This is the email companion to the two audio episodes of the Leaders Worth Knowing podcast that we produce each week. In the first episode, we talk to the leaders shaping the sports industry today; in the second, we talk about them. So if you’re signed up to the newsletter, you should subscribe to the podcast.
ICC CCO Anurag Dahiya is the guest on the first show this week, and he’s great on the purpose and benefit of in-house OTT products, the financialisation of domestic cricket, and the work being done to build the sport in non-traditional markets like the US, China and Japan. We reflect on that conversation in the second episode, and, among other things, look at Arsenal’s recent title success through the prism of KSE’s ownership and the club’s efforts to position itself as a cultural entity.
We’ve got some great episodes around the corner focused on F1 leadership, how viral World Cup content happens, and what the point of Cannes is.
🧠 4 QUESTIONS SOME OF YOU ARE ASKING YOURSELVES THIS WEEK
1) Who is buying NBA Europe franchises?
The (latest) deadline for bids is at the end of this month and Mark Tatum – the NBA’s Deputy Commissioner who has moved front and centre on this project – remains bullish, promising that not only is the new league on track for launch with 16 teams next year, but that it will do so alongside “one of the largest marketing campaigns of any consumer brand – period.” But big question marks remain. What will this new league’s relationship be with both the NBA mothership back in the States, but also the Euroleague here in Europe? Who will watch it and how? And has anyone asked the broadcasters what they’re willing to pay for rights? There are reports circulating on the identity of some of these potential franchise bidders. Unsurprisingly, it’s a lot of US financial entities. Former Tottenham Hotspur Chairman Daniel Levy’s name is in the mix too. But there are suggestions that previously committed parties – like RedBird’s Gerry Cardinale – might be having second thoughts. Let’s see who’s money is where the Deputy Commissioner’s mouth is when the end of June rolls around.
2) What’s the link between Peter Hutton and Fred Again?
I had a good chat with Greenfly’s Director of Strategy and Research Neil Horowitz this week. He’s a smart chap and worth following on LinkedIn. We talked a little bit about the findings of this report – TLDR: Media rights are flatlining for all but the very top properties; new distribution methods and viewer/fan metrics are necessary for most sports rights holders. It’s not new insight, but it’s more data to back up what we’re all seeing. It got me thinking about a potential ‘new way’ put forward by sports media executive factotum Peter Hutton at the Indian Sports Summit in Bangalore last month. He told the assembled audience there that rights holders need to stop thinking about fans as viewers and start thinking about them as publishers; using AI to deliver personalised clips and footage ready to be distributed across personal channels far and wide. In such a scenario the likes of Greenfly and Dropbox – which is involved in a laudable partnership with DJ-du-jour Fred Again – would have a critical role to play in the future of sports broadcasting.
3) Has anyone got an alternative and well-constructed view on the Enhanced Games farrago?
• Newcastle United have made a series of C-suite appointments, bringing in Dave O’Connor as CRO, Steven Taylor as CMO, and Graeme Johnson as Chief People Officer.
