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Fan Fact
In a survey of global soccer fans, Morning Consult has found that the men's national teams from Spain, Brazil, and England received the highest net favorability among fans from other countries while host Qatar ranked last alongside Iran.
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World-renowned athletes Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe have launched A Touch More, a new production company that centers on the stories of revolutionaries who “move culture forward.”
What's the deal?
The production company was created in partnership with TOGETHXR — the media and commerce company Bird co-founded with fellow top pro athletes Alex Morgan, Chloe Kim, and Simone Manuel as the site for Gen-Z and Millennial women where “culture, activism, lifestyle, sports, and badassery converge.” The two entities have teamed up with a mission to narrow the coverage gap in sports media, where, studies show, women’s sports receive less than 10% of the coverage, despite the fact that women represent 40% of all athletes.
A Touch More will focus on both scripted and unscripted content and launches with “30 for 30: Pink Card,” a four-part audio documentary series that will be released on Dec. 8. The series, from Peabody award-winning producer Shima Oliaee, follows the lives of women in Iran fighting for the right to watch soccer.
The bottom line:
“A Touch More is a manifestation of our values, and our desire to bring to the surface stories of those who shape and move culture forward. We’re incredibly excited for some of the projects we have in the works and can’t wait to share more about this next chapter” the two said in a statement.
Read: Variety
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Sports betting platform PointsBet Sportsbook took the route of shock and disaster with a clip that saw former NFL star quarterback Drew Brees struck by lightning in what ended up as a promotional marketing stunt. In a clip posted at 1 a.m. ET from the Twitter account of filmmaker Rafael Hernández, Brees is on set in Catatumbo, Venezuela, preparing to film a promotional ad for PointsBet when lightning strikes him and the video abruptly stops. (Catatumbo is a remote lake where lightning strikes 1.6 million times per year.)
By late morning, PointsBet had Brees tell viewers in a clip he is fine while promoting the company’s lightning bets promotional deal. Lightning bets are live in-game bets that allow users to wager on immediate outcomes, such as whether an in-progress offensive drive in a football game will end in a touchdown. The ad is drawing more attention for PointsBet than anything else the brand has done online previously.
Read: Adweek
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Chat platform developer GameOn has raised $35 million in Series B funding. Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Mighty Capital, and B3 Capital led this latest round, bringing their total funding up to $54 million. GameOn develops a product called ChatOS that responds intelligently to user inquiries. Sports and esports teams leverage the program often to create their own branded chat and drive fans to team-related content. Statistically, folks who interact with ChatOS click through 50% of the time, with commerce-related content seeing that jump to 65%.
“Chat has always been used as a defensive tool, but there are over 3 billion people chatting every day. GameOn has unlocked the chat experience and turned it into an offensive, revenue-generating machine for a wide variety of teams and industries to develop a deeper and more substantial relationship with their consumers.”
Read: VentureBeat
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For brands and sponsors, the likes of the Super Bowl and NBA finals provide unmatched opportunities to engage and convert sports fans.
But getting eyes on your brand and products gets harder (and more expensive!) every year.
If you want to win over sports fans in 2023, there are two words you should care about: authenticity and context. Without them, your campaign is doomed to fail.
Learn how Jersey Mike's and Heineken used gamification and data-driven social ads to bring the magic of sport to their marketing.
Plus, read our five-part fan activation series and check out our Switch on Genius ad.
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The Los Angeles Rams partnered with marketing company Stagwell for a live augmented reality (AR) experience. The experience is sponsored by digital finance company SoFi, who has naming rights to SoFi Stadium, and was unveiled during a Dec. 4 game against the Seattle Seahawks.
Fans who download Stagwell’s ARound Stadium app can join shared AR experiences at SoFi Stadium by pointing their phones at the field to interact with fellow fans and the physical venue through 3D experiences and mini-games. Viewers at home can use the app to see a virtual stadium that mirrors what is happening live.
Read: Marketing Dive
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NFL star brothers Travis and Jason Kelce are parlaying their runaway hit podcast into a clothing line. The pair are launching their “New Heights” clothing line in collaboration with clothing brand Homage. While the line is not affiliated with the NFL, Homage works with the league, presenting potential avenues of expansion for the Kelces brand.
The clothing line will begin as a way for people to display their love of the brothers’ podcast, “New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce,” from Wave Sports + Entertainment, which launched at the start of the NFL season in September. Travis Kelce has plenty of examples of NFL players who turned a media-friendly personality into a hugely successful second career. “When he’s done playing, he sees himself as someone who might want to be in the booth,” said Aaron Eanes.
Read: FOS
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- MEDIA: Netflix's CEO says the company is 'not anti-sports, we're just pro-profit' as the streamer waves off interest in live sports.
- VIEWERSHIP: The nation's two leading college football conferences saw decllines in viewership for their respective championship games.
- PLATFORMS: Adidas and Snapchat teamed for an exclusive Bitmoji Fashion Drop which includes a limited Web3 track jacket release.
- EXPERIENTIAL: French soccer magazine So Foot opened a restaurant for fans who wanted to boycott the World Cup.
- DIGITAL: Derek Jeter's trading card business Arena Club has raised $10 million in funding as it looks to expand.
- STREAMING: Following criticism from Ryan Reynolds, the National League has announced its streaming platform will launch next month.
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Bud Light Goes Another Round with Top Rank
The Details
Bud Light and Top Rank have announced an expansion of their wide-ranging sponsorship. The new deal will see the #1 selling beer brand in the U.S. continue as the official beer sponsor and now become the exclusive hard seltzer sponsor of the global leader in boxing promotions. New elements featured in Bud Light’s sponsorship include the creation of a custom ringside seating area for distinguished guests, brand integrations throughout domestic Top Rank ESPN broadcasts, elevated social media content opportunities, and much more. As the official beer and seltzer sponsor, Bud Light branding will show up at some of the most highly-anticipated boxing events in 2023, featuring some of the sport’s biggest names and brightest stars from Top Rank’s elite talent roster.
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Share today's edition with a friend who is a UCLA fan.
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Emily Black
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5 min read