A $1B Year for Women’s Sports and the Value of Man City’s “Ted Lasso” Cameo

Each week, we sift through a ton of content and then debate it ad nauseam at FEVO HQ. And since good content, like the mind, is a terrible thing to waste, we are also sharing it here with you, our fans, in the form of this weekly blog post on e-commerce, media and life on the internet.

Marketing Brew: How off-pitch experiences — and “Ted Lasso” — help Man City win with fans worldwide

Fandom abroad is not always the easiest thing to cultivate. Homegrown fans come of age engrossed in the culture and community, being told every day that your team is the only one that matters. But how do you convince someone from 3,000 miles away that your team is the one for them? Marketing Brew outlines how Premier League giants Manchester City have courted fans in America through in-person experiences and cultural touchpoints. One of the big ways they did it: making sure they were a part of Ted Lasso, even before it became the raging success it is today. Read the full article for the wide variety of tactics used.

NBC: Women's sports to rake in more than $1 billion for first time in 2024

This is according to a study conducted by Deloitte, which also notes that the $1.28B projection is up 300% since 2021. As investment and attendance at women’s sporting events grows, it will create a snowball effect that will only beget more investment and attendance as fans and brands alike don’t want to be left out. Read on to hear more about how the industry will achieve those unprecedented numbers. 

Boardroom: With new OnlyFans deal, Nick Kyrgios is disrupting the game

Joining a creator platform best known for adult content is an interesting move for the much maligned tennis star. He explicitly won’t be using the platform to share, well, explicit content — and when you stop to think about it, it’s an interesting platform for athletes to explore. Nearly every moment of an athlete's life is monetized in some way; given that reality, a platform ready-made for monetizing intimate daily moments seems like a no-brainer for athletes with huge swaths of (only)fans ready and willing to pay for content. It’s an experiment worth monitoring, because this could be a new direction for player empowerment and fan engagement.

And a few more nuggets of assorted internet wisdom:

Observations on the difference between British and American matchday experiences (The Athletic)

Inside USA Basketball's website rebrand (SBJ)

The incredible moment Edmonton Oil Kings fans throw 15,000 teddy bears onto the ice (Daily Mail) 

The best non-obvious business books of 2023 (Inc.)

Inside Fanatics’ wild bet to become the Amazon of sports (Fast Company)

The new way to authenticate sports memorabilia is… diamond dust? (Bloomberg)