1) Who’s the next Don Garber?
Succession planning at MLS is reportedly underway, and Ivan Gazidis, current Kilmer Sports Ventures President, and former Bundesliga CEO Christian Seifert are a couple of intriguing candidates with European football chops. The pair were named this week by our chums at Sports Business Journal, who have taken the industry pulse in North America and put together a fascinating and fun guide to potential future Commissioners – and what these roles will require going forward - at the NFL, NBA, NHL, WNBA (a couple of eye-opening suggestions in that one), NWSL and MLS.
2) What’s your visual artist been working on for the last six months?
And did A24 and Timothée Chalamet just take a leaf out of the DP World Tour’s playbook?
3) How did the Halo slip?
Even if you don't venture anywhere near TikTok, the story of the short lifespan of Halo, Sky Sport's ill-fated new account on the platform aimed at young female sports fans, will almost certainly have found its way onto your timeline of choice. The jumping-on-trends account launched last week in a flurry of pastel colours and sparkles, and was almost instantly labelled as various forms of patronising, sexist, separating and tone-deaf. As of Sunday, it was no more. Let's assume positive intent here: an enthusiastic and well-meaning attempt (by a young, enthusiastic, well-meaning team at Sky) to provide a space and create a hub for female fans, that landed badly, and then was dismantled by a wave of comments, mockery and criticism by those it was intended to serve (and, it must be said, several who enjoy a pile-on). Clumsy but not calculated, nobody will feel worse about the way things unfolded than those involved. And as striking as the initial launch was, I’m not sure if the decision over the weekend to delete all the content posted over the troubled first few days - effectively shutting the thing down - made it better or worse. If the bruising first (and last) few days of Halo discourages a company like Sky, with its clear track record in championing and investing in women's sport and fan inclusivity with real impact, or indeed other major brands, from even trying to engage younger female fans - and not feeling able or willing to evolve something that hasn't worked into something that might - that seems to me a bigger, longer-term problem.
4) Who wants to be America’s F1 team?
F1 hits Las Vegas this weekend for the third running of the Grand Prix down The Strip, the third of three races this year in the US. With the long-awaited Apple broadcast deal now tied up and those three races bedded in to the calendar, this feels like an important moment in F1’s battle to win hearts and minds across America. No wonder then that, amongst the teams, there’s a marketing battle royale looming to be considered ‘America’s team’ in 2026 and beyond. Cadillac, coming into the sport next season with a fresh story to tell, alongside Mark Walter’s TWG Global, may have the best chance - Tommy Hilfiger and Jim Beam are already onboard to help reinforce the US focus, even if the team is partly UK-based. This week Lauren Teixeira took up the key Chief Commercial Officer role at Cadillac F1 in the States to help tell that story. Don’t underestimate American-owned Haas, F1’s leanest team, and with a recent track record - as team principal Ayao Komatsu explained when he joined us in London last week at our Leaders Sport Performance Summit - of thinking smart and punching above its weight. Finally, enter a third contender: Ford. The Detroit giant is partnering with Red Bull from 2026, a badging exercise that will also involve some technical support for Red Bull’s own new engine division, which has been ramping up for several years and whose out output will hit the track next season. Ford has wrapped Red Bull fully into its motorsport launch event in January, the name for which - America’s Race Team - suggests it’s all-in on the F1 marketing effort.
5) Fancy a pint?
News that British operator Stonegate, parent of brands like Slug and Lettuce and Be At One, is planning the sale of 1,034 pubs across the country, reminded me of my recent chat with Andrew Abdo, NRL CEO, on the Worth Knowing podcast. Over the last five years Abdo has led the league’s acquisition of a number of hotels and bars, located close to stadiums, as part of an effort to diversify and get closer still to NRL fans. The pub and hospitality business in the UK is a notoriously challenging one, but might there be an equivalent model for an innovative major rights holder in the UK, looking to diversify, get ever closer to where fans tend to be and ultimately get their hands more directly on a little more of people’s disposable income?
6) Would you like the soup?
As a starter, try this masterclass in thoughtful, subtle and smart local activation in Guangzhou – Nike’s new Cantonese soup shop.
