's sports but also marks a significant step towards greater visibility and accessibility for female athletes. The upward trend in viewership numbers, with lacrosse and softball experiencing notable increases, reflects a growing audience and a deepening appreciation for women's sports. Time to change perceptions and acknowledge the incredible talent and entertainment these athletes bring to the table. We should take note of these developments and consider how we can contribute to this positive momentum. Whether it's through strategic partnerships, innovative marketing, or simply tuning in to support, there are numerous ways we can help amplify women's sports. #WomensSports #ESPN #SportsLeagues https://lnkd.in/gccnF5T4

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