Unofficial Partner

AI is the new betting, which was the new tobacco

The Buy Side

A story is building that AI is the next era defining sponsorship category.

The dream scenario for the sports sector is that this is true.

It has the characteristics required.

Undifferentiated brands backed by vast sums of OPM.

So, forward five years.

Two thirds of Premier League shirts carry AI brands.

Cue rumbling from legislators about the dangers of AI to children and mental health.

I'd model a ban by 2035.

By which time any societal harm inflicted will be baked in. The money will be in the sports 'ecosystem' and the next big category will emerge. It's a circle

Should BBC do Adidas PR?

What Just Happened

It was the shoe what won it.

Just to be clear, the following copy is taken from a BBC Sport news story, not an Adidas press release:

What shoe did Sawe, Kejelcha and Assefa wear? All three athletes wore Adidas' Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3. The shoe was launched on 25 April, just two days before the world's best took to the streets of London.

It is the third iteration of a hugely popular shoe. Adidas worked with Sawe, Kejelcha and Assefa over the last three years to produce this version of the trainer.

In Sawe's case, it

Forget MCOs, MAGs are the next problem

Other People's Money

Why does private equity want to be a football agent?

That was a question posed by Daniel Geey on Other People's Money, our sports finance podcast series.

Jonathan Booker has written an interesting set of newsletters on this topic.

Good point here:

What is notable, and what warrants serious attention, is the scale at which this has now occurred in the world of football/soccer agency. For example, the mergers and/or acquisitions that saw American giant CAA bring together the UK behemoths Base and Stellar under the CAA ‘umbrella’, each of which were already individually amongst the most significant

Betting, Gen Z, porn and women's cricket

Betting

A semi-regular thread🧵on the podcast relates to why some sports and properties are popular as betting sports, and what happens if a rights holder purposely seeks to frame their sport to the gambling marketplace.

The follow on from this is how investors and private equity groups are very interested in this question. I find myself over using George Pyne as a case study, citing his enthusiasm for TGL, the screen golf series, as a betting platform.

From here, the conversation can jump quickly to the hypothetical of turning women's sport in to a 'betting sport'.

So I'm really interested

The Rugby Analogy

OPM

Women's football as Rugby

Bex Smith is the guest on Other People's Money. Crux Football is her investment vehicle that is buying up women's teams, starting with Montpellier and Rosengard in France and Sweden respectively.

Hear it here:

The shadow of rugby

In the following clip I say women's football is "sleepwalking toward replicating the mistakes of rugby".

How long have you got? Rebecca (Bex) Smith is the guest for Other People's Money, the Unofficial Partner series on sports finance, with co-host Matt Rogan. The subject is multi club ownership in… | Richard Gillis

How long have you

'More trouble than it's worth': The locals are revolting

Good piece by Leo MacLehose of Fanzo on the smoke, mirrors and skewed economics that sit behind FIFA's fan festivals this summer.

"This is not a moneymaker for this town. In fact, it's probably more of a headache than it's worth." This is the quote from local councillor on the prospect of hosting an official World Cup fan festival.

MacLehose summarises the three point plan:

Invite more guests to the party - 16 more teams means 64% more games than we saw at Qatar 2022. More ticket sales and more eyeballs means more sponsorship inventory.
Retain all meaningful revenue -

AI is the new betting, which was the new tobacco

Should BBC do Adidas PR?

Forget MCOs, MAGs are the next problem

Betting, Gen Z, porn and women's cricket

The Rugby Analogy

Women's football as Rugby

The shadow of rugby

'More trouble than it's worth': The locals are revolting

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Women's football as Rugby

The shadow of rugby