Sports Content Strategy with MrRichardClarke: Exploring sports content, journalism, digital and social media MrRichardClarke

In 2023, one-day cricket enjoyed its 60th birthday.
David Tossell has written a book on the evolution of the format. He describes those early days as “nicely naïve”. But, at the same time, they were the foundation for every major innovation in cricket ever since.
These days, the 50-over game is under an existential threat due to the rise of T20. Can it survive, is it worth saving and what would be its legacy?
We discussed all this and more on this episode of Sports Content Strategy

Topics

Why one-day cricket first started? Its early evolution
The formative years of the Gillette Cup
The influence of television on the growth of the game
The cultural importance of the Sunday League
The way it has changed the game’s tactics
The importance of Pakistan and India’s World Cup victories
The game that led to the Duckworth Lewis
Decline and the need for T20
How T20 has affected 50 over cricket
Where the 50-over game fits into the future of cricket
The legacy of one-day cricket

Ricardo Fort has led the sponsorship strategy for brands at World Cups and Olympics.

After a long, successful career with the likes of Coca-Cola and Visa, he has set up his own consulting firm. In this podcast, Ricardo gives straight answers to key questions in sports sponsorship and outlines how content fits in. This is a sophisticated 101 for anyone interested in working in the commercial department at a major sports organisation.

Is sponsorship just about "hanging out with the cool kids"

Does there always have to be a positive financial return?

"The brands want to be relevant, most brands are irrelevant in the lives of people"

Are brand sponsorship decisions emotional?

The best sports sponsorship deal he did at Coca-Cola - The case study of the FIFA World Cup trophy tour

Measurable and immeasurable benefits

What are the Key KPIs and the less important metrics for sponsors?

How can brands be sure about the impact of a sponsorship?

Sponsoring a tournament or event as opposed to a team. What are the differences?

Moving from badging and advertisement to 'clever content'

The value of creating a content strategy that stands out

The comparison between NFL and European football in accommodating sponsors

In NFL, the owner gets the trophy before the players - what does that tell us?

Why the fans police any over-commercialisation in Europe

"All sponsors say they want data, but very few know what to do it."

How can you make a partnership scandal-proof?

How to do your due diligence and protect against future problems

The fans' voice in sponsorship

Sponsorship in gaming and the Alex Hunter deal

Alex Phillips does not look or sound like a revolutionary but his ideas could shake up football.

He spent 15 years at Uefa, including a couple as Head of Compliance and Governance. He was seconded to the Asian Football Confederation for three years and now leads the World Football Remission Fund, a FIFA body administrating how money "stolen from the game" should be returned for its overall benefit.

Phillips has been described as "the most influential football administrator you have never heard of". Certainly, he has an analytical eye and passion for reform.

In this podcast, we discuss good governance, the ramifications of the failed Super League project, educating owners and fans, setting examples and, of course, content

TOPICS

His views on the Super League between its collapse and now - "a great fragmentation"

Uefa's mistake of not making co-efficient qualification 'a red line'

Having the same people governing conflicting tasks

Why regulatory bodies are "not up to the job"

Linking financial control to regulation and its inherent problems

Not restricting finances but restricting player numbers instead

Changing payers and coach's behaviour

Using broadcasters to educate players and fans

"Leadership time is often spent chasing money rather than on sporting issues"

How to change a football reputation - the example of German refereeing

The differing concepts of "cheating"

The values of football's myths and stories. And why owners need to be educated

How television does football's marketing job

The challenge to retain younger audiences whose frame of reference is different

The concept of scarcity in creating sporting interest - 'hats off to the Champions League?"

Working properly with partners and sponsors to grow a sport

Alex's three recommendations to grow football

The challenges facing netball are different to other sports. While we have seen growth in women's football, tennis and boxing in recent years, it has always occurred through the lens (or perhaps in the shadow) of established male forebears. Netball does not have this baggage. Its story, product and message can be tailored specifically toward women and girls.

Claire Nelson is CEO of Netball Scotland and the Strathclyde Sirens, the only pro team north of the border. Her focus is to capitalise on this advantage and carve out a unique niche for the sport north of the border. In this podcast, we discuss the key areas in which she is concentrating - sponsors, player development, marketing, messaging, media deals and, of course, content.

TOPICS

The overall landscape of netball

Adapting netball's story and building a sport and lifestyle brand

Working against established cultural habits

Why women's sport is "not a nice-to-have but makes economic sense"

How the storytelling focus changes for a 'female sport'

The untapped audience of women

The differences in the female fan - different message, spending patterns and the 'guilt factor'

Not limiting their vision to competition and 'bums on seats'. "There's sportainment and lifestyle"

The Fast Fives concept

Creating player pathways

Comparisons with women's football. "The men's game has decided to invest more into the women's game"

Moving to the Women's Super League from the 'amateurish' of environment leisure centres and into arenas

The influence of the Commonwealth Games this summer

The one thing netball most needs

For the past two decades, cricket has been trying to cross new boundaries. Previously, its global footprint mirrored its past as the game of the British Empire but, in recent years, countries like the Netherlands, Namibia and Afghanistan have risen to prominence

In the next 10 years, the game will try to cross its biggest and most important new frontier - the USA. They have been awarded co-hosting rights for the 2024 T20 World Cup and a buzz is building around the chances of inclusion in the Olympics in Los Angeles four years later.

Minor League Cricket started last season and its Major League big brother begins in 2023. Tom Dunmore is VP of Marketing for both tournaments. In this podcast, we discuss the story so far, the challenges they face and the vision for success.

TOPICS

Where is the landscape of cricket in the US right now?

The reliance on the south Asian audience

Why Major League Cricket is the ‘tip of the spear’ but they are looking to grow a sport

‘It is a unique opportunity but the USA is not afraid to take a deep dive and make a big bet’

The ‘feel’ of a Minor League Cricket game and having 3,000 fans at the final

The 35 professionals brought in as mentors to raise the standard

The authenticity and integrity of the game in the wide variety of US climate conditions

Learning from the development of Major League Soccer - stadium build, fan experience, getting priority dates for fixtures, ownership models

“We’ll be able to have world-class players right away, up there with the CPL and BBL”

The different investment models

Content strategy for franchises

Using a YouTube influencer and video games as tools

Being one of many ‘Major League” sports trying to get a foothold in the US

Whose audience are they going to take?

Is the push for the 2028 Olympics realistic?

Brian Jacks was a household in the UK in the 1980s. The pinnacle of the judo player’s sporting success came when he won a bronze medal at the Munich Olympics in 1972. But a few years later he would become much more famous as the UK and European champion in Superstars, a popular television programme that saw the best athletes of the day compete in events outside their niche. The show grew throughout the world to become perhaps the first modern example of how sporting heroes could cross into mainstream media, with all its financial benefits, through light entertainment television.

Now living in Thailand, Jacks talks about his motivations, how he leveraged his Superstars fame, his rivalry with Daley Thompson and why he’d love to be a grappling coach in UFC

Podcast partner: Sports Tech Match - Simplifying Sports Tech Procurement 

TOPICS

Was his mental strength the key to his success, not his physical strength

The importance of a challenge 

Making sure you have the grit to make his career ‘gambles’ pay-off  

Why Brian believes Team GB judo is ‘soft’

“You have to see what failure is to see what achievement is”

Getting on to Superstars

How he monetised his stardom 

Did you he enjoy the fame?

His approach to Superstars - breaking down the problem?

How do you find his ability to rise to a challenge?

Would he have fancied turning to UFC? 

Coaching Neil Adams and punching him in the face as motivation before the biggest bout of his career

The power of  community in his success

Being from a Black Cabbie family

The rivalry with Daley Thompson  

Brian’s life now - his fitness, his hotel and charity work 

Feeding over 32,000 people who were starving as a result of the pandemic

Running his apartment block business 

His ambitions now