Nike and Women, 24 years of hurt; WhatsUP on that Orange ad; Google's WWC discovery; New Liverpool job; Early bird tickets going fast; Dads and daughters; The Grandstand delusion; Kick It Out
Overthinking the sports business, for money
Coming soon: The Unofficial Partner Live Brainstorm
What’s the role of gambling in the sports economy over the next decade?
It’s an urgent and important debate.
So we’re gathering a mix of sport, media and betting experts for an evening of high quality thought leadership.
Got your ticket yet? The early bird rate is still available on the press of the red button.
Word has it the speaker list is suitably stellar.
This week’s UP Newsletter is sponsored by our friends at the Institute of Sports Humanities and Loughborough University London.
ISH and Loughborough University recently launched the new Leadership in Sport Master’s course, running from Autumn 2023.
Students on the MA Leadership in Sport programme will join an amazing ecosystem of sports experts – Loughborough University has been ranked the #1 university for sports-related subjects for the past 7 years. So the world’s top sports university is working in tandem with a unique sports network at ISH.
The new intake starts in October 2023 and applications are currently open.
Find out more at www.sportshumanities.org ISH and Loughborough University recently launched the new Leadership in Sport Master’s course, running from Autumn 2023.
24 Years of Hurt
Tomorrow’s podcast takes The Big Idea and points it toward the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
We list some of the standout creative around the event.
One of the candidates is this ad from Nike, celebrating the US National Team’s 1999 victory.
It’s a Back to the Future type thing, with a strong generational female empowerment message.
Two things:
The dads and daughters trope is getting old.
Maybe Nike should watch their own ads.
In the 24 years since Brandi Chastain scored the winning penalty, Nike has not made a boot specific to women.
Nike and Adidas have been asleep at the wheel
If you want a different perspective on the Women’s World Cup, read this fascinating and scary report. (Thanks to Jane Purdon for the steer).
It’s the story of the reality that sits just behind the sportswear industry’s marketing of women’s football.
In my ignorance, I knew there was a problem with football boots. But that’s just the start of it.
The report’s title is polite: Ten questions in sports engineering: technology in elite women’s football.
I would’ve gone with something far stronger.
A recent review scoped just 32 scientific articles on technology in women’s football [5], indicating that little attention has been given and hence not much is known about the technological requirements of women’s football. Development of products and research on the men’s side of the game has progressed for decades [6,7,8]. In the meantime, women were left to use these technologies and equipment designed predominantly for men, such as balls, kits, and boots.
Once you see the risks, the experience of watching a game changes.
Vivianne Miedema in The Athletic makes the issue real.
The all-time leading goalscorer in the Women’s Super League and the record scorer for the Netherlands, too. She should have been appearing at this Women’s World Cup, attempting to go one better after reaching the final in 2019, but she tore her anterior cruciate ligament in December 2022, ruling her out of the tournament. She is watching from afar, along with partner and fellow Arsenal forward Beth Mead, who suffered the same injury four weeks earlier, in November 2022.
Miedema: Every time I watch women’s football at the moment, I’m waiting for the next big injury to happen. No one should have that in the back of their mind when they’re watching a game, let alone playing. Walsh had even said to the media that each time she goes on the pitch, she’s scared something will happen to her. Consciously or unconsciously, players are thinking about it. We’ve all seen ACL injuries happen to team-mates but never as many as we’re seeing right now. Speaking to some of my friends in the game, they’re quite relieved when they don’t have games — then they go away with the national team in the hope it doesn’t happen there because it’s happening everywhere.
In short, important work hasn’t been done.
Instead Nike and Adidas were happy to flog boy’s and men’s kit, boots and equipment, while simultaneously championing female empowerment.
That Orange ad and the meaning of life
Orange’s La Compil des Bleues is front and centre, because it’s the stand out creative that’s broken away from the pack.
Technically brilliant, and according to UP sources, the ad was shopped around several other major brands by Publicis, before Orange bit.
The WhatsUP Group (the best private back channel in the sports business) was pleasingly divided on it.
Scott Bowers: Very important points being raised about comparisons, I think. In that sense it will continue to be an interesting few years ahead where you've got rightsholders determining whether to build standalone brands that don't relate to the men (Lionesses, Matildas), women's and men's being applied equally or not (see The Ashes and Women's Ashes, FIFA Women's World Cup and FIFA World Cup for not), mega-events using the same core brand but different locations and years (Rugby World Cup 2021 NZ, Rugby World Cup 2023 France).
Google discovers women
Google has integrated the women’s game in to its OneBox AI model that sits at the top of the search page. This is how it works.
Depending on who you talk to, this is a fantastic discovery tool for sports rights holders, or Google getting expensive highlights content on the cheap.
Listen to UP290 with Google’s Marvin Brischke and Vadim Drozdovski of WSC Sports.
Breaking: The return of Grandstand is not a media strategy
Ofcom’s new report is full of useful phrases, including: ‘Broadcast TV….steep decline’…‘maturing SVOD’…’market plateau’…’evolving business models’.
The headline is that far fewer people are watching the telly in the way people did in 1978.
But there’s still a community of people in NGB C-Suites that think all they need to remain culturally relevant is more coverage on the Beeb.
Homework: Read Ofcom’s Media Nations 2023 report.
See also:
“I'd be confident we'll get a broadcast deal in the UK for this coming season."
Peter Hutton on the Saudi Premier League’s TV rights. If anyone knows, Peter does.
Are you Liverpool’s big summer signing?
The club has a nice new job going.
The Job: Strategy Manager
The Blurb: As a Strategy Manager at Liverpool FC, you will support a small team that is here to shape and implement our corporate strategy and work with departments on key projects that support revenue growth and operational efficiency.
The ideal candidate will have 3-5 years of experience in a similar strategy/consultant role with strong analytical skills and the ability to present complex information in an effective and engaging manner. The candidate will need to build strong relationships across the club and with external stakeholders and will be highly driven to deliver impact across the Club.
The Link: Apply Here
Or, are you one of Kick It Out’s new trustees?
Till next time.
