NOW’s Post

Latest research from Women's Sport Trust is out. Overall figures are up but there is still a lot to do across leagues, broadcasters, clubs and sponsors. Find out more and download the report here: https://lnkd.in/eAqFZ3W6

🙌 More people are watching women's sports 👏 The latest research from the Women's Sport Trust shares insight into the growth of women's sports fandom, with broadcast analysis from Futures Sport & Entertainment

Interesting info here from the Women's Sport Trust on the demand for women's sport, particularly around digital platforms, including: 🎵 Barcelona women’s football team has seen a near fourfold increase in TikTok views by focusing on culturally relevant content (music, entertainment, fashion) e.g. Spotify playlists from players. 👀 Athletes are driving more TikTok views than their WSL clubs, e.g. Mary Earps achieved 142m views over the season, compared to 52.5m for Man Utd Women. 🏀 The WNBA has delivered significant digital growth across a range of platforms, including achieving 60m views on TikTok in May 2024 (driven by a high-volume content strategy and the effect of star player Caitlin Clark). Recommendations for clubs included building both the club and players' profile through video content strategy, tapping into areas of cultural relevance and activating the creator community of your sport. #womenssport

Major UK sports bodies have invested a record £173.4 million worth of broadcast revenues into grassroots and the growth of sports in the past year. The funding forms part of the Voluntary Code of Conduct on the Broadcasting of Major Sporting Events, which is administered by the Sport and Recreation Alliance. It requires the UK's major sporting bodies to put a minimum 30% of net broadcasting revenues back into their respective #sports and to make their events available to free-to-air broadcasters so they can be viewed by as many people as possible. Examples of funding commitments from the past year include two grants totalling £1.7m allocated by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), enabling the building of a covered outdoor cricket facility at Bradford Park Avenue. The facility will deliver cricket sessions for 10,000 local people year-round and is leading the charge in the growth of women’s and girls’ #cricket. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eBChGMAN #sport #grassroots #communitysport Jon Zeff, Lisa Wainwright MBE (She/Her), Yorkshire County Cricket Club,

From The Guardian: Football superfans are paying almost 60% more than they were five years ago to watch the 15 most popular tournaments and leagues, as the number of broadcasters and #streaming services required to follow them has increased from four to 10 over the last decade. Ten or so years ago, #football fans needed only a subscription to Sky and its #sports package, BT Sport and the free-to-air channels ITV and the BBC to be able to watch the top 15 competitions, including The Premier League, English Football League, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League as well as the most popular European competitions such as Italy’s Lega Serie A, Spain’s La Liga and Germany’s Bundesliga and the Major League Soccer in the US. However, since then the rights for many of the competitions have fragmented, in part fuelled by the streaming revolution. This has resulted in football fans now needing eight subscription services alongside the BBC and ITV if they want to keep watching all the competitions. New players in the market include the pay-TV broadcaster Premier Sports and the streaming services DAZN Amazon’s Prime Video, Apple TV + and the aggregator OneFootball, while France’s Ligue 1 has its own direct subscription service. Research by the analytics firm Ampere Analysis found the combined price to subscribe to the eight services needed to catch all the action increased by 57% between the 2019-20 and 2024-25 seasons, rising from £89.23 a month to £140.21.

Contrary to what many might say, the DAZN x LFP - Ligue de Football Professionnel deal is incredibly good news for Ligue 1 clubs. And it has nothing to do with audience or viewer experience. Here’s why: Given the lower valuation of Ligue 1 media rights in the new cycle we’ve just entered, clubs —essentially companies aiming to generate profits — must find ways to compensate for this loss and maintain competitive budgets. The reality is that their options are quite limited. Like most sports rights holders, French football clubs have five main revenue streams: 👉 Media rights: Sold by a third party, outside the clubs' control 👉 Transfers: Which come with a significant degree of uncertainty 👉 Sponsorship: 100% owned and operated by the clubs 👉 Licensing/merchandising: 100% owned and operated by the clubs 👉 Ticketing: 100% owned and operated by the clubs Here’s where the good news comes in: Clubs will need to increasingly rely on their sponsorship, merchandising, and ticketing revenues—streams they fully control. This brings two major benefits: 1/ They have complete control over the product they sell and the got to market strategy 2/ None of these revenues need to be shared with CVC. I'm not suggesting that clubs will offset the loss of media rights as early as the 2024/25 season. But in the long run, this situation will push club owners and managers to invest in and develop their own revenue streams, rather than relying on third parties (LFP, CVC, or any other investors looking to join the table). So, to all the clubs: good luck in growing your owned and operated sources of revenue. And to the DAZN team, thank you for trusting the LFP and becoming a strong investor in French football. Wishing everyone a great season ahead. (Especially 🐥🟡🟢) #sportbusiness #ligue1 #dazn #jobinsport #sportsjobs #recruitment

Everything you need to know in #SportsBiz today:   1. Deloitte report finds WSL clubs saw 50% increase in revenue for 2022/23 season 2. Netflix sets $5m ad price for NFL games, reports AdWeek 3. Cricket at LA28 Olympics could be staged in New York, according to the Independent 4. 'Get it right or there won’t be a third time' - Clark County commissioner warns Las Vegas GP 5. Manchester United minority owner Jim Ratcliffe says English football regulator would hurt Premier League 6. YouGov survey finds TV still most popular way for fans to consume Olympics ahead of Paris 2024 7. CEO Linda Yaccarino reveals X plans for more sports docuseries 8. Tiger Woods receives lifetime exemption for PGA Tour’s signature events 9. AFC Ajax extends shirt sponsorship with VodafoneZiggo until 2027 10. BBC invests £500k in Condense for immersive live events with dedicated team exploring sports opportunities 11. Learfield to develop own NIL technology after ending partnership with Opendorse 12. TikTok launches new photo-sharing Whee app 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

Let’s do some quick pros and cons for Rangers and Celtic joining the WSL. What am I missing? ✅ Pros -           Rangers and Celtic receive much more significant central revenue distributions from WSL/WC broadcast and central sponsorships than they do with the SWPL. -           Rangers and Celtic receive greater national/international visibility and are able to generate more sponsorship, thus reducing the losses made by the central club. -           Men’s football brands carry quicker recognition and brand value for sponsors who may want to partner with the WPLL. ❌ Cons -           Central distributions are split across more teams, which would most impact Championship clubs who receive just 25% of central revs and is more significant to their bottom lines than for the WSL clubs. -           Glasgow City’s investment into women and girls’ football in Scotland over decades is immediately undermined. -           The Scottish women’s league is significantly weakened, impacting the investment strategies that are currently being implemented (most obviously for Hearts and Hibs) for the financial benefit of a small number of large (mainly men’s) clubs. -           Championship and Tier 3 clubs who have been building out their investment plans to reach the WSL receive a setback. - Independent women's clubs / smaller club needs or potentials are deprioritised over the quick gains offered by men's football brands. -           Celtic and Rangers are unlikely to make the Champions League for several years, which will reduce revenue/international playing opportunities for players (unless they follow the Welsh lead and seek to continue to play in the Scottish cup). ❔ Other considerations -           Rangers and Celtic would need to move away from using 3G pitches for matchdays. - Southampton to Rangers is a long away day for fans. -           Rangers and Celtic would likely have to change their recruitment strategies to abide by English GBE points systems which then modifies the English immigration rules set by the UK govt (yes they are different between England & Scotland). -           Rangers and Celtic have to invest quickly to avoid relegation. Should they be relegated, are they relegated to the WC or to Scotland? If relegated from the WC, are they relegated back into Scotland? -           To avoid the logistical challenges surrounding relegation, it’s likely Rangers and Celtic will seek assurances that the league become a closed league. This in turn continues to benefit only a small number of (mainly men’s) clubs in a small number of locations around the UK. - What rationale will be made to the SFA, FA, UEFA and FIFA to justify the move when it's not based on geography, politics or quality of competition? Anyway, more on this on the Expected Goals podcast with me and Matt Cutler! https://lnkd.in/eUghihHG

For those who firmly believe Sports drives adoption of streaming, you should consider whether Sports as a very revenue and cost driven area of TV, actually is not really what drives popular TV viewing, and particularly streaming adoption. Specially when the cost / benefit analysis makes it a 'No'...

Media rights: NEW The Bundesliga has signed a new agreement to market the rights to the first and second tiers with a US-based agency 'Relevent'. In Germany, under the Bundesliga’s current broadcasting deal, Sky and DAZN currently pay a combined 4.4 billion EUR (£3.83bn) over a 4 year period (until the end of 2024/25 season). The value of overseas media rights is estimated to be in the region of €250m at this time (Source Sports Legal). https://lnkd.in/eg6Z2haZ For details of the Premier League deal, including overseas deal, see: https://lnkd.in/eB5g5p5U. #benmcfadyean #bundesliga #fussball #germany