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Fan Fact
In a survey conducted by CARAVAN® research, the average US adult is regularly watching 2.7 different sports leagues for 5.6 hours per week throughout the year and 67% of respondents think there are too many ads during live sports.
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Spotify has lost a number of top executives in the past month, but Bill Simmons is sticking around. The sports talk personality is being elevated into a new role overseeing Spotify’s global sports strategy.
What's the deal?
Spotify has been building up its sports presence for the past few years, first purchasing Simmons’ sports media empire The Ringer for nearly $200 million in 2020. In 2021, the company bought sports-oriented live audio app Locker Room, now branded Spotify Live, for more than $67 million. Outside of the talk space, Spotify inked a deal in March with FC Barcelona for naming rights to their stadium and to appear on their jerseys beginning with the 2022–2023 season.
Sports are big for Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. He unsuccessfully tried to buy Arsenal FC last year. When talking about the new FC Barcelona deal with investors last month, he explained the rationale. “I know a lot of you are Americans, but let me just state sports is a massive thing globally,” he said. “And football or soccer is the number one sport in the world, and FC Barcelona is the number one team in the world. So we are talking about hundreds of millions of consumers.”
The bottom line:
As the company branches out into global sports coverage, more soccer content seems like a given. While Simmons steers Spotify’s international sports content, he will also remain as head of The Ringer.
Read: The Verge
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The XFL has signed a multi-year agreement with ESPN and The Walt Disney Company, giving the network exclusive broadcasting rights for all gameday content starting in 2023 through the 2027 season, the league announced. The league is set to begin on Feb. 18, 2023 with a 40-game regular season, two playoff games and one championship. Games will premiere on ESPN, ABC and FX.
“This is a definitive moment for the XFL and the beginning of an incredible, long-term partnership for the league, building on my longstanding, very successful legacy relationship I’ve had with Disney throughout my career," XFL co-owner Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson said in a league statement. "We’re excited to be working with global visionaries that are aligned with the XFL’s values, are true team players and share our ambitious goals to grow the XFL as a global sports and entertainment business. Through the combined power of Disney, ESPN and the XFL, together we will create a new powerhouse on the sports calendar and bring a dynamic game of football to fans everywhere. Time to ball out.”
Read: USA Today
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The first round of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Stanley Cup playoffs on Turner has become the most-watched ever on US pay-TV. Across the TNT and TBS pay-TV networks, games in the opening round of the North American ice-hockey league’s playoffs averaged 812,000 viewers across 25 broadcasts, the highest ever figure for that stage of the NHL post-season.
On the digital front, engagement with Bleacher Report’s coverage of the first round across the brand’s social platforms was up 104% on the entire 2021 post-season. The US media company’s content on the ‘Open Ice’ Instagram account alone reached 2.9 million users during the first round. Chipotle, Clutch and TikTok are among the new partners activating this year for the National Hockey League’s 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The NHL has more than two dozen official partners in the United States and Canada.
Read: SportsPro, MediaPost
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Meta announced that it has partnered with the National Basketball Association to bring the NBA Lane experience to its Horizon Worlds VR metaverse in honor of the league’s 75th anniversary, offering you the chance to explore an NBA-themed wonderland complete with various games and activities to complete.
From now until June 30th, those on the Meta Quest 2 can log into the Horizon Worlds platform and visit the Events tab to find ‘NBA Lane,’ a new world dedicated to all things NBA. Here you can participate in a free throw shootout, watch viral NBA clips on the big screen, and snap selfies in the trophy room; pretty much everything a basketball fan could ask for.
Read: VR Scout
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Offered Colin Freeman, "Perhaps as impactful as the close proximity of the Games was the fact that content capture opportunities were few and far between in the lead up to both Games. That meant embracing the use of more archival content and athlete and fan-generated content in the lead-up to the Games, and then utilizing a templated approach wherever possible to highlight the major moments during the Games. Having fewer content resources on-site during the Games meant relying on more partners and tools to help get the assets we needed to engage our fans."
"Media attachés play a crucial role in content plans—particularly during the Olympic Games. With the Games' footprint being so large, it is not realistic to have coverage across every venue or sport to get the depth and quality of content fans are most interested in. Not only that, but the Media attachés get to know the athletes on a level that often we aren’t able to and can help identify storylines that would otherwise be missed out on."
Read: Engage by Hashtag Sports
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- EQUALITY: The USWNT and USMNT are to get equal split of World Cup bonuses in new collective bargaining agreements with U.S. Soccer.
- ATHLETES: Netflix announced an upcoming series of comedy roasts “GROAT,” with Tom Brady serving as executive producer.
- GAMING: Twitch streamer, esports athlete and content creator, FaZe Swagg, signed with UTA and Rich Paul of Klutch Sports Group.
- STREAMING: Disney CEO, Bob Chapek, calls hypothetical ESPN streaming package ‘the ultimate fan offering.’
- DATA: Sportradar's revenue grew 124% in the U.S., as the company continues to break away from the pack in sports betting data.
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Rising sister soccer stars Alyssa and Gisele Thompson are first to sign high school NIL deal with Nike
The Details
California sisters who play with USA national youth soccer teams are the first high school athletes to sign a name, image and likeness deal with Nike. Alyssa and Gisele Thompson of Harvard Westlake High School in Los Angeles signed a multiyear deal with Nike, according to A&V Sports' Evan Sroka, who represents the sisters. Both sisters are committed to play for Stanford after high school. Terms of the deal weren't announced. The Thompsons aren't allowed to wear Harvard Westlake gear in any NIL activity.
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Emily Black
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5 min read
