1) Is there any nutritional value in the Masters?
It’s Masters week which means a couple of cast iron guarantees: long, lingering shots of the azalea-backed greens at Augusta, and long, lingering posts about the brilliance of the business model that underpins it all. The Masters is a singular, contrarian and supremely successful example of a modern sports event brand holding tradition and modernity in perfect equilibrium. Unofficial Partner’s Richard Gillis has a typically mischievous, expostulating view on all this. And yes, the Augusta National Golf Club has a questionable history, an opaque membership, and a stakeholder model that has meant it has simply opted out of grappling with the day-to-day issues that most sports rights holders have to grapple with. But there are undoubtedly many lessons there. Not least the power of doing nothing. And in modern times, the willingness to try new things, to push the envelope where possible, has given the Masters the best app in the business and a roster of partners singing from the same hymn sheet. Here’s former IBM sports marketer Noah Skyen on what makes it such a different partner proposition. Here’s an anonymous insider detailing the workings of the $70 million onsite merchandise operation. And here’s MSQ Sport + Entertainment founding partner Steve Martin spelling it all out on this week’s Leaders Worth Knowing podcast. Amen Corner to that.
2) What’s the economic term for a one-off event where the seller knows you’re not coming back so has no incentive to engineer the price-to-quality ratio in such a way as to tempt you to repeat buy?
You know, like this kind of thing.
3) Does anyone know when the next Two Circles away day is?
Maybe some inspiration for the now-famous agency team getaway here.
4) What are your balls worth?
UC3 and its agency partner Relevent are replacing Adidas with Nike as the official ball supplier to the Champions League – and other European club competitions – for the next rights cycle. Reports suggest the rights fee is double what Adidas are currently paying and will be around $45 million-a-season. It’s the latest example of Relevent shaking up the status quo in the UC3 partnership portfolio; something that’s perhaps most possible at the beginning of an agency’s term when relationships have yet to fully establish.
5) Is radio the new podcasts?
Iain Mackintosh – who has a recent history of successful football podcast launches, including the Totally Football Show – certainly hopes so. He’s launching a new sports discussion and music station in the UK. Mark Pougatch is already lined up as one of the presenters.
6) Is Spotify just minutes away from going obsolete?
Jimmy Iovine thinks so. Much of the music industry probably hopes so. As ever, what happens in music is a useful bellwether for what might happen in sport.
7) Who are the most helpful folks on LinkedIn this week?
The Next League crew have been busy. First of all Shripal Shah broke down Google’s latest efforts – via its Gemini AI offering – to ‘control the pipes’ of information in sport (and why sport should really care). The Scott Gutterman added insider context to Carlo de Marchis’ shrewd breakdown of the PGA Tour’s automated content system.
