The 7 Gifs of a World Cup ambush; P/E in Oz; Republicans, sneakers, Nike and Knight; The most important graph in the sports business; Amazon and the siren call of tennis; Design classics: Mexico '68
Welcome to the sports business conversation
Hear Here: Listen to this week’s podcast on private equity in Australian soccer, with APL CEO Danny Townsend and Dan Gaunt of Turnstile.
World Cup ambush season in 7 gifs
The FIFA World Cup will soon be upon us.
We know this because the ads have started.
This marks a peculiar moment when the usual rules of creative marketing - the best idea wins - are suspended.
The self image of the Official Partner
Former IOC marketing chief Michael Payne when he sees a Pepsi ad.
How FIFA has sold the concept of category exclusivity
4. What category exclusivity looks like IRL
It’s a big couple of weeks for falcon bloke
Word reaches UP of a problem facing the many production crews arriving in Doha.
First job is to get some local colour on tape, for use in telling the authentic story of football in the area: Local kids playing footy in back alleys; old players telling tales of their enduring relationship with the host city; a bit of poverty porn. Etc.
Problem is, those stories don’t exist in Qatar. Or if they do, they ain’t getting told anytime soon.
So, everyone’s booking the bloke with the falcon, who’s minting it.
See also:
What Ethiad hears when FIFA lawyers call
Ambush of the week: Ethiad goes the falcon route
All the elements are present and correct.
Old footballers acting badly.
No reference of the FIFA World Cup, for which arch local rival Qatar Airways has paid gazillions for the rights.
7. Adidas being told that Nike ambushing is good ambushing
Republicans, sneakers: What does Nike stand for again?
Judd Legum has been tracking the political donations of Nike and its founder Phil Knight, posing a question of “whether Nike itself believes in something or is simply exploiting progressive politics to sell shoes and apparel”.
On September 22, 2022, Nike donated $25,000 to the Republican Governors Association (RGA), an organization currently seeking to install pro-Trump extremists in powerful positions across the country.
A kicker quote from Phil Knight on the last line.
Knight also recently donated $1 million to support Christine Drazan, the anti-abortion Republican candidate for Governor in Oregon. Asked to explain his support for Drazan, Knight said he was "more conservative than Nike." Don't be so sure.
See also: How Nike lost Messi
From WSJ duo Jon Clegg and Joshua Robinson’s new book.
Meh-ta
Interoperability was the buzzword of our recent UP Live Web3 Brainstorm at Arsenal.
Meta’s Peter Hutton was asked if Facebook would seek to create a metaverse of its own, or play nice with other platforms, which is how the web3 utopians want the new world to be.
Peter was clear. Yes, interoperability is Zuck’s plan.
But if this piece in WSJ is right, there’s a bigger issue for Meta’s metaverse.
It might just fail cos it’s really boring in there.
See also, good piece on the metaverse question by Lewis Wilshere
BoehlyBall
There’s a damned if you do comms dilemma around the ‘reinventing the Community Shield’ story.
Whatever the decision, Todd Boehly will get the credit.
Beware the siren call of tennis pt2
See previous: ISL and the ATP: Every generation has a plan to commercialise tennis. They often fail.
There are many reasons Amazon might want to get out of tennis.
It’s had The ATP and WTA packages since 2019. The US Open has also gone.
The journey peaked with Emma Raducanu’s US Open win, the final of which Amazon agreed to share with Channel 4.
Their exit could be attributed to philosophy: fail fast, test and learn etc.
Or they might’ve just seen the following graph.
The most important graph in the sports business this week
Price Elasticity of Demand = Percentage Change in Quantity Demanded ÷ Percentage Change in Price
Small is beautiful: inelastic products are protected against price increases and have a PED that’s lower than 1.
If heroin is one end of the PED spectrum - if you need it, you’ll pay regardless of the price.
Where do a generation of rights holder owned OTT streaming services sit?
When push comes to shove, will fans continue to pay for that subscription: How many are needed, and by extension, how elastic is the demand for sport?
So much of the OTT conversation is supply driven: the tech is available, build it and they’ll come. Etc.
Straight from the Jeff Goldblum playbook:
Next UP: The Bundle is out soon, which asks this and other questions:
DAZN acquires Eleven – What does it mean? The last, last role of the dice?
Is a squeeze coming in D2C?
Has the NBA cracked D2C?
NFL discovers fountain of youth via Amazon’s Thursday Night Football
What is IMG now?
World Rugby acquires Rugby Pass, wtf?
Saudi (PIF) investment into BeIN sport (Story broken by Frank Dunne)
LA Clippers launch Clippervision
Crow v Liew
Have a feeling this will run and run.
Sport Design Classics: Mexico ‘68
Watch the story of the logo, via TikTok