Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury; what operational obstacles are yet to overcome?

AJ and The Gypsy King agreed in principle to bat seven bells out of each other. However, a domain of events is depriving this occasion of being finalised. Tyson and Anthony are both contracted to win other fights before they step into the ring for the first time with each other. AJ needs to beat Pulev while Fury must defeat the Bronze Bomber for the second time round in their trilogy. Plus, there is currently no venue, date or broadcasting agreements confirmed yet which aren’t so simple to pursue. This blog will explore what operational challenges are stopping this bout from being finalised and what these challenges demonstrate about boxings traditional event model.    

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On Jun 11, Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury principally agreed on a two-fight deal to take place in 2021. Boxing fans have wanted to see this fight for years, but this opportunity has been deprived considering both Brits are at different points in their careers. Tyson is back in the game after 2-years after his serious mental health struggles while Anthony has established himself as the two-time unified heavyweight champion of the world. Now calls as the perfect time to let the battle commence between these two, following Fury’s 7-round annihilation of Alabama boxer Deontay Wilder in February and Anthony Joshua seeking redemption against Mexico’s Andy Ruiz last year.

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There’s plenty of fighters that could throw a spanner in the works before AJ vs Fury happens. Including Deontay Wilder, Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev, and the bodysnatcher Dillian Whyte. The Gypsy King must win against Deontay in a trilogy before pursuing a final agreement with AJ, likewise with AJ needing to beat Pulev before he fights Fury. WBC mandatory Dillian Whyte has also wanted a world title shot for a long time. The World Boxing Council has recently announced the Brixton brawler will face the winner of Fury vs Wilder 3 on Feb 22 if he beats Russian powerhouse Alexander Povetkin tonight. Despite Dillian having the right to contest this fight, it delays the creation of Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury, adding increased frustration to the global boxing audience.

What are other obstacles yet to conquer? A venue, this issue will spark the most extensive debate across the boxing community. Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has openly admitted in an ‘ideal world’, Matchroom Boxing and the UK boxing audience would be delighted to bring this fight to home soil. However, it’s not always simple to follow the fans best interests in the commercialised world of sport, mainly as Tyson Fury doesn’t hold a UK boxing licence. Tyson’s exclusive fighting contract with global broadcaster ESPN restricts him from boxing anywhere else but the US. If The Gypsy King were to reapply for a non-US licence, this would further delay the bout with AJ. Fury vs AJ is likely to be one of the biggest PPV buys in heavyweight boxing, meaning it increases the overseas commercial appeal. The Middle East and the US will be keen to battle out hosting the event considering their successful reputation in sport event management. Organising a venue for this event could polarise the boxing audience depending on where its held.   

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Outside the ring, another battle is fermenting, the bout of the broadcasters!  AJ’s contract with Sky Sports and Tyson Fury’s joint-relationship with ESPN and BT Sport will complicate matters considering the volume of rivalry between the firms. Every global broadcaster will want a piece of this content to ensure they provide value to their consumers. It will be challenging as each firm will likely get greedy around TV media rights, exclusive fight-content and other broadcasting access. The politics behind rights and TV licensing could be a barrier to delay the British heavyweight bout.  

There’s a long road ahead before this fight is officially confirmed. But due to boxing politics, broadcasting matters and current fight agreements, boxing fans may have to wait for longer than initially anticipated. COVID19 doesn’t provide any favours either, but focusing on the bigger picture, boxing is identified to utilise a ‘consumer-stalling’ tactic to tease its audience for building up an event.

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Ash’s Sports Industry chat with sports sponsorship guru, Michael Jackson

This weeks interview sees the founder of Elite Sports Marketing, Michael Jackson, have a chat about his adventure into the sports industry. Michael is a sports sponsorship guru that began his career in telemarketing and always had the vision to work for himself. This blog has many insights for sports enthusiasts about how to make yourself stand out in an overly-saturated market of sport, the nature of working in the industry alongside what makes a successful sporting partnership.

Q) Thanks for joining us Michael, to kick this off, I can see your career began in telemarketing. Would you mind touching on your career journey from this point to Elite Sports Marketing?

A: Yes, indeed, so I ran a telemarketing company business for 14 years. Before that, I worked for a telemarketing company when I was 19 years old. I initially needed a job and happened to have an interview for a telemarketing executive. At the time, I didn’t know what a telemarketing executive was, so I needed explaining. I was told I’d be calling people up, generating leads, appointments and things like that. Then I thought okay, let’s do it and I just happened to be very good at it.

Fast forward on a couple of years, I began to think if I can do this for other people, why can’t I do it for myself? So at the age of 24, I approached the Prince’s Trust, which is a charity that loans money for start-ups. However, you’ve got to come from a deprived background which I did, such as being in foster care, being homeless, living in hostels etc. So they gave me a few thousand pounds, and I bought a desk, chair, computer, telephones and off I went.

From my experience, the IT industry was huge on telemarketing, so this was my target market at first. I was lucky that one of my first clients was a company called Gartner research. The funny thing was that the meeting I went to was in an enormous building that had trees in the middle of the building and a Starbucks which blew my mind to how big the company were. The fact the firm was so big, this gave me leverage to reach out to other IT companies. I then picked up Sage, which led me to Konica Minolta.

After 14 years, I then got bored and wanted to do something else. I changed my mindset and thought, okay, I’m going out to get whatever client I can no matter what industry. I’m a big football fan and thought let’s reach out to some clubs and see if anyone interested. I didn’t know what type of telemarketing I would do, but I asked the question anyway and got lucky considering my first client were Spurs. I supported Tottenham with calling up their season ticket holders to promote corporate hospitality packages. From then on, I worked with Crystal Palace, Ranger, Wigan and I ended up working in sport where Elite Sports Marketing was formed.

Q) I understand Elite Sports Marketing work firmly with sports organisations to deliver high-quality partnerships in the industry, can you expand on what this looks like daily?

A: Hectic, crazy and not very well planned out. The corporate sports industry isn’t something you can plan out. For example, Chelsea announces they have brought in a toothpaste partner, crazy as it sounds, within 24 hours every football club will be ringing me about toothpaste companies as its an industry that is interested in sports. So, every club, agent and agency will go after that industry, we’ve seen it with the airline sector and tyre industry. It’s a game of whoever has the money to pay for sponsorship and wants mass exposure.

Now, I’ve done deals that mostly lie with the tech industry. I tend to do things slightly differently if you look a lot of sponsors, they’ll do sponsorship with one club for two or three years, and then you’ll find another club. I don’t change companies because I don’t see the point. Football clubs are always getting chased by agencies, and I don’t want to be like that. If you look at my clients, I can’t think that hasn’t come from me approaching them out of the blue. Most clubs I’ve reached out to have never had much support with sponsorship which is a good thing as they then trust you that you’ve built up some foundations and you’ve done a deal whether they’re going to be with you for a long time.

Every time I do a deal, they get announced. I then get clients calling me up talking about the number of agents that have called me since we’ve done that deal because everyone wants to jump on it.

Going back to your original question, I like to think I do things differently. I will look at a company that I may find on LinkedIn or elsewhere. I would research and come up with reasons in my head about what they can be doing better, and I’ll approach them about it.

Overall, it’s not a straightforward strategy in the world of corporate sports.

Q) Brilliant stuff. At Elite Sports Marketing, how many team members do you have? 

A: So for a very long time, it’s just been me, and I’m not surprised. I often get people saying to me,” But that must be hard work, right?”, however, I think it’s fantastic.

People often think that I have a team because of all the fantastic clubs I’ve worked with, they see the announcements and think ‘wow, that’s big’. The reason I’ve secured big clients is that I work 12 hours a day, I’ve got back to back zoom calls, and I’m always active. These are not overnight successes; it’s taken time.

But recently, I’ve taken on two guys who are wanting to learn the ropes. One guy in particular called Antonio has been terrific. He kept on chasing me and was so desperate to work with me talking about how I’m such an inspiration and all that kind of stuff. It was quite overwhelming, considering that I’m British, we generally don’t take compliments very well! I thought if he can bring value to me, then why not, which he did as he lives in the States, is originally from Venezuela and is fluent in Spanish. Already, he has a reach that I don’t own. Then very quickly, he generated a serious opportunity we’re talking about now, which is likely to become a rather large deal.

Another lad has recently come on board, an ex BMW employee who also has bags of enthusiasm and speaks German. Elite Sports Marketing now involves three team members. It’s been majorly beneficial, particularly in Antonio as he’s learning very quickly. Sometimes, this is not for everyone, but I’m glad I made the right choice to bring in both boys.

Q) I can see you’ve worked with some very prestigious clients, including Premier League clubs, American gym chains and Rugby clubs. How did you build the Elite Sports Marketing brand to draw this appealing clientele?

A: It goes back to my work in telemarketing. My first client happened to be the largest IT research company globally. Call it what you like, confidence, blinding stupidity, but my attitude is to go for the cream of the crop. Why try small businesses and small deals? I had a call with a lad a couple of weeks ago asking for advice about selling on his own to football clubs; he wanted to start with his local club. I asked him, “why?” It’s harder to sell sponsorship at £500 for a small club. Interestingly, it’s easier to ask someone for £100k+ because you’re talking about Premier League football clubs and becoming a name overnight.

“Go after the big boys”, that’s how I’ve treated things as there’s no reason why you shouldn’t or couldn’t. What are the worst people can say? No? If that happens, you keep moving. In this industry, it’s a numbers game; you might have made a thousand calls to generate one opportunity. After a while, that number could reduce to making 500 calls, then 250, 100 etc. You’re building experience, that’s what counts.

Learning how to talk to people and how you react is critical; it’s what I’ve always been good at doing. I’ve always been good at understanding people’s tone. Especially on the phone, one of the things I like to do straight off the bat is to make people laugh. To do this, I’ll find out what team they support and whoever it is, I start roasting them, and people love it!

The other point is to listen because if you’re listening, you’ll have a bunch of questions for that client. Plus, they’ll appreciate that because they know you’re engaging and you want to understand their business. Remember, your work is all about the client and satisfying their needs.

To summarise, I love my job, which makes me go the extra mile.

Q) You’ve touched on how having a personable approach has supported business at Elite Sports Marketing, would you describe this as a critical trait that sets you apart from other sports sponsorship companies?

A: I think so. One of my concerns about growing the business and bringing more people on board is that you kind of become like everyone else. I believe what people like about Elite Sports Marketing is that they deal directly with me and it doesn’t go through a funnel of processes.

If I had a company of 50 people, I would always ensure my clients have my number so they can message me anytime, and I continue the relationship that I created. One of the biggest problems with the larger agencies is that they’re too big. With smaller ones like mine, there’s more of a personal touch, whereas, with the larger agencies, it’s very much a conveyor belt, once one project is completed, they move onto the next without hesitation.

Reputation is everything in this industry. It’s challenging to build a reputation, and it’s easy to lose money. Also, you hear news typically before the rest of the world hears it, which is excellent to understand that my relationships with some clubs are that strong to trust me with keeping information like that.  

Also, people do business with people. That has always been the case. If they like you and know you, they will keep coming back. For example, I was with a client and a club in a meeting, and they offered me to be their next sponsor if a deal went through successfully. When the client said this, it reminded me how valuable strong relationships are because they trust you based on your integrity of knowledge.

Q) Sport is a world which is constantly changing, more than any other industry from my experience. How do yourselves at the Elite Sports Marketing team keep up to date with the latest trends to support business affairs?

A: I’m not a massive strategic thinker. So, it’s a strange one for me. Due to the changes, we’re experiencing, its more challenging to get hold of clubs and clients, although, those who are serious about doing business tend to be available. I’ve done a front-of-shirt deal recently, which isn’t announced yet, but with furlough, it made things difficult but not impossible.

Front-of-shirt deals are the biggest sponsorship deals I do currently. The most significant pain in the backside is a club’s position. For example, Bournemouth FC is a club I’m working with, and it was unprecedented throughout the season past whether they’d be playing Premier League or Championship football next season. The same applies to Aston Villa and clubs that are in the race for promotion in the championship. There isn’t a tremendous amount of discussion to have as it is not guaranteed where the client will be the following season, meaning the value of the sponsorship is unstable.

However, you can organise pre agreements. Such as, if Bournemouth FC gets relegated, your proposed deal doesn’t go through, whereas if they stay up, the deal follows through.

In this industry, you follow your ‘knows’. What I mean by this is that there isn’t a significant strategy because sport doesn’t work like that. Right now, betting companies are the ones that do a lot of shirt and sleeve deals. Clubs also have agreements with many airline partners, they don’t always appear on the kit, but the two industries have broad relationships with one another.

The Premier League is an example where every agency wants to go. Because they can get mass exposure quickly, therefore, always think about who your competitors are and ensure your deal is different.

Q) COVID19 has had a severe impact on sport, what have Elite Sports Marketing done in response to this pandemic to support your clients in the best way possible?

A: There’s not much you can do other than continue to communicate. A big challenge is rearranging some of my client’s inventory. So they would have been going to matches and having lunch and sitting in hospitality suites, whereas now they’re not doing that. Conversations are being had around getting refunds, moving agreements to next season and tieing up current business.

There’s been a certain amount of rejigging and renegotiation with football clubs, clubs have been empathetic to the situation. Therefore, conversations to sustain those relationships have been short and swift.

There are two types of football clubs. Clubs that will go through clients, they’ll get a name and sign them up, do a couple of years, and then move onto another brand because the club didn’t do their job very well. On that note, Norwich City is probably one of the best teams I’ve seen at looking after their clients; you only need to look at their website to see how long they’ve had long-term partners. This is because they will call clients and say, ‘hey, we’re thinking of doing a campaign, and we’d love to get you involved with no extra cost’. Part of my brain thinks yes, this sounds amazing, let’s do it. And that’s the difference between an ethical commitment from a club compared to one who will not sign a deal. Clubs that are proactive with clients will find themselves financially secure not because they’re bringing in the revenue, but they’re self-sufficient with their network.

With COVID you’ve got people on furlough, that’s one thing. But also, Wigan has gone into administration, and this demonstrates the problem with football is sometimes people go into it for the right reasons, whereas others are purely money motivated. For example, if you buy a low-level championship football club and we spend £5-10 million, maybe we’ll get into the playoffs, perhaps we’ll win the playoffs in the Premier League, and then we’re adding, £100 million in TV rights money. That’s where we’ll make a profit.

Understandably, COVID has created its problems for the industry. But at the same time, there are always good stories. One being Harry Kane promoting Leyton Orient’s new kit launch. Which has been a lesson to show if you have a relationship with another club, as Kane did with Leyton Orient being a big part at the start of his playing career, you’re likely to be more in demand from that.

Q) As an organisation that thrives from delivering high-quality partnerships, what makes a successful partnership in the industry? Plus, does this answer differ depending on the sport?

A: It’s straightforward. For example, on Linkedin, there’s plenty of courses about sales. However, I’ve never done sales training, and I never want to. The reason for this is because if you’re told the same thing that 1000’s of others are shown, you’ll be the same person. Whereas, YOUR personality and determination can’t be replicated. As mentioned earlier, people do business with people. Therefore, character is vital.

In this industry, you will get lots of no’s, but rather than treating it as a set back use it to pick up gems of wisdom. Having an imaginative and creative way to look at a company is a significant step forward to understand what benefit your client can have from partnering with you. Demographics are essential to understand, acknowledging how you can help your client better engage with their audience and doing the right thing for the right reasons.

Personality comes in as it’s essential to build a relationship and rapport. For example, I did a deal between Southampton and Kuflink, and before it got signed, I spent 45 mins on the phone bantering around with the client. This proves to be more than a business relationship and shows my personality sticks out, which is excellent. Therefore, to make a successful partnership, find out what you’re good at and accentuate those things while having the confidence to understand who you are.

Q) Throughout the 4 years and 6 months at Elite Sports Marketing, what other additional challenges have you faced, and how have you responded from them to enhance business?

A: The lockdown isn’t anything new; I work from home anyway, so there’s no massive change, the main difficultly was not being able to get my Starbucks! However, working from home has its challenges, including difficulties to focus as I often find myself ‘quickly’ checking the news and then 3 hours later I’m still in front of the TV!

It took a while to get regimented. Another big challenge about being an entrepreneur is money; it’s all well and good to work for yourself when you can pick when you do and don’t work, however, who is paying the rent? It’s me. So having a healthy level of discipline is a big one when working for yourself.

The biggest driver that keeps me focus and beating the drum is my family. They are my number one priority; if I were to pull off a big deal tomorrow, but I drop dead, I will be happy because I have provided my family financial security. Everyone needs to have something substantial, driving them and prioritise making money.

To summarise, whatever your drive is, make it compelling and aim for the top; that way, no challenge will be enough to bring you down.

Q) For people reading this who are inspired to devise their own sports sponsorship company, what advice can you pass on to them to consider?

A: Sports sponsorship is essentially a sales industry. Therefore, you need a strong backbone and a grinding mentality. Be prepared to send out a lot of messages but not receiving many responses. Treat everything as a learning curve, including the tone of your voice and the way you speak, this makes a big difference in securing a deal from my experience.

Patience is also crucial. On a slow week, I make about 3-15 calls with young people coming out of college and uni providing them careers advice. I enjoy being in a position to help, and I’d advise this to others as well once people start coming to you for information.

Another game-changing piece of advice is to utilise LinkedIn as much as you can. 80% of my clients are from LinkedIn. There’s no other place where you would find groups of brands and professionals in sport. Increase your connections, interact with other people as much as possible and get yourself noticed.

Q) What qualities do you look for when bringing in new employees at Elite Sports Marketing?  

A: I didn’t know the answer until I met Antonio. Since then, it’s about having determination and passion. What made Antonio stand out was how he didn’t care about earning on a commission-only basis. Call it blind enthusiasm, not taking no for an answer; you can’t ignore an attitude like that.

Also, in sports sales, everyone wants to aim for football clubs. Sport is a big world, why not diversify your thinking and go for cricket or tennis clubs instead? Being openly minded is also essential as it presents other ways to get your foot into the door

Q) Final question, what is the one phrase you like to use to summarise what makes a successful sporting career?

A: It all comes down to passion. You love the game; you enjoy watching it, seeing it and talking about it. Simply use that passion to build partnerships, apply yourself to the right club and make sure you always have a strong enough purpose to wake up each morning. I know I do, I get to talk about sport all day and get paid for it, there’s no reason you can’t either.

Wow, what a brilliant interview with Michael. He didn’t hold back one bit about the reality behind working in sport and what it takes to reach the top. It’s incredible to see how his commitment has led him to secure humongous clients in and how this has leveraged further opportunities to build his sporting portfolio. I hope this interview has brought value to your sports career ambition, and if so, make sure you subscribe to my mailing list for more inspirational sporting stories.

Rating: 1 out of 5.

The AST wrap-up; Digitalisation continues to dominate the sports industry

Digitalisation, lockdown viewership and eSports are what’s in store in the world of sports business this week!

The PGA Championship is the next tournament to smash viewership records

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Golf is the latest sport to hit the roof with viewership numbers throughout lockdown. An average of 5.153m viewers tuned in to see American pro golfer Collin Morikawa take the first men’s major Championship of 2020. This was CBS’s most-watched golf broadcast since July 2019 by a 3% increase.

Global broadcaster ESPN also had benefits to reap. ESPN accumulated an average of 1.965m viewers of the PGA Championship final, making it 60% higher than TNT’s final round viewership numbers in July 2019. Plus, ESPN’s demographic segment of 18-49-year-olds’ watching the Championship increased by 40% from the past five years.

Lockdown has garnered more sports consumers behind their screens more than ever, how will the proposed return of stadium audiences compare?

The WNBA extend their Twitter partnership to dominate the sports media landscape

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The women’s leading basketball league has renewed their partnership with Twitter to stream ten 2020 regular season matches through the social media medium. The two parties have pursued four consecutive seasons together, which has revolutionised basketballs fan engagement incentives. 

The Twitter broadcasts will consist of live commentary from basketball specialists LaChina Robinson and Ros Gold-Onwude. This extended venture demonstrates sport is moving into an era of streaming becoming a serious competitor to traditional sports broadcasters, what could this mean for the value behind pursuing more digital content based partnerships in the sports industry?  

Threats to ban TikTok in the US doesn’t faze the New York Yankees

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Major League Baseball team New York Yankees and regional sports network YES Network confirm a multi-year innovative partnership with social media (SM) medium, TikTok. TikTok will pay $10m to the Yankees for three years which will see the short-video content platform receive stadium signage in the Yankees venue.

Despite the piracy concerns that surround the fastest-growing SM platform, New York Yankees believe in the product to provide a new strategy to engage with their audience. How much of an impact will this venture produce for the New York Yankees content strategy?

The Kansas City Chiefs go cashless with Tappit

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American football team, the Kansas City Chiefs, turn the Arrowhead stadium cashless by partnering with a mobile tech company, Tappit. The incentive behind this is to enhance the fan experience and to reduce further risk of spreading COVID19 once fans return to stadiums.

The fans can purchase stadium goods through the Chief app, where they have the chance to also received personalised vouchers and discounts. The cashless payment firm also has working ventures with Manchester City FC, Birmingham City, Dubai’s Seven Stadium and more.

The innovative collaboration will undoubtedly enhance the digital profile of the Kansas City Chiefs considering the cashless feature is available via the team app, however, what does this mean for the team’s fans who fit in the non-tech-savvy bracket? Could this deter the experience of this niche fanbase?

Fortnite’s ‘Party Royale’ is becoming a pathway for rights holders to engage tech-savvy audiences

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Party Royale is Fortnite’s latest addition which sees a unique mixture of different activities for users to engage. It’s become popular from allowing viewers to watch virtual concerts, Diplo, DeadMau5 and Steve Aoki are a few artists to have capitalised the space so far. US artist Travis Scott held a virtual tour dubbed, ‘Astronomical’ on the medium in April which drew in 12m players, 45.8m in-game views and 77m YouTube views.

The suspension of live entertainment due to COVID19 has influenced right holders to fill the void by exploiting the growth of esports mediums. Midia Fuse researched Q1 of 2020 to identify what sports Fortnite players watch on TV/ streaming services. 62% of Fortnite players watch American Football, 58% tune into basketball, 41% engage in baseball and 25% view boxing.

COVID19 has changed the game for rights holders to benefit from esports to leverage their fanbase to underpin commercial merit. 

The Women’s Scottish Premier League’s profile expects to rise under new BBC streaming agreement

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UK public service broadcaster BBC will stream the upcoming season of the Scottish Premier League. The league’s right holder, Scottish Women’s Football, was responsible for closing the deal of one match being streamed per week.

This initiative will grow the exposure of Women’s Football in Scotland, especially as the Gaelic language arm of the BBC, BBC Alba will double their live aired matches through the 20-21 season. Women’s football continues to prosper under significant broadcasting partnerships, including BBC Alba’s rights for the women’s Bundesliga and journalistic links with BBC Sport.

That’s a wrap! Younger audiences arguably hold the most influence over other demographics in the industry, could this ever change? Will Fortnite’s Party Royale feature be impacted once live entertainment venues reopen? Plus, is going cashless the right way forward in sports stadiums?  

Rating: 1 out of 5.

If KSI vs Jake Paul happens, what does the future hold for content creators and sport?

KSI and Jake Paul are two global entertainers that have been dominating the mainstream media landscape for years. Both have verbally expressed an interest to hit seven bells out of each other in the boxing ring, especially Jake as he’s on the quest for redemption after KSI beat his brother, Logan Paul, in November 2019. This highly-anticipated bout is likely to be another boxing media frenzy considering the success that came out from KSI vs Logan Paul 2. The YouTube boxing incentive has sparked a realm of opportunity for other creators to establish their brand into the sport. This blog will focus on the potential the future holds for the relationship between content creators and sport.

KSI reacts to Jake Pauls new song ‘Fresh Outa London’

Jake is due to step in the ring with retired NBA star Nate Robinson in November 2020 on the undercard of Tyson vs Jones Jnr. In the meantime, KSI and Jake have been criticising one another about their music careers! Both creators recently released a single on the 27th July, with Nathan Dawe ft. KSI- ‘Lighter’ and Jake Paul- ‘Fresh Outta London’. Both entertainers were condemning each other about having ghostwriters, the quality of their music and who’s music videos have more views. I know what you’re thinking, it’s cringy and childish! Don’t roll your eyes just yet, this incentive keeps their audiences engaged, rivalry fresh and resultantly increasing the appetite for KSI vs Jake Paul.

Logan Paul holding up his brother’s arm after Jake’s one-round victory against UK YouTuber AnesonGib, the original photo can be found here: https://cnn.it/2PQomg2

Both YouTubers have shown courage, heart and passion for putting themselves in the professional boxing ring. KSI vs Logan Paul 2 polarised boxing’s traditional audience demographic, from the fighting quality not matching up to a typical boxing headliner, KSI and Logan lacking a professional reputation to other pro boxers and it is something the industry has never seen before. However, seeing Jake Paul’s one-round stoppage win against UK creator AnesonGib in January demonstrated the Ohio born to have respectable fighting skills for a YouTuber. Jake’s involvement adds more authenticity to the likely KSI vs Jake Paul fight considering KSI has an arguably stricter opponent, a stronger rivalry with Jake compared to Logan which will get both of the creator’s audiences even more excited.

YouTube star Chunkz endorsing Chelsea player Mason Mount’s celebration against Everton

The relationship between content creators and sport is more than just clout; it’s an evolution of sports culture transforming into global entertainment. An example includes YouTube star Chunkz playing a ‘guess the song’ challenge with Chelsea player Mason Mount. The England International lost and had to do a ‘Frankenstein’ celebration that Chunkz invented whenever he next scores a goal. This celebration ended up going viral in Chelsea’s 4-0 win against Everton. YouTuber Spencer Owen founded the EE Wembley Cup; an annual football tournament played between male YouTubers. This initiative has produced revolutionary results, including 148.2m+ video views and a 300% increase in online event-affiliated brand searches. Both examples demonstrate content creators understand how to embark an element of culture into an industry and convert this into impact.  

Recent tweet by Logan Paul offering $10,000 to anyone who can beat him in a wrestling match

Despite Logan losing the rematch against KSI, this hasn’t fazed the ex-controversial YouTuber to pursue other ventures in sport. Earlier this week Logan called out any YouTuber to a wrestling match with $10,000 at stake for the winner. UK gamer JMX didn’t take long to raise the stakes by tweeting he’s willing to put $100,000 on the line if Logan jumps into the Octagon. The twitter thread has already garnered close to 100k likes, and if both men follow through, it will only maximise the impact in the combats sports world. 

Conor McGregor’s jiu-jitsu trainer Dillon Danis has been drawn into the digital circus as well. The US MMA artist has challenged $1 million to Logan Paul in a wrestling match if Logan wins. Call it blind stupidity, ‘clout chasing’ or polarisation, it’s forcing sports professionals to align a robust strategy to influence brand value. There’s a reason Jake Paul is featuring on the undercard of Tyson vs Jones Jnr, the US influencer has more online reach than any other fighter on that card, meaning a large segment of his audience will likely buy into the event.

The integration of content creators and sport validates the industry’s awareness of the value that young audiences have to produce commercial merit. Despite the lack of authentic sporting ability, millions of Jake Paul and KSI fans will buy into whatever ventures either creator pursue. This innovative scheme will attract further inclusion into the industry, where more youngsters will be encouraged to engage in sporting ventures as long as their beloved creators have anything to do with it.

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Harsimran Virdee, advocate for Asian football representation

Harsimran is a Business Executive at Southall Athletic Football Club (SAFC). The former UCFB student has an accolade of experiences that he shares in this interview, including winning various sponsorship awards, his passion for enhancing equal opportunities and his winnings tips for other sports enthusiasts wanting to break into the industry.

Q1) Harsimran, thanks for joining me on this exclusive interview, can you explain how your sports career adventure began?

Firstly, I would like to say thanks for having me on Ash’s Sports Talk.

From a young age, I always wanted to become a professional athlete. Unfortunately, things in life change, and so does a person’s perception of life, and I didn’t pursue any sports rigorously in the hope of becoming an athlete. However, I am grateful for my parents for pushing me in combat sports, in particular, Shotokan Karate, where I have achieved a First Dan (Black Belt). 

When I was in high school, I participated in many sporting events for the school, in particular within the football and basketball disciplines. I was always a big sports fan, following significant sports around the globe religiously. I always knew and tried to keep up with the changing sporting landscape, and this fascinated me to a substantial extent. When it was time to pick my A-Levels, I was made aware of a university specialising in the football business, UCFB. I went to a few open days, and that inspired me to want to work and earn a living in the industry as it bought my two favourite passions together: Business and Football. I managed to get decent grades at A-Level, and I was accepted onto the International Football degree program. My family were very supportive of me going down the unconventional job route for us British Asians; they pushed me to follow my passion and dreams, which I am incredibly grateful for.

When studying for my A-Levels, at the back of my mind, I always remembered an inspiring quote by Mark Twain, “Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” For me, working within the sports industry is that.

Q2) Throughout your University degree, what were the largest ‘reality checks’ UCFB taught you about pursuing a career in sport?

Firstly, for anyone who hasn’t heard of UCFB before, UCFB is a higher education institution based at Wembley and the Etihad Stadium. They offer undergraduate and Master degree programmes in the strategic, operational and business facets of the football business and wider sport and events industries. The unique learning model encompasses two key aspects, the practical knowledge needed within the industry and the experience of working within the industry.

Nowadays, in any sector, experience and extra-curricular skills are vital to success, and in some instances, they can act as leverage for candidates in an identical situation. Getting any experience, especially in the sports industry, is critical, whether that be at your local grassroots club or a multi-million-pound sports company. It doesn’t matter where you go; the only important thing is what skills a person learns during their placement and how they can transfer them to get their dream job. YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO OVERQUALIFIED! In life, people are continually learning daily. The more you do outside of learning, the better it is for the person. It not only allows people to learn new skills, but it also helps to enhance people’s prospects of getting their foot through the industry quicker and eventually it could prove beneficial once you are employed in your dream job. Whether you learn a new language, undertake in a coaching award or learn photoshop, they are all as useful as each other.

Communication is also vital in succeeding in any industry. Before attending university, I don’t think I would have had the ability to speak in front of a broad audience. Through my time at university, I have built up the confidence and my strength in public speaking. The biggest test of this ability I had was when I participated in the UCFB Entrepreneur Award in 2019, for anyone that doesn’t know, this is a dragon’s den competition where candidates present their business ideas in front of a panellist of professionals. We were successful in winning a cash injection, but the whole experience benefited me and took me out of my comfort zone. I would advise anyone to brush up on their communication, and public speaking skills as these are some of the most fundamental industry-skills.

Q3) I understand you’ve achieved multiple football agency and sponsorship awards throughout your time at UCFB and your ASA agent training. How much do these achievements mean to you, and has it left you hungry to achieve more sporting success?

Success has a different meaning to different people; there is no clear, definite definition of what success looks like. Once you achieve something, nobody can take that away from you.

For me, success is about accomplishing things in life, whether that be a course, job promotion or something else. The achievements which you have pointed out mean a lot to me and they have made me hungrier than ever to achieve more in life. I always want to push myself in life, and I am forever grateful to people who offer me opportunities to progress. With this in mind, it has left me even hungrier to achieve more, and I will be more determined than ever to succeed in the Sports Industry.

Q4) Before entering SAFC, I can see you’ve had multiple internships across retail. Would you mind sharing how these experiences have leveraged your role at SAFC?  

Indeed, I have had very different experiences during my short-time within the retail industry. I have picked up many transferable skills which can be easily adapted to fit into any line of work.

The ability to work as part of a team is clinical not only to the retail industry but is widely regarded as a critical driver of success for a business. In Sport, working as part of a team or sub-team is a daily occurrence to help meet targets and objectives for the organisation. Having excellent communication skills is also an essential trait that people pick up during their time within the retail sector. In a sporting organisation, you are always communicating with other members of staff, for example, when I was working at a reputable store; I was continually talking to customers and managers alike. Lastly, taking responsibility for your work is key, not only in a working environment but in life as a whole. During my time at retail, I made many mistakes, and with me going through that and taking full responsibility, I was able to learn and not make those same mistakes again.

SAFC gives numerous opportunities to people like myself, to express themselves and to help the club grow. I am very grateful to them for giving me the platform to help kickstart my career within the game. Who knows? Some of my retail experiences may have been a decisive catalyst in helping me to land a role at SAFC.

Q5) If there is such a thing, what does your role as SAFC’s ‘Business Executive’ consist of?

Firstly, SAFC was formed in late 2019 by a group of community and football enthusiasts who identified that the lack of Asian representation in football was not down to a lack of talent. Together they wanted to build a team which would nurture players from the local community into becoming the best players, coaches and referees they could, giving them a platform into football.

As a business executive, my role is to work closely with the owner and the club’s board on the business operations of the club. As the club is exceptionally new within the football ladder, the primary objective we have is to expand and increase the clubs brand awareness within the local community. My role within the club is to analyse strategies and targets, which will help enable the club’s growth both in the short- and long-term future. SAFC follows an extremely professional business model, similar to what you would find to a professional football club. Each member of the team has their unique role to play within the club’s settings, with everyone united, it has reflected the club’s increased growth and popularity since its inception this year.

Q6) In the sports industry, I find it essential to champion a cause that’s close to your heart, whether that’s equal opportunities, driving innovation in sport or similar. Can you share a reason that’s close to home for you regarding your sporting journey?

Equal opportunities are a prominent driving force which I feel the football industry is yet to overcome at the moment.

The UK is one of the most diverse countries in the world; but still, Asians make up just 8% of the entire UK population. Professional football in the UK has only twelve (12) players who identify as British Asian; this amounts to less than 1% of total footballers. There is a distinct lack of Asian representation in professional football. The question is, why?

If you visit your local five-a-side pitches or parks, you will see an unprecedented number of BAME players playing football. So, why are these numbers not reflected in the professional game?

While there is no hard evidence to back this up, from analysing social and cultural influences, we can build an image as to why many players from Asian backgrounds do not or cannot succeed in professional football.

With each generation, the Asian community has become more integrated into society; this includes sport. Currently, we are seeing more Asian parents in the UK changing their attitude and becoming more receptive towards football by way of attending football matches, sometimes with their families, and allowing their children to participate in football outside of school. Many British Asians take up grassroots football in favour of traditionally favoured sports such as cricket.

Good initiatives are being pursued to help improve diversity within the game from the likes of the FA, Kick It Out and Sporting Equals. Having more top-level role models within the industry, whether that be on the playing side or the business side, is a robust catalyst which I feel will help the game progress further and reflect the UK’s multi-cultural demographics well within the sport.

Q7) To wrap this up, what is your key piece of advice for someone wanting to pursue a career in sport?

The best advice I would give to anyone would be to never give up on your dreams in life. If you work hard enough, you will most certainly reap the rewards of your efforts. Persevere, and if you fail, get back up and learn from those mistakes. Remember, a winner is just another loser who tried harder one more time.

Another piece of advice I could give to anyone who wants to pursue a career in sport would be to make yourself stand out from the crowd. Similar to what was mentioned previously, learning new skills and doing extra things will always help you stand out that little bit more from the next person.

Amazing, Harsimran has outlined some truly spectacular insights about the sports industry in this position. He’s right; the sports industry should be viewed as a passion rather than a job, considering it’s a sector that doesn’t sleep!

Rating: 1 out of 5.

The AST wrap-up; record-breaking viewership, new sports content and sport development

English football viewership has peaked once again. The NBA discovers new methods to promote responsible gambling & economic empowerment while Instagram seeks inspiration from TikTok to garner new and current audiences.

The 2019/20 FA Cup Final scores record-breaking viewership

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English football can’t help itself throughout lockdown by breaking viewership at every big occasion. Last weekend saw Arsenal FC’s FA Cup victory against Chelsea accumulate a peak audience of 8.2m viewers, making it the most viewed UK football match this season.

The London clash was broadcasted by BBC One seeing the extended coverage draw a 46.1% market share. This match-up has rised above many other significant contests, including Chelsea’s semi-final victory against Manchester United on 19th July producing 7.3m viewers and Manchester City’s FA Cup final whitewash against Watford in 2018/19, generating 7.4m spectators.

The FA cup final’s world-class audience accumulation has showcased the passion traditional sports fans have to continue funding the sector, despite the lack of ticket and gate revenue, the industry will survive due to it’s broadcasting gateway.

What does Instagram’s imitation attempt of TikTok mean for sports content?

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Earlier this week, Instagram released a new feature called ‘Reels’, 15-second video content attribute that looks virtually identical to video content on TikTok. You could argue Reels is an exploitation of the scrutiny TikTok is experiencing with piracy issues and bans in various territories.

But what would this mean for sports content? Mostly, it’s another platform where sports fans can feel connected to their favourite sporting influencers, athletes and other personalities. However, this will be in the form of shorter-video content, making it a punchier initiative to captivate and engage sporting audiences.

Instagram has a record at capitalising on other mediums exclusive features, such as Snapchat stories, filters and now TikTok content.

The NBA brings innovative betting content to its telecasts

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The NBA League Pass and TV networks can expect to witness a new betting broadcast option featuring separate commentary and enhanced graphics on betting-related data. Betting analysts from Action Network, Bleacher Report and Yahoo Sports will be delivering live commentary on the latest betting stats throughout the tournaments gameplay.

Betting is a controversial topic within sport; however, with an incentive like this, it could encourage betting to be identified in a new light. From professionals within the sector, providing specialist guidance throughout the broadcast of basketball could enhance its sports consumers to bet more responsibly.

The NBA and NBPA association team up to strive for Black empowerment

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The NBA’s team owners will contribute $300m over the next decade to form a gracious foundation to combat social injustice and inequality.  The movement is in tribute towards Black Lives Matter and will unfold opportunities for career enhancement amongst Black communities in the US and Canada.

The NBA has issued a commendable initiative here to use its brand identity to create opportunities for groups who have experienced deficiency in society.

Telesport agree a multi-year partnership to enhance Russia’s MMA profile

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Russian agency Telesport will broadcast the nations Professional Fighters League (PFL) from 2021. The production includes rights to the regular season, playoff and championship events alongside original content formed by PFL studios. The PFL is also collaborating with global sports media agency, Fighting Spirit to enhance the league’s media activations and partnerships.

Telesport group already hold several rights to major sports tournaments, including UEFA Euro 2020, the 2024 Olympic Games and the Russian Football Cup. The PFL partnership adds more string to Telesport’s bow to diversify their sporting portfolio by showcasing home-grown talent across a growing region of combat sport.

Could cricket resurrect Facebook’s dominance in the social media game?

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The International Cricket Council (ICC) have accumulated close to 1.65bn views on Facebook during the first half of 2020; this beats any other international sporting body. The ICC’s daily video consumption has skyrocketed throughout the COVID19 pandemic as well, ramping from 3 million minute views to 15 million minutes per day on the medium.

The ICC have Facebook as their digital rights partner in India, meaning exclusive content from the sport is available through the channel. Surrey County Cricket Club is another cricket team that has exclusively partnered with the platform, by Facebook streaming their T20 games for the remainder of the season. This initiative between cricket and Facebook could spark a new spotlight for sports content on the medium.

That’s a wrap! Lockdown continues to prove a digital masterclass for English football; The NBA remain proactive to enhance social issues through their brand identity, and what results will accumulate for Facebook from their recent initiative with the ICC?  

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Would the sports industry benefit from seeing another combat sports crossover?

The 26th August 2017 saw the combat sports world go into overdrive with Floyd’ Money’ Mayweather and Conor McGregor fight for a juicy paycheque. It was a phenomenal brand marketing campaign showcasing two enormous personalities draw two audiences’ together into one event to produce world-class sporting entertainment. The two fighters stakeholders and partners benefitted in many shapes and forms. UK betting companies garnered £250m in wagers, a significantly higher average rate than what the Superbowl typically brings in bets ($120m). The fight broke PPV records in the UK and US, two of combats sports largest markets rising above Mayweather vs Pacquiao and Joshua vs Klitschko. Could the sports world see another combat sport crossover again? And if so, what further impact could this make in the sports industry?

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The inspiration for Mayweather vs McGregor started by Conor calling out Floyd to come out from retirement, following The Notorious One’s prestigious UFC dominance at the time. Initially, Floyd’ Money’ May wanted to avoid this as he didn’t see McGregor to be a worthy opponent, considering he had never stepped in the professional boxing ring. However, it didn’t take long for pretty boy Floyd to sign the deal regarding the appetite the combat sports audience had for this bout to happen. Despite the occasion being predominantly one-sided on fight night, this hasn’t paused the demand for similar events in combat sports to happen.

Floyd Mayweather’s Instagram announcement confirming his return to professional sport.

Late 2019, Floyd teased a return on social media to come out of retirement once again in 2020. Mayweather also took to his social accounts to announce that he and UFC promoter Dana White are “working together again to bring the world another spectacular event in 2020.” Both posts were some of the highest engaged sources of content across the American champions’ Instagram page in November 2019, which evidences Floyd’s audiences are excited about the prospect of him returning.  

Instagram post from Floyd Mayweather to promote the highly-anticipated bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov

There had also been stories circulating about Mayweather entertaining UFC’s top dog Khabib Nurmagomedov to jump in the ring. The event would’ve been a different set-up, with one round being MMA and the remainder of the fight being boxing. The bout, unfortunately, fell through due to contractual disagreements. The Irishman has also opened a possibility to fight world champion, Manny Pacquiao, in the ring following his brand growth since his fight with Floyd.  

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If another combat sport crossover happens, it’s guaranteed to be another commercial brand marketing powerhouse. American streaming app Periscope received a 587% increase in digital engagement the day after the fight. Other worldwide brands such as Hublot, Burger King, Monster Energy, Adidas, and Reebok also experienced illustrious rises in online engagement within three days of the event. There hasn’t been an event like this that has had such a dominant impact on diverse brand exposure.

Tyson Fury vs Braun Strowman action shot from the WWE Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia

Another example of an efficient combat sports crossover was Tyson Fury’s fight against Braun Strowman at the WWE Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia, October 2019. This bout grew The Gypsy King’s profile in the US and added to his boisterous personality in the combat sports game. The crossover made by Tyson proved to add more flesh to the excitement for his rematch with ‘The bronze bomber’, resulting in over 1 million PPV buys for broadcasting giants ESPN.

The sports industry is changing; its consumers are always hungry for new content, and combat sports crossovers precisely provide that. The sector is continuously evolving into a global entertainment business, meaning the pure focus of sport is no longer about the athlete’s playing ability, but the capability to put on a show to a commercialised market.

What is the primary piece of learning here for sports enthusiasts?

Don’t be afraid to be unorthodox regardless of where your passion lies in sport; it will garner attention and give you an edge in a super-competitive industry.

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Will and Ash discuss the growth of Aston Villa, a ‘digitalised’ era of sport and what this means for the industry’s future

Will Street is the Digital Marketing Executive for Premier League Football Club, Aston Villa FC. Will’s path to the football industry has been a game of ‘connect the dots’, considering his illustrious background working in technology which speaks for his educational history as well. In this week’s exclusive interview, Will shares what his work at Villa looks like, how data is shaping the future of digital marketing in sport alongside what the future holds for social media.

Q1) Will, thanks for joining me for this exciting interview. Let’s start this off by yourself sharing when your sports industry journey started.

A: Thanks for having me on. Funnily enough, I haven’t been in the sports industry for too long. I’m coming up to about two years at Aston Villa in August, so I still consider myself to be learning and growing with the industry day by day. After graduating in 2016, I worked in the marketing team of a very niche technology development company in the automotive industry. Before that, I did a more technical-based degree. Despite this not being sport, it had many ties to marketing.

My dissertation was on consumer behaviour towards digital ads, as well as doing some freelance web and marketing services on the side, just to build up that marketing skill set for myself.

I’ve always been a massive sports and Villa fan since I was a young child, therefore, right now is ‘dream job’ territory being – about as close as I can get to the pitch!

I remember chatting to my friends and saying that marketing in sport is where I want to be, and I’m still surprised at how quickly that has happened. I remembered to check checking all the local sports entities and club careers pages every month to find opportunities. For the digital marketing exec role at Villa, I went through many interview and presentation rounds and am still so grateful for the chance considering my lack of experience at the time. Despite this, I believe my passion and drive presented itself well. The club took a bit of a gamble on me, and I’ve made it pay off so to speak.

Q2) Your journey into the sport has been a matter of ‘connect the dots’. How has this helped you diversify your sports career portfolio compared to traditionally having a complete history in sport?

A: Coming from a niche background and studying my technical based degree has given me quite a unique perspective on how to go about marketing. And also, it’s given me a bit of knowledge your traditional sports marketer may not have, such as coming from small business and having worked on a lot of one to one projects. You learn to really appreciate the finer details and nurture those individual relationships and very much of the mindset of treating everything in a way that makes that one personalised fan experience really positive. Whereas now, I have millions of passionate Villa fans to target! Despite this, I still like to take the approach of maximising that individual experience for every single one of them across the globe

The club has been continuing to take big steps forward in applying data we own for our fanbase. There’s a lot of segmentation that goes on behind the scenes to help us get to that individual treatment basis for fans. I feel that it stems from me looking for those finer details and making sure every fan has a great experience whenever they touch anything related to Villa.

Being a Villa fan, sometimes I feel like I am the target market which is a huge advantage. So if we’re launching a campaign for 20 to 30-year-old males, it easy for me to think, ‘what would I like to see?’. This approach is a massive positive for me as the raw passion is something you wouldn’t find in another job.

Q3) What does your role as Aston Villa’s Digital Marketing Executive involve? Also, how does your responsibility contribute to the bigger picture of the club?

A: It’s just so different every day. The best way to summarise would be I look after all the digital channels, excluding social media which is covered by our dedicated content team. That would include sending out emails and push notifications, managing parts of the fan-facing websites, all of our technical agency suppliers, digital calendars, building campaigns and using those channels as vehicles to activate and engage our fans.

In the marketing team, we work with all the other departments such as ticketing, retail, hospitality and partnerships. We will plan and execute campaigns to help all those teams from start to finish. We kind of act as an in-house agency; departments will come to us and say we need help promoting tickets/ boxes, or we need some data on how we can sell ourselves to a partner. I will help them do that. All of these campaigns range from small things such as promoting stadium tours every month to much bigger projects like pushing on to a season ticket launch.

Longer-term, moving away from day-to-day stuff, I work on developing the club’s digital engagement strategy to keep up with the industry and stay ahead of that curve. The club is focused on leveraging relationships in Birmingham off the pitch and through our community arm, the Aston Villa Foundation.

Then another big thing is The Premier League and hopefully remaining there. As a club, we’re always looking to grow our international presence, such as building our Lions Clubs networks and getting strongholds around the world. Being in the Premier League is a massive part of achieving this.

Q4) As a digital marketer, the industry is continuously changing. How do you ensure Aston Villa’s digital content stands out against other competitors in sport?

A: Every individual sports entity has its own very unique look and feel, and that’s something we lean on at Villa. We have such an iconic history and pride ourselves on being innovators. So tieing these two things together creates quite a beautiful synergy and allows us to relate to fans across the board.

Sports organisations week by week are delving into different sectors and having a lot of success, such as PSG and the Jordan brand. Researching external industry’s is something we’re working on behind-the-scenes at Villa, picking up on culture and the media to become more than just a sports brand. Football clubs are not only football clubs anymore; they’re global entertainment businesses meaning you can expand to work with retail brands, gaming companies and all sorts.

Our Villa TV platform, which launched late last year allows us to own all of our content fully, which is evolving into more of a media hub. Every football club now is almost a media company at the same time. There needs to be a value exchange for us of course, which is our fans signing up to our platforms and giving us their data. Therefore, we can base our marketing on that data relating to our fans interests, behaviour and how they engage with our platforms.

To summarise, we branch out into multiple industry’s and leverage them in a way to further please our fans and attract new ones.

Q5) To support you with understanding the latest market trends in ‘digital’, are there any platforms or podcasts you utilise?

A: There isn’t a dedicated platform I use for this side of the market research. I’m signed up to loads of club emails from organisations all round the world to help me keep track of what they’re doing. However, I-Sport Connectis a beneficial one. They do weekly webinars which have been invaluable, so I recommend them. Another useful one is called BlinkFire. Blink Fire Analytics monitor partner-engagement data, for example, for our front-of-shirt sponsor, they will scan through media outlets across the globe and analyse the partner media value against it. They also assess what trends have worked out very well for brand value, plus, they have a podcast to top it off!

Q6) Throughout COVID19, how has this impacted the output on your digital channels? Also, what has worked well throughout the club’s adaptation to this pandemic?

A: Fans are crying out for anything, including myself as I was desperate to see any sport-related content. In terms of engagement, it has gone up over the last few months. We’ve relaunched our Prize Where It Lies campaign which one of many takes on turning fan engagement digital on match days. We have fans sending in celebration videos of themselves, which we’re putting on the big screens and on the LEDs throughout the game. We’ve had thousands of entries into our social mosaic on Twitter, which is also making an appearance of Villa Park.

Another big moment was Clubs and Leaguesdelving into the Football esports space.. Seeing The ePremier League Invitational have John McGinn and Keinan Davis take part was huge for Villa. It entered our top five most-watched videos on Villa TV, which is a testament to the interest we have in our fan base and eSports. The esports venture didn’t only engage with our core audience, but it also made an impression with the younger esports audience that were not Villa Fans. They might have just enjoyed watching a big name player like John McGinn playing FIFA because he’s such a personality.

The ePremier League Invitiational Round 2 was a significant event for us, with Keinan Davis marching through all the stages towards the final. It was as close as fans could get to watching him on the pitch. They’re watching someone represent Villa against another Premier League team.

COVID19 has helped us to manage time for our Esports strategy; therefore, watch this space.

Q7) In an industry that is evolving by the second, how can you see the digital marketing/sports industry changing? With this change, what will it mean for career opportunities in sport?

A: I’ve touched on the importance of data and technology, and how that informs our decisions. The information that you can collect now is terrific. And leveraging that data is definitely becoming the new norm. Just an example, we’ve talked about using beacons in the stadium to geolocate fans by their phone. Knowing that they turn up for every game bang on kick-off, we could then send this fan a communication encouraging them to arrive 90 minutes earlier to a game to receive a promotional offer and therefore get them spending more time at Villa Park. Using that granular data and leveraging that in the CRM is only going to become more common for us.

In terms of career opportunities in the sports marketing field, I think the crossover between marketing and data will become more seamless in some cases, and marketers will have to have a good grasp on interrogating data. In contrast, data engineers and analysts will need quite a good understanding of marketing; I wouldn’t be surprised to see job opportunities popping up where half your week is interrogating data and understanding it and then the other half of your time is building out segments and customer journeys with that data.

Q8) Do you believe the dominance of social media will change? Will any of the ‘current competitors’ completely drop-out and more interestingly, could there be a new entrant on the up-rise?

A: Around 80% of upper-tier English football clubs are experiencing a decline on Facebook which shows how the social landscape is changing . However, on Instagram and especially Tik-Tok, engagement is skyrocketing In the next 12 months, Tik Tok could well take the lead in the social media game in terms of engagegemt and activity

I was a fan of Vine, the 6-second video concept was very appealing, and Villa was on the platform until it went under. Therefore, I hope the same fate doesn’t await Tik Tok but it’s looking ever more unlikely with their phenomenal growth and strategy

In my opinion, Facebook is dropping off as it hasn’t had much success with video and live streaming. However, they’ve released a gaming platform called ‘Facebook Gaming’ which appears promising and utiliising their massive user base could get organisations back on the up. Although seeing the rapid growth with streaming giant Twitchand the rise of Tik Tok, it’s going to be challenging for Facebook to maintain their position at the top. 

Q9) Reflecting throughout this chat, what advice can you summarise for those who want to pursue a career towards digital marketing in sport?

A: I was incredibly fortunate enough to have my first opportunity in sports. And now I’m lucky enough to be on the other side of the hiring process. I guess the one thing we’re looking for is just someone with a real and genuine passion who can add something innovative and different. I mentioned in the previous question industry’s and technology is moving at such a fast pace. New things are coming to you all the time. Therefore, anyone that has something unorthodox to present in the football industry will serve them well.

Of course, you need a fundamental knowledge base. But as sports organisations continue to grow into those media companies and fashion and gaming spaces, I would not be put off by a lack of experience in traditional sports sectors due to how broad the market is now. If you’re coming to the table with a burning passion and something new, I think you’ve got an excellent chance of getting something.

What a brilliant chat with Will. His journey from a tech-based background shows there is no ‘correct’ path to enter the sports industry and your sports career is what you make of it. Also, what did you make about his predictions of what the future holds for technology and digital marketing? Agree or beg to differ? 

Did this interview inspire you? If so, make sure you subscribe, like and comment for more content to enlighten your sports industry knowledge!

Rating: 1 out of 5.

The AST wrap-up edition 6; partnerships, digitalisation and innovation

The world of sports business fails to remain quiet once again. This week sees more multi-sector organisations leverage the sports industry into global entertainment business; another nation joins the race to host the 2032 Olympics, COVID19 keeps pushing sport to digitalise. Plus, boxing looks to innovate its events model.

AC Milan fly high with 3-year extension with the Emirates partnership

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Italian sporting icons AC Milan extend their involvement with the Emirates until the end of 22/23 for 10m Euros per season with bonuses. The airline giants will receive front-of-shirt branding for the men’s senior side, Rossoneri academy and youth team.

The Red and Black’s have made a significant change to sell the women’s sleeve sponsorship inventory, women’s team and training kit separately. Despite the loss in value from selling the women’s sponsorship out of this deal, it marks a new era for the club to grow their women’s team independently to inspire the community of Italy.

Could Qatar be the host nation of the 2032 Olympics?

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Qatar has joined the race to host the 2032 Olympics amongst India, Shangai, the Australian state of Queensland and a collaborative bid between North and South Korea. If successful, Qatar will be the first nation to bring the Games over to The Middle Eastern region.

Qatar has made serious investments in its sporting infrastructure to enhance Vision 2030, which has been a broader initiative to improve and diversify its global profile and economy. If Qatar secures the 2032 games, this will be an enormously positive step forward for the region. Not only will Qatar likely deliver world-class sporting entertainment, but it’s an opportunity to provide a spotlight for the next generation of athletes across the nation to have a life-changing moment.  

Esports has turned the world into a games console!

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Reported by WARC, international advertising expenditure in esports expects to increase by 9.9% to $1,084.3m from $974.3m in 2020. COVID19 has elevated esports into the sporting spotlight from the absence of traditional sports; the sector has capitalised on this opportunity by accumulating close to 1 billion worldwide viewers.

Other gaming platforms such as Twitch have been victorious throughout lockdown, garnering a 63.8% increase in gaming content during April. This figure is more than double against competitors such as Facebook Gaming, YouTube Gaming and Mixcloud. The growth of global esports demonstrates the influence young people have towards shifting mainstream culture; it wouldn’t be a surprise for the future to see official esports tournaments held on the traditional sports scene.

Sportside, the ‘tinder’ of sports participation

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Sportside is an innovative ‘connect and play’ social app providing a platform for amateur and professional athletes to network with one another. The app will allow users to search for their ‘sporting match’ through age, sporting ability and location and book a venue through the medium.

The firm’s establishment will ensure coaches, volunteers, facilities and event operatives to engage with new audiences while making grassroots sports participation more accessible. Sportside is a perfectly timed initiative considering the importance to keep active more than ever, and providing a chance for like-minded individuals to form new relationships through the passion of sport.

The NBA proving to be the new innovators in the sports world

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The National Basketball Association and US telecoms firm Verizon have penned a multi-year agreement to bring betting content and virtual reality options available through The NBA League pass streaming channel. The joint scheme will provide accessibility to Oculus VR headsets for League Pass subscribers for at least 12 live games from 31st July to 14th August.

The broader element of the deal will see Verizon-owned Yahoo Sports promote live betting and fantasy offerings for League Pass. This opportunity will find Yahoo Sports as the presenting partner for various digital assets of the NBA while leveraging exclusive content to coincide with basketball’s leading ventures.

Could we see Matchroom Fight Camp return next summer?

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What started as an experiment to keep boxing fans engaged throughout COVID19 could become a boxing branding masterclass. The Daily Mail reports Matchroom Boxing Fight Camp could potentially roll over into Summer 2021 but not just in the UK, but the Middle East! Fight Camp began yesterday and is a four-show event throughout August seeing fighters perform at Matchroom Boxing’s headquarters in Essex.

The developments of the boxing project could welcome an elimination format for fighters and a television series which documents the build-up of each event during Fight Camp. Not only does this raise the profile of the Matchroom boxing brand, but it could also prove to be efficient at cutting event costs by hosting events locally in the UK.

That’s the updates done, but what impact do you think AC Milan’s extension with Emirates will bring to their women’s game? Do we want to see Qatar host the Olympics? Will eSports and digitalisation in sport ever stop growing? Can an app hold the power to rev up sports participation? Do you think Fight Camp has potential to leverage boxing to move one-step ahead of the UFC?

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