Today’s article is a special one for me as I share my first Vivrant Field report video and launch of the Vivrant YouTube channel.

I headed out to New York for 5 days to film what was going on with the World Cup and the afterglow of the New York Knicks NBA championship win. I was getting FOMO after seeing what the city was like when the Knicks won, even though I’m an Orlando Magic fan, but NYC is such a special place to me and for basketball. More to come on that next week as the first video is about seeing the World Cup come to life in one of the host cities. I had FOMO seeing it all unfold, less about going to the games, although that would have been nice if it was affordable, but what happens around the games in the host cities as people embrace the local culture and mix with fans from around the world.

With New York home to many different communities, cultures and diaspora from around the world I knew I had to be there. In a moment of genius or madness, on Thursday 2nd July I booked my flight, went out and bought an Osmo Pocket 3, didn’t take it out till the Friday at my airport hotel and then spent the Saturday flight watching tutorials. From there I spent 5 days speaking to fans across the bars, watch parties, fan zones, bodegas, bagel shops and sports stores to ask them What Makes the World Cup so Special?

In this video you’ll see me chat to fans at the House of Goal in Brooklyn where I watched Paraguay vs France. The next day I was in Time Square before Brazil vs Norway, watching the game with Brazil fans in the Football Factory Legends Bar. I had to give myself the night off to watch England vs Mexico which after planning to watch in a West Village bar that become uncomfortably crowded, ended up with me watching on Telemundo in Spanish where an incredible game was matched with commentary where most of the words were not understood, but the feeling certainly was and it made for a great viewing experience. The game of the tournament Argentina vs Egypt was watched at the very impressive adidas Soccer City at the Brooklyn Bridge Park where it looked like Lionel Messi’s World Cup time was over, until he and his team showed they should never be written off. The shift in emotion for the small group of Egypt fans from oh my god this is happening to, oh no, is this happening? when Argentina levelled and then won it showed how football has such a hold on emotions. The scenes at the end where the bulk of the crowd were Argentina fans was one of celebration and relief, with heart felt respect moments shared between both nations.

New York is one of my favourite cities and I visit often, but this time there was a buzz I’ve not felt before. The afterglow of the New York Knicks win is still there and explains some of it, which you’ll see in the second Vivrant Field Report. The excitement for the tournament was real and it wasn’t just from the visiting Norway fans who stole the hearts and minds of the city. Nor the England fans or Mexican and South American communities and diaspora. The USA fans seemed genuinely excited to show the world how far things have come since 1994.

There are 14 different people featured in the film, while many more were spoken to in those in between moments at a bar, buying a coffee or picking up a bagel. This trip felt a gamble at the time, but knowing creating video content for this Substack is something I want to explore, the World Cup felt as good a time as any to start and the resulting film felt so fulfilling to make. Loads to improve on and video 1 will look different to video 10 and beyond, but I’m happy with the results and hope you enjoy it. Hopefully it either reflects your own experiences if you went to any World Cup host cities, or it gives you a sense of what it was like. I’m just pointing the camera and asking the questions, it’s the people that make the film what it is. Those chats on camera and off showed no matter how imperfect the world is, football brings people together and shows how close and alike we really are.

These are the moments I’ll cherish.

On Saturday I spent the evening watching Paraguay vs France at the House of Goal in Brooklyn, where Football Co and a host of brands including Modelo and Jameson laid on activations, a rave and of course the football. I spoke to people to see how they’re experiencing the World Cup.

On Sunday I walked around the streets to soak up the atmosphere as Norway and Brazil fans arrived on mass in Times Square, before heading to the stadium. I then caught the contrasting feeling of football fandom at the Football Factory with Brazil fans packing it out and then onto Houston Hall where Norway recreated that now iconic Viking Clap.

Stay tuned for more. Onto this week’s updates.

One of the great things about Wimbledon is the ‘queue’ and being able to buy tickets on the day. However it’s not for the faint hearted as more and more people camp overnight in it. For day 1 tickets some fans queued for two days to ensure they got Centre Court tickets on opening day. Most days of the tournament people have been told later in the day to not join the queue to avoid disappointment, after over 10,000 fans were in the line for day 1.

The National Basketball Players Association has launched Plyrs Untd, to help more than 500 NBA players use their collective name, image and likeness rights and turn it into business opportunities, partnerships and products.Plyrs Untd replaces the previous licensing arm Think450 with a focus on leveraging the players own brands for their benefit, rather than years of loaning their IP to build the brands of others. Former executive director Andre Iguodala and 4-time NBA Champion, refocused the organisation around a player-first mission and pushed what was possible for the players. Not all every player has the brand power of a Lebron James, Steph Curry or Anthony Edwards so this becomes an interesting and valuable way for players to find opportunities.

Despite an increase in the total prize fund from the The International Cricket Council, some players at the Women’s T20 World Cup were unpaid amateurs, while one player had to quit her day job to be there.

All teams are guaranteed a minimum of £184,245, more than double what was assured to each team in 2024 which is great for the game. Australia earned a winners prize of $2.34m (£1.74m) with runners up England taking home $1.17m (£871,024), the same earnings as the last edition. Yet there is a big difference between the leading teams and the emerging ones with Netherlands only having one fully professional cricketer in their squad, top-order batter Sterre Kalis. The rest are either studying or working while pursuing their cricket careers. In May, Caroline de Lange quit her job as a doctor to play in this tournament.

The tournament has been a great mainstream success with record attendances in a competitive sporting calendar. Overlapping with the tournament has been the football World Cup, Wimbledon tennis starting and the England men’s cricket team creating more headlines for the wrong reasons in their series vs New Zealand. Not to mention battling the heat.

Heatwaves are likely to disrupt the Tour De France. We’re seeing the impact of climate change again in sport as the Tour De France is expected to be impacted with the potentially the first ever stage cancellations as another extreme heatwave grips Europe. “We will obviously experience high temperatures during the Tour de France. Protecting the riders and the public is paramount for us. The watchword is adaptation,” race director Christian Prudhomme told AFP. There is an extreme temperature protocol to follow while additional refreshment zones and even relaxing time limits for elimination may be relaxed to counter the impact. The prestigious cycling championship got underway in Barcelona on Saturday and will finish on the scenic stretch of the Champs-Élysées in Paris on July 26.

Forest Green Rovers have disbanded their women’s team so all energies can be focused on the men’s team getting back to the football league. I can’t believe I’m writing that in 2026. Forest Green insist women’s football will eventually resume at the club but that just isn’t the goal now. Their owner Dale Vince has come out swinging at the justified criticism in my opinion of his decision, even taking aim at the local university for not taking the responsibility on. This comes a month after Plymouth Argyle let most of their players know they wouldn’t be renewing their contracts by email, in cost cutting measures. The women’s game deserves better. Clare Mcewen at She Can Kick It has a must read article on this.

The Lawn Tennis Association is aiming to create the ‘St George’s Park’ of tennis by buying land in Roehampton to build 36 courts and a state-of-the-art academy to develop elite juniors.

The LA Olympics is just two years away and last week was National Olympic and Paralympic Day which saw more than 13,000 young people take part in Olympic and Paralympic themed activities across 180 locations in the United States.

MarketWatch reported that the World Cup has not yet produced a clear hiring boost to the US leisure and hospitality employment.

The hydration breaks are only loved by broadcasters selling adverts and maybe fans of Bon Jovi. It’s been interesting watching the coverage while in the US to see the interruption in viewing experience with the cutting away to ads. An analysis by The Times has broken down how much impact they have had on momentum and not surprisingly it backs up the eye test. According to Opta, the data shows that 32 per cent of group-stage games had an above-average shift in momentum after the first three-minute hydration break, and 26 per cent after the second. Match momentum measures the swing of a match based on the likelihood of a team scoring a goal, calculated bby the ball’s location and the actions of the team with possession.

Campaigns / Platforms

WHOOP & Cristiano Ronaldo

I’ve really enjoyed WHOOPs social content where they visualise real athlete data from some of the world’s greatest as Katherine Rowe writes here. In a more traditional storytelling device of childhood dreaming of the big stage to performing on it, WHOOP shows what it has taken for Cristiano Ronaldo to reach the top of the sport to align with the brands focus on performance.

Everyone’s a pro - Google Germany

A series of short films by Google Germany shows the many ways people watch football during a tournament and how everyone has a take. These micro-fan moments are captured to show how Google’s search can help and is a nice way to show product functionality to genuine real life fan moments.

NFL - Be the Story

The NFL debuted its newest global flag football campaign, “Be The Story” which celebrates the players shaping one of the world’s fastest-growing sports, ahead of the NFL Flag Championships on July 23-26 in Indiana.

Social Media / Content

Rexona has launched an ‘Intensity Radar’ which is a predictive content system that blends real-time football data and fan sentiment to highlight the World Cup games.

adidas are highlighting which of their boots are being worn when players are scoring during the World Cup.

G-Shock - Eberechi Eze is Built Different

Nice story of why the people close to Eberechi Eze of Arsenal and England knew he was built different and going to make it pro.

Experiential / Stunts / PR

British Grand Prix round up

Ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix the brands have been busy as Silverstone becomes a wider brand and culture platform, with activity stretching well beyond the racing itself. M&S staged a first-of-its-kind fashion show on the Silverstone pit lane to launch its “Dress to Thrill” edit, using the team garages, cars and race environment as a backdrop. Louis Vuitton has created a bespoke Trophy Trunk for the British GP, turning the trophy presentation into a luxury craft and heritage moment. Disney is also activating its “Fuel the Magic” collaboration with Formula 1 through product drops, trackside retail, family entertainment and appearances from Disney characters and West End performers.

Alongside the fashion and entertainment activity, brands are building more fan experiences around the race weekend. Doritos is bringing “The Crunch Prix” to the Silverstone Fan Zone with interactive games, food trucks and creator-led content, while Wella Professionals is using its F1 Academy partnership to create a beauty paddock activation. Away from the circuit, teams and lifestyle brands are also creating free fan events in London, including Williams’ Piccadilly Circus fan zone, Aston Martin and Celsius’ immersive race-day experience and Lando Norris’ Quadrant pop-up.

Destination Canada - Natural Watch Parties

Destination Canada forgo the traditional watch party by embracing the countries beautiful scenery and places for Natural Watch Parties.

Marmite is helping travelling England fans feel at home still with renamed and branded England travel packs.

Michelob Ultra celebrates some of the stewards from the last time the World Cup was in the USA 1994 World Cup as they were ones who had their backs to the action and missed all the fun.

Sport provides identity, belonging and community, in a society where people crave connection. It allows people to express themselves in ways other areas of life don’t allow them to.

Sport provides those “do you remember when” moments that only the power of sport can provide.

When you get to experience it live, all those emotions, feelings and connection are amplified.

But is attending live sport now becoming a luxury product? Is attending live sport now dividing the haves and have nots?

The monetisation of fandom

The current World Cup in North America is the biggest ever with 48 teams across 3 countries. It has also been FIFA’s biggest money grab ever with average ticket prices seven times higher than the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

A fan attending every match from the group stage through to the final faces costs of at least $6,900, that will be a lot more if they can’t get them via official supporter channels.

FIFA have tried to justify this because of the American market and have offered 130,000 tickets for matches across the tournament at $60 each. That’s less than 2% of the 7 million total number of tickets available.

In the Premier League, football fans have become accustomed to their clubs putting up season ticket and match day prices every season. Only three clubs have frozen prices for next season and for those that haven’t, increases range from above-inflation rises of around the 3-5% mark, all the way up to 15-20% depending on the club and seat.

In the NFL, the cost of a family of four going to an NFL game, including the cost of tickets, parking, and refreshments would cost around $1,340 on average. For fans of the Philadelphia Eagles it would cost over $2,000.

In the NBA, The Oklahoma City Thunder recorded the biggest year-over-year increase in ticket prices at +92.67% after they won their first NBA Championship.

Capacity attendances don’t tell the true story

The cost to attend continues to increase in one direction, but we are not yet seeing an impact on numbers through the door that is going in the other direction.

The NFL, NBA and EPL all recorded around a 97% capacity average for the most recent seasons. So there can’t be an issue right? The demand is obviously there and even at the World Cup, predictions of empty seats seen en masse haven’t happened.

While that demand is there and met, no one in charge will admit a problem. We can’t let those numbers fool us though. These ever-increasing prices do have an impact on fan attendance, sentiment and loyalty. They also impact who is taking the seat, often pricing out long-standing fans to be replaced by those who are wealthier or more casual in support and attendance.

Fans are expressing their discontent and having their limits pushed

86% of US sports fans say live sports are becoming a luxury experience and financially out of reach, with 41% saying it’s very unaffordable.

Affordability was cited as the number one concern among every age group of football fans, with 67% of fans and 53% of professionals saying that attending live sport could become a luxury in the next five years.

Over a third (37%) of football attendees say that current prices mean they attend live events less often. This figure is similar for fans of motorsport (39%), golf (37%), and cricket (37%).

Fans aren’t just assessing ticket prices when making decisions, it’s everything else around the experience from travel, food and merchandise. Areas that have all seen their own increases.

We are also testing the limits of what fans will do to still attend games. During the World Cup, those once in a lifetime or bucket list moments mean fans will go to all sorts of lengths to afford tickets. Selling houses and spending more on tickets than they earn in a month.

Loyalty forgotten

Decades of supporter culture is being forgotten as clubs look away from the length of time someone has supported a club and attended, to how much someone is willing to pay in that seat. It’s all about maximising every seat’s revenue potential.

Tottenham decided to phase out a 50% discount for supporters over 65 last season. Manchester United have moved families with season tickets for generations to make way for more hospitality seating.

Fans are still going through the turnstiles for now, but when does enough become enough? We might not have reached that point yet where it’s impacting the numbers, but it is having an effect on who gets to attend.

Exclusivity over inclusivity

Football, basketball and American Football are three sports with working class roots, but those sports are becoming more exclusive to attend, than inclusive. Of more than 50 people who spoke to Reuters at several stadiums during the group phase of the World Cup, around 30 were in higher-paying jobs with sales, finance and real estate featuring heavily. Four others were business owners, three were engineers and two were doctors. These once every four year tournaments can mean people are willing to spend more, but the makeup of the crowds attending sport on a weekly basis is following similar patterns.

There is now no reward for loyalty nor acknowledgment that the fans who create the atmosphere are part of the experience that is being sold by clubs and leagues. And most of these leagues mentioned all have issues with the atmosphere not being like it used to.

Damaging future fandom

My early memories of sport come from watching it live. I grew up crawling on the terraces of QPR and that early habit formed an affinity and built an emotional connection to the club. Tickets were affordable for the four of us in my family and my fandom deepened. I do worry that even at a Championship club, it’s becoming an expensive day out for a family and something that has to be weighed up with other options and can’t always be a regular habit.

In the EPL, the average season ticket holder is around 40 and clubs just aren’t doing enough to attract a younger generation to attend. Loads of young fans will speak of supporting Arsenal, Manchester United, Real Madrid, PSG etc. and attracting them isn’t hard, but none of those clubs are making it easy for them to attend. Future fandom is built and deepened through participation, access, socialisation and heritage yet clubs and rights holders wonder how to be relevant to gen-z and alpha. The easiest win is to eliminate the very thing they do that is blocking them.

High prices are a choice

Clubs across the World’s top sports leagues are making more money than ever, with some of the biggest broadcast deals ever recently signed so money made from tickets is becoming a smaller portion of revenue. The old saying of the fans paying the players wages hasn’t been true for years. So clubs can easily offer affordable tickets all round and still make bank with all the TV revenue.

They do it because they can. Sell outs and attendance rates will indicate nothing is wrong but while you can measure the tangibles in revenue and capacity, the intangibles that are hard to measure are what you can’t put a price on and that’s the atmosphere, loyalty and connection to longstanding fans and the community.

Over the last decade the change from sports clubs and local pride to big business and global brands has further accelerated, which feels very similar to the gentrification of our cities. The displacement of one set of people deeply rooted to a place or in this case club, being uprooted for a more middle class and affluent demographic.

Attending live sport should be accessible to everyone and no matter what you earn or your background, a sports stadium should be a representation of society. Unfortunately when attending becomes less habitual and more like a one off big purchase, it changes how fans feel about their clubs. The emotional connections become weaker. Future fans are ignored.

The attendance figures might not show it yet, but the discontent is there and the ripple effect of fans losing that connection is real and happening. It might not happen next season or the one after, but there will be a limit to how much fans can pay. If live attendance becomes even more of a luxury than a choice, sport will become all the more poorer for it.

How people watch, follow, express, access and emotionally connect with sport across fan behaviour, culture, media, retail and live experiences.

The many ways of watching Wimbledon. The iconic tennis championship starts today and the All England Club and BBC have announced coverage will remain free to air until at least 2033 in the UK. Their coverage is fantastic and the iPlayer does a great job of allowing you to watch any and every game should you wish, not just the main courts. In the US, ESPN are putting more of their Wimbledon coverage behind higher tiers of their subscription service, much to dismay of tennis fans.

BBC is the next best thing to being there but for those who wish to see it in person, you’ve either got to be lucky in the ballot, rich and connected or willing to put the graft in with the famous ‘queue’ which began yesterday at 2pm. Wimbledon is one of the last premium sports to enable fans to buy a ticket on the day and the queue has become one of the great elements of Wimbledon as people camp and queue overnight to get a chance to buy tickets. Alternatively if you’ve got spare six figures you can skip the queue and buy debentures that allow you to guarantee your seat for five years to all 14 days play. This week a pair went for the eye-watering sum of £586,000.

Coles is fuelling the next generation of AFL fans with their Kids Footy Month. Watching live sport is increasingly expensive which prices out families but in Australia, the supermarket Coles and AFL run Kids Footy Month where tickets are free for under 14s. This is a great initiative as we need to ensure the next generation of fans in any sport can access it live. It’s the best place to plant the seed for long term fandom so we need to see more things like this and it’s such an easy win for brand sponsors.

British fans aren’t staying up late for the World Cup. Ipsos conducted a study with British football fans on the eve of the World Cup to see how the timezones would impact live viewership and not surprisingly engagement is low for the early morning games. Nearly 8 in 10 likely viewers (77%) plan to watch the evening matches live, but just over 2 in 10 likely viewers (22%) plan to watch the early morning games live. What’s striking is the low number saying they’d catch up with the highlights, just over 4 in 10 (42%).

Fans don’t just experience the World Cup in the stadiums, they experience life and the culture of the host nations and one element that isn’t going down well with fans visiting the USA is tipping culture, as this BBC video found out. A happier experience is being had when fans explore things they can’t do at home, like England fans enjoying the rodeo in Texas, Scotland fans taking over the iconic Fenway Park, fans experiencing the food, falling in love with ranch dressing and even famous gas station chain Buc-ee’s.

Fifa is actively and successfully targeting the 1 per cent at this World Cup with half a million packages sold, more than doubling its hospitality revenue record. Concierge and hospitality services and experiences include private jet trips to Marfa, sunrise coffee and yoga on the Empire State Building, a “VIP breakfast” at Tiffany’s and even dinner with Gary Lineker. Some packages for the World Cup final have sold for millions which includes the chance to go on the pitch with the winning team at the trophy ceremony.

How athletes, teams and talent systems are being shaped by performance demands, technology, workload, wellbeing and empowerment.

England women’s Rugby players have secured a 25% increase on their previous contract as part of the new 2026–2030 Rugby World Cup cycle, which will also see the 3 time World Cup winners earn a £100,000 bonus if they retain the title. The deal is part of a larger investment by the RFU in the women’s game with £24 million committed investment over the next 10 years to help further accelerate growth of the sport among women and girls.

A proposed media commitment strike by Jannik Sinner, Iga Swiatek and other stars at Wimbledon has been called off. The players are currently demanding a fairer share of tournament revenues and limited their contractual media commitments during Roland-Garros. This year the All England Club announced record prize money for Wimbledon, increasing the overall prize pool by 20 per cent and totalling £64.2m overall, which sees the singles champions win a record £3.6m each and first-round losers receiving £80,000. However, the players want their share of revenues at the grand slams to reach 22 per cent, the figure they receive at some events on the ATP and WTA Tours, by 2030.

Juan Mata has reached an agreement to purchase a stake in his A-League club Melbourne Victory, following in the footsteps of his ex-international team mate Cesc Fabregas, who bought a stake in Como when seeing out his career. Mata will also take a role as chair of a newly established football committee that will advise the club’s hierarchy upon his retirement. Mata had previously bought a stake in MLS team San Diego.

The NWSL has launched a new footwear framework, where manufacturers who aren’t Nike, the league’s official outfitter, will have to pay for the right to have their football boots visible during games. Puma and adidas have so far opted into the framework and have to meet a minimum cash investment for players. Nike has been the official kit and on-field equipment supplier since the league’s inaugural season in 2013.

A new week, a new class action for the NCAA as it’s claimed a new age-based sports eligibility rule will unlawfully restrict college athletes’ ability to ​compete and earn compensation from their names, images and likenesses. The lawsuit was filed by DeJuan Campbell, who alleges he lost the chance to compete for ​a fifth season and earn additional money based on his name, image and likeness.

Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray is joining Amazon Prime Video’s WNBA on Prime pregame show as a player contributor, continuing the trend for current players to join broadcasters during the season to provide commentary and opinion. Punditry used to be the post career move but the WNBA and NBA is increasingly seeing active players make media moves. Gray follows fellow WNBA stars Kelsey Plum and Sophie Cunningham, as well as NBA players Kyle Lowry, Tyrese Haliburton and Draymond Green in working with broadcasters.

In the WNBA off-season, players used to head abroad to play in leagues to top up earnings. That changed last year when Unrivalled, a new 3x3 competition founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, enabled players contract opportunities to receive the highest average salary in U.S. women’s professional sports and a minimum six-figure salary. This welcome avenue for players will now increase with a competing league called Project B launching. Both leagues have similar schedules during the WNBA offseason, so expect competition for players between the leagues. Players signed by Unrivalled to Name, Image, Likeness deals, like Azzi Fudd, have already been swayed to join Project B.

FIFA is helping teams with AI assistance during the World Cup where every nation will have access to unlock information about their opponents.

How sport grows, who shapes it, and how it impacts communities, politics, participation, public value and wider society.

The PGA Tour has announced promotion and relegation with a new two tier model from 2028, when the PGA TOUR Championship Series and the PGA TOUR Challenger Series launched. Tiger Woods was part of the committee that recommended the changes and attended the press conference announcement.

The Championship Series includes the four majors, Players Championship, ​season-ending events and team events such as the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. It features 120 players on average and is contested as 72-hole stroke play events with a 36-hole cut. A minimum of 90 players ​will be retained in the Championship Series and 20 promoted from the Challenger Series each season.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has defended the introduction of hydration breaks at the World Cup, insisting they are driven purely by sporting considerations and not commercial ​interests. “There is no additional ⁠revenue for FIFA, as all commercial agreements were signed well in advance. So, this ​is not a financial issue for us. For us, it is purely a sporting matter,” Infantino ​said in a statement on Wednesday. Yeah right. FIFA might not make money here on this tournament, but this looks to me like appeasing broadcasters who will be asked to pay for higher broadcasting rights in future tournaments.

Qatar Airways’ £80 million title sponsorship of rugby union’s Nations Championship has reportedly been paused due to ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The Stanley Cup brings a $13.4 million boost to Raleigh after visitors from all 50 states and two countries flocked to the Triangle to see the Carolina Hurricanes defeat the Vegas Golden Knights for their first NHL title in 20 years. According to Visit Raleigh, 112,000 attendees generated the $13.4 million in total economic impact and $255,024 in tax revenue across six sold-out games and watch parties at Lenovo Center.

Campaigns / Platforms

Aguila - Resize the Price

The World Cup of ads, if you will, has been taking place in the south of France this week as the advertising industry drinks a lot of Rosé and talks about ads and AI. It is a chance to see work that sometimes escapes the attention when following too many western brands and trade publications and I was very pleased to discover work from Columbian beer brand Aguila. ‘Resize the Price’ responds to the ever increasing rip off that is football shirts with the campaign giving Columbia fans the chance to own the national team shirt at a reduced prize, in return for wearing the brand’s logo. The bigger the logo, the bigger the discount. Next week I’ll have a deeper run down of the all the sports work that was honoured at Cannes and what the main themes running through were. I will try not to use the headline ‘Cannes they kick it? These ads Cannes!’ but I make no promises.

Wimbledon set to serve up a feast of brand activity

The 139th edition of Wimbledon starts on Monday and we’re starting to see a range of official sponsors and brands connected to the sport roll out creative work, activations and collabs. Lacoste are rolling out a content series of masterclasses with Novak Djokovic.

Wimbledon is bringing SW19 to New York this weekend with Andre Agassi and a host of activations and experiences taking place in Central Park. Lavazza is giving it’s London store a Wimbledon makeover. Evian are releasing limited edition bottle bags created by UK artists Ed Curtis, Hattie Stewart and Diana Al Shammari. Stella are releasing a limited edition strawberries and cream edition with associated merch.

Callaway Golf - Nothing Beats This Father’s Day Ad

Lovely film built around real people rather than the professionals, with the final scene even featuring a member of Callaway’s own marketing team sharing an unscripted moment with his son.

Chase - A Coach’s Influence

Chase have launched a new campaign to celebrate the power of grassroots coaching and their commitment to it, with an emotive film from Droga5 that shows the coaching influence. The American bank sponsors the home nations teams in the UK and has funded 6,000 coaching qualifications to date. The campaign is through the line and supported by a nice social idea by We Are Social, who are behind the Oracle Teller Machine that will embrace the World Cup’s unpredictability through fortune-telling mini statements that show support for the England and Scotland teams.

Volvo - Parents

Keeping with the grassroots theme is Volvo, who celebrate the unsung heroes of grassroots football, the mums and dads who are up early, showing their support, sorting out kit, organising lifts and being the transport to games. Zlatan Ibrahimović appears briefly as star power, but blends into the film as one of many football parents. Nice craft and storytelling by Qvennerstedt Eghammer Malm.

Walmart - Believe

Canadian soccer star Jonathan David stars in a Walmart ad titled Believe, which charts the story of his journey to representing his nation at the World Cup.

Google Pixel - Made for the Beautiful Chaos

I caught the short idents on ITV of Google Pixel’s World Cup campaign after I did a big World Cup ad round up so want to highlight them now as they do a great job of showing product features through the beautiful chaos of fan moments only a global tournament can bring. The campaign from Dark Horses showcases the Pixel’s AI-powered camera features through beautifully shot, visceral fan moments with specific films for France, Spain and Germany.

Heineken - Soccer Translation Billboards

Heineken are running OOH billboards translating soccer terms for fans more used to other US sports across select World Cup Host Cities including New York, Philadelphia and Atlanta.

Molson Coors - The Beer Fling

With so many people visiting North America from around the world and people having their domestic beer habits and go to favourites, Molson Coors are inviting visitors to have a beer fling this summer. I love this. Such a simple insight turned into nice copy and execution.

Coors Light - Tall Girl Can

Coors Light recently became the first Official Beer of the Toronto Tempo, Canada’s inaugural WNBA team and created the Coors Light Tall Girl to celebrate. A 473ml beer can, commonly known as a Tall Boy is renamed for this limited-edition version that will be available at forthcoming Tempo games.

Social Media / Content

Rassvet and Nike SB: Every Dawn Counts

Skateboard brand Rassvet and Nike SB come together for this engrossing film called Every Dawn Counts that explores creativity, rhythm and self-expression.

And the No.1 pick in the draft goes to…AJ Dybantsa’s sponsors

I love how Name, Image, Likeness has helped college athletes cut brand deals before needing to go pro. Now come NBA draft night, lottery picks are already working with multiple brands and those expected to go number 1 will have their brands all lining up with their pre-planned reactive content. When AJ Dybantsa went no.1 this week to the Washington Wizards, Nike, Red Bull, Hublot, Kenzo and Topps were all ready.

KD x Champagne Papi

Been loving the back and forth between Kevin Durant and Drake in these videos to promote the release of the Purple Candies.

The most wonderful time of the year

Fixture release day gives football fans the chance to look ahead with optimism and plan potential away days, look for the tough run of fixtures and how they might start or end the season. Some clubs get very creative with this. Mansfield and Port Vale used the best and weirdest of the internet to reveal theirs. Birmingham and Wrexham made digs to Southampton over Spygate and Charlton brought back their legendary manager Alan Curbishley as their new head of AI.

Experiential / Stunts / PR

Non-Sponsors get around the ban

FIFA didn’t let any stadiums in the US with naming rights to keep the branded name for the tournament as they aren’t official sponsors. Levi’s (San Francisco) and Gillette (Boston) both got around the ban creatively using brand and category cues. Heinz were gifted with an open goal to tap in when a picture went viral of their condiments having the Heinz name taped over. It lent perfectly to their ‘It Has to be Heinz’ campaign and the brand has even created their own ‘Unofficial Stadium Ketchup’ censored bottles and sachets in Toronto.

Look Up

Coca-Cola announced their partnership with the Rugby World Cup with a drone show over Sydney Harbour.

Visit Seattle has created the first drone scoreboard with a nightly show over the city’s skies following each game they’re hosting at the World Cup. People are gathering at the Seattle Center to catch the futuristic scoreboard next to the iconic Space Needle. The scoreboard broadcasts each final score along with the two team’s flags.

Germany and Nike kit tease

Nike are teasing their partnership with Germany on a floating billboard on the Hudson River. It’s going to be so weird seeing Germany in a Nike jersey after 70 years with adidas. Nothing is $acred any more.

The instant classic 2022 World Cup Final achieved a global reach of close to 1.5 billion viewers and over 5 billion people engaged across the tournament. With an expanded 2026 tournament, those numbers are expected to increase and not everyone watching or engaging will be a core football fan and herein lies the opportunity.

In the US, active football followers grew from 8% to 12% after the 2022 tournament and among 18-34s, active football following climbed from 13% to 22%.

Every World Cup generates a broader audience than core football fans where newbies, casuals and lagged fans all watch the tournament. For some, a moment during the tournament will be the spark that turns a passive interest or curiosity into long-term fandom. But no one is thinking about reaching this group and acting as a conduit to their potential long-term fandom once the tournament is over.

When Japan co-hosted the 2002 edition, participation data increased every year with 800,098 registered players in 2002, rising to 835,556 in 2003, 862,045 in 2004, 876,702 in 2005 and 881,880 in 2006.

Every World Cup generates demand and a rise in participation as people become inspired by what happens and want to replicate that on their local pitch. But not every country is ready to facilitate that demand, with others making participation far from accessible.

Depending on which research used, we’re talking anywhere from 40-60% of people watching the World Cup aren’t regular watchers of football. Brands are leaving money on the table by not becoming a conduit or contributor to a growth opportunity that comes around once every tournament.

Not everyone will go on to become a core football fan or regular watcher, but if you said in any other category that you will ignore this much of an audience, warm leads if you will, you’d be getting some serious questions asked by the suits.

Football Italia as the hook

I was 6-years old when the World Cup in Italy happened but I have no recollection of it at the time. However a couple of years later I was given a VHS Cassette (remember them?!) of that tournament by my Nan & Grandad and I must have watched it over and over again. The tournament started a love affair with Italian football and culture thanks to the divine ponytail, Roberto Baggio. I was mesmerised by the skill of Gazza and Maradona. The dancing of Roger Milla. Heartbroken every time I watched England lose on penalties as I hoped for a different outcome (hey, I wasn’t the smartest kid!).

I’d already gone to my first Queens Park Rangers games and kicked a ball with my Dad down our hallway in my kit by this point. That video of football Italia however turned a passive curiosity into what became fully fledged fandom and wanting to play in organised football. The first football boots I wore were Lotto, because of course they had to be Italian.

Every football fan has a story like this, where there was that one moment where it clicked and they became invested in the game either as a fan or wanting to play, often both.

Fandom origin stories

We can easily lose sight of the fact because we’ve passed it ourselves, but every World Cup will be someone’s first moment that they will reflect on in years to come as when they knew football was for them.

Casual fans become regular fans.

Children ask parents to sign them up to organised games.

National team only watchers start following club football.

Social viewers want a more active connection to the sport.

Lapsed players return.

This is effectively an open goal for brands to take advantage of, yet while the new audiences grow, the brand response has not kept pace. Brand activity is focused on activating sponsorship rights, selling product and player led campaigns mostly in the lead up.

I’ve written before about the lack of fan depth in this year’s brand ads, so I’m not expecting much focus on fans and grassroots inspiration after the tournament, but that doesn’t mean time has run out to do so. The audience will be there, ready and primed.

From fleeting moments to attachment

During Qatar 2022, more than half of adults across 34 countries said they planned to watch it, even though only 39% said they followed football regularly. That tournament saw the best ever performance by Morocco, which had a massive impact on the nation’s support. Saudi Arabia’s shock win against the eventual champions Argentina created a new awareness and love for the game. Japan matched their previous best of reaching the last 16 and the wins against Spain and Germany had an impact on the domestic J League, helping attendances rise.

Established football markets also see rises as a result of the tournament. When Lionel Messi finally added the World Cup to his trophy cabinet, football fandom increased further in Argentina, a nation already fanatical about the sport. The Argentinian Football Association directly attributed the tournament win to the growth in fans watching the domestic game.

We can already see a larger increase in traction at the start of this tournament amongst the US public compared to 2022 with early YouGov Sports Index data. While 64% of respondents to a Nielsen pre-tournament report expect their interest in the sport to grow further.

How can brands, rights holders or clubs turn emotional hooks into sustained fandom?

For reaching newbie fans, a brand or rights holder can act as their navigation into deeper football fandom and expand their knowledge.

The emotional attachment and social bonding is a key part of what they felt during the tournament, so why not be the brand that helps newbies find their tribe and community by creating it? Help facilitate those who are experiencing their new found love of football with like-minded fans.

Educational content that speaks to newbies in a way that isn’t patronising but explains key moments of history, elements of the game and player facts in an entertaining way can help build those little nuggets of insights and anecdotes for them to enjoy, re-tell and act as introductions to deeper immersion.

If international football becomes the hook, can domestic leagues act as the gateway to the clubs? For the clubs who have players at the tournament, why not market to the newbies to convert them to become supporters? If an England newbie is liking Harry Kane or Declan Rice, then Bayern Munich or Arsenal should be looking to use that as a way to grow more fans.

From pro influence to grassroots intent

When we think about inspiration from pros to the grassroots game, we see big jumps following tournament success or hosting. After France hosted and won the 1998 World Cup, French football saw around 240,000 new registrations in the 1998–99 season. South Korea football participation rates nearly doubled (5.1% to 9.1%) after hosting 2002. US Soccer projects participation to grow from 20 million to 29 million by the end of 2026 and to 34 million by 2031.

It’s not always a moment that inspires a young child either, as older people also want to take up the game casually. Americans aged 35-44 grew their outdoor soccer participation by 118% between 2018 and 2025. The 45-54 cohort grew by a staggering 247%

How can brands, rights holders or clubs turn pro inspiration to grassroots intent?

Grassroots is where plenty of endemic and non-endemic brands are involved already with support for infrastructure, funding and equipment. But when that initial moment of inspiration into intent to play happens, it is left for the individual person or parents to navigate. Who will be there to help facilitate the demand post World Cup? This becomes a local level engagement opportunity so brands with larger budgets and local presence like banks, supermarkets, food and retail could all get involved.

The grassroots game around the world varies in stature, strength and health. For some the facilities are lacking with too many players and teams needing to share too few facilities. For others the cost to play is expensive whether it’s pitch rental or club fees. No one is ever going to turn down money from a brand that wants to genuinely help grassroots and is an authentic fit.

If someone suddenly wants to take up football at a later age it can become quite daunting to navigate. Can a brand facilitate football for older newbies where standards aren’t judged and the fundamentals are taught?

Are you taking advantage of reach, or growing audiences?

We’ve already seen some wonderful moments on and off the field at the World Cup. Moments that will last a lifetime and for some, will be the entry point to a lifelong fandom and passion for the game. It could also be a fleeting moment that ends once the tournament does.

If you’re working at a brand, club, league or rights holder that is looking to grow fanbases and reach large audiences, are you ready to help turn what someone felt during the World Cup into something longer lasting?

_{Data & Research Used}

• _{2022 World Cup Final achieved a global reach of close to 1.5 billion viewers and over 5 billion people engaged. Source: FIFA}

• _{In the US, active football followers grew from 8% to 12% after the 2022 tournament and among 18-34s, active football following climbed from 13% to 22%. Source: YouGov}

• _{Japan Football Association registered player numbers increased from 800,098 in 2002 to 835,556 in 2003, 862,045 in 2004, 876,702 in 2005 and 881,880 in 2006.
  Source: Japan Football Association}

• _{Adlook research across six markets found that 64% of World Cup viewers were casual viewers. Source: Adlook}

• _{Across 34 countries, Ipsos found that 55% of adults planned to watch at least some of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, while 39% said they followed football regularly
  Source: Ipsos}

• _{The J.League reported record total annual attendance of 12,540,265 in 2024. Source: J.League}

• _{Argentine domestic football had a record-breaking 2023 after the national team won Qatar 2022. Source: Buenos Aires Herald}

• _{After France hosted and won the 1998 World Cup, French football saw around 240,000 new registrations in the 1998–99 season. Source: Le Monde}

• _{Nielsen reported that 64% of surveyed North American fans expect their interest in soccer to grow further.
  Source: Reuters}

• _{South Korea football participation rates increased from 5.1% in 1994 to 9.1% in 2016
  Source: Frontiers in Psychology / PMC – Effect of 2002 FIFA World Cup: Point of Attachment That Influences Mass Football Participation}

• _{U.S. Soccer projects participation to grow from a baseline of 20 million to 29 million in 2026 and 34 million in 2031
  Source: U.S. Soccer – Soccer Forward Foundation Scales Up as U.S. Soccer’s FIFA World Cup 26 Legacy Initiative}

• _{Americans aged 35–44 grew outdoor soccer participation by 118% from 2018 to 2025. Americans aged 45–54 grew outdoor soccer participation by 247% from 2018 to 2025.
  Source: Sports & Fitness Industry Association – Soccer Participation in the U.S. Is Surging Before 2026 World Cup}

This week the build up to Wimbledon kicks off, creators and fans get to experience brand houses at the World Cup, while Lewis Hamilton is here to help us all chill out with 8 hours of YouTube LoFi content…

Campaigns / Platforms

Women’s Aid - The Other Kick Off

Women’s Aid have created another powerful campaign to draw attention to the correlation between major football tournaments and domestic abuse. The ‘Other Kick Off’, created by the agency Elvis (formerly House 337) comes after the 2022 World Cup campaign, ‘He’s Coming Home’ and follows the same focus: raising awareness of how domestic abuse against women spikes significantly in the hours after England games, regardless of the result.

For this campaign, Women’s Aid and Elvis reframe a common match day question ‘what time is kick off?’ to highlight the rise in domestic abuse linked to major football tournaments. This is a powerful campaign that you wish didn’t need creating, but for many women and children, the final whistle doesn’t mean post match reflection, it signals the beginning of something frightening. When England lose, domestic abuse increases by 38%. When they win, it increases by 26%. The OOH displays, online and social will feature the kick-off time 11:37pm - the time Elvis landed on as when abuse would likely take place.

Women’s Aid Ambassador Charlie Webster said: “The World Cup is one of those rare moments when the whole country holds its breath together – united, hopeful, alive! That joy is real, and it’s precious. But for women and children living with domestic abuse, tournament time brings something very different: heightened fear, and heightened danger. That is a reality we cannot look away from. Football is our game. It belongs to all of us, and it should be a place of safety. I am proud to be raising awareness to change that, and make sure that when England plays, every woman at home is safe.”

adidas Football & Lionel Messi - The Last Dance

The Midnight Club’s work with adidas always hits and they’ve done it again with a last dance angle ahead of the GOATs (yeah I said it) Lionel Messi’s last World Cup. Adrenaline pumping.

Wimbledon - ‘Where beauty meets the battle’

Wimbledon launched a new global platform last year ‘There Is Only One Wimbledon’ with VCCP and as the 2026 edition nears, the film ‘Where beauty meets the battle’, captures the essence of the event through the eyes of a Holly Blue butterfly, inspired by a unique moment at Wimbledon in 1986 with Henri Leconte.

La Colombe - Must be the Coffee

Philadelphia based coffee brand, La Colombe is the Official Coffee Partner of U.S. Soccer and their ‘Must be the Coffee’ is a lovely portrait of the city of brotherly love as we see everyday people and everyday life in a documentary style film. There’s more authenticity here in how fans and people’s support is shown than in most of the World Cup ads I previously wrote about.

Apple – Dança

Vini Jr. highlights the AirPods Pro 3 Active Noise Cancellation with some impressive dance moves like he’s flying down the wing for Real Madrid and Brazil.

Oura - Ready?

Oura’s global brand ambassadors, Harry Kane and Declan Rice, feature in a tongue-in-cheek ad about their readiness for the world cup, as the public ask the question ‘Are you ready?’.

Social Media / Content

New York Knicks NBA Championship Brand Round Up

The scenes in New York were wild as the Knicks won their first NBA championship, the merch has been fire and the reactive brand creative has nailed the moment.

Nike & Wieden + Kennedy - ‘Sleep Well, NY’

Lifelong fan and director Josh Safdie, who was at game 5 in San Antonio sat next to the star of his Marty Supreme movie, Timothée Chalamet, captures the emotion of the win in his high octane, intense creative signature. Soundtracked to Billy Joel’s 'New York State of Mind’, a fan in a Jalen Brunson jersey runs through the streets of Manhattan after the win, until he arrives at Madison Square Garden in what could easily be a scene from a Safdie film.

Michelob ULTRA – Pass for the Ages

NBA sponsor Michelob’s ode to the win sees Walt ‘Clyde’ Frazier and Jalen Brunson exchange passes to link the last era of championship winning Knicks to the latest.

ESPN Social

Nice acknowledgement of some famous Knicks fans…

Michelob Ultra - World Cup Legends Man of the Match

File this under ‘wow, that’s really surprised me’ as at the World Cups prior to 2002, there was no Player of the Match award so in a lovely bit of nostalgic storytelling, education and acknowledgement Copa90 and Michelob Ultra have launched an investigation to finally recognise 580 players for their endeavours. Michelob is the sponsor of the 2026 player accolades and the Superior Player of the Match award will be extended to every game from 1930 to 1998 That’s over 15,000 players and over 870 hours of football analysed so every single game has a winner. So far Ronaldo Nazario, Roberto Baggio, Jay-Jay Okocha and Lothar Matthäus are some of the players receiving their awards.

Axe / Lynx - Wiener Man

The Axe / Lynx brand (and associated country relevant brand names) ‘Smell your best when you’re at your worst’ campaign connects product to moments of support across a series of fan vignettes in a classic ad format. Now they’ve revealed they were behind a stunt that featured a man in a full wiener costume and famous fitness influencer Cheyenne Moles, spotted all over Mexico City during the World Cup Opening Ceremony week. The stunt by LOLA, also saw the wiener man and fitness influencer appear at celebrity rooftop restaurants and five-star hotels to create mystery and conversation on social.

F1 - Lewis Hamilton Watch Along

The world of LoFi YouTube content provides a calming backdrop to work, homework, chores or whatever you might be doing when focus or calm is needed. For F1 fans you can now enjoy 8 hours of uninterrupted 4K ambience featuring Lewis Hamilton taking in the stunning views of Monaco.

Ikea - Assemble the World

​IKEA Canada and Dentsu Creative have launched 'Assemble the World', a clever and charming way of showing familiar IKEA products and repurposing them into a series of country flags for the World Cup.

Cass - ‘Wide Cup’

South Korea’s best-selling beer brand Cass are running a competition to see who opens their mouth the widest while watching the team in the World Cup.

Experiential / Stunts

The House of…

The House of (insert brand or passion point) has been the default naming device for any fan experiential activations around sport in recent years that combines the sport with cultural crossover activity, games, creators and talent. During the World Cup USA Soccer is hosting a US Soccer House in Los Angles and New York with associated sponsors Michelob, Bank of America and more.

The House of Fresh is Uniliver’s creator hubs across Mexico City, New York and Miami. where they can design custom jerseys, pose for pictures to be turned into collectible Panini trading cards, put charms on trendy phone slings and play foosball.

‘The Beautiful Dome’

One of the Vancouver’s most iconic landmarks, Science World has been rechristened ‘The Beautiful Dome’ a huge, 360-degree, 40-metre-diameter re-creation of the Adidas official match ball, Trionda and will include an exhibition showing how innovation has shaped football’s continuing evolution.

Getting paid to watch football all day - the dream job

Austin Franklin and Kevin Akoto have officially been selected as the luckiest football fans going as FOX crowns them their Chief World Cup Watchers where each will be paid $50,000 to watch every match of World Cup live from a custom-built viewing cube in the heart of Times Square.

How people watch, follow, express, access and emotionally connect with sport across fan behaviour, culture, media, retail and live experiences.

Bootleg merch is the coveted and authentically New York souvenir of the Knicks Championship

The New York Knicks finally did it, winning their third NBA Championship after a long 53-year wait and fans have snapped up the merch for it. The official hats, tees, jackets and Funko Pops are selling fast or sold out, but the real New Yorkers are buying the more coveted and creative bootleg merch. Takes on iconic A Tribe Called Quest albums, DIY versions of Taylor Swift’s viral ‘Stevie Knicks’ tee and more are being sought after and one fan is tracking them all on the nostalgic looking site https://knickknacks.nyc/ Hat tip to Victoria Buchanan for this one.

Fans are breaking the bank and going into debt to fund once in a lifetime World Cup trips

One fan paid 30,000 pesos ($1,750 / £1,300) for a ticket to Mexico’s opening game, worth about three months’ rent to many residents of Mexico City. In Morocco, the average annual salary is estimated to be less than $7,400, but some fans are paying double that to see one of the dark horses play. England ‘superfan’ Andy Milne sold his house to fund his trip. Some fans started saving once the previous tournament ended, while others have taken out credit cards to fund it. If your team makes the final and you go to every game, it will cost about £5,225 in the lowest price range, £8,580 in the middle tier and £12,350 for the most expensive tickets.

FIFA’s choice of dynamic ticket pricing and premium stadium costs, along with rising global travel expenses has created a model that not only risks reshaping who can afford to attend games, but also forces the desperate lengths fans will go to, so they take in what are once in a lifetime, bucket list moments.

Expensive stadium scran

It’s not just the tickets to watch games that are expensive. As the tournament completes its first week, we’re seeing further examples of how the World Cup looks like an exercise in extracting as much money as possible out of fans. Food and drink prices in stadiums have shocked fans not used to the premium you have to pay when watching sports in the US and Canada. Standard food fare and beers are reaching $20, while some stadiums are charging $8.25 for a bottle of water. FIFA takeover the stadiums and buy out the food & beverage providers, who still facilitate everything and set prices, with FIFA’s sign off. The Mercedes-Benz Stadium Atlanta Stadium deserves praise for sticking to their fan friendly prices where meals can be bought for as low as $6.

It’s the fans that make it, always

What happens on the pitch rightfully generates the headlines, but the memories are made by the fans and this World Cup has already seen some great moments. Japanese fans have stolen locals' hearts by cleaning up the stadium after their game. Norwegians are rowing, Merlin the Duck is the unofficial Mexican mascot and the Tartan Army took over Fenway Park.

How athletes, teams and talent systems are being shaped by performance demands, technology, workload, wellbeing and empowerment.

Another change to NIL is on the cards?

Name, Image, Likeness has made college sports almost unrecognisable from where it was 5 years ago and a welcome game changer to college athletes being able to earn money. One part of NIL is the athletes can cut brand deals to earn money, while the other part is they can earn money through a sum paid by their colleges as part of revenue sharing. There’s no cap on brand deal revenue, but the colleges do have a $20.5 million per season cap they can spend on their roster of athletes across their sports, which has become an issue. A new antitrust lawsuit has been filed against the NCAA, seeking to lift restrictions with the argument being the cap impacts a players earning potential and is causing financial constraints on competition for players. The suit seeks damages on behalf of affected college football and basketball players across 17 states including California, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

SGA returns to Nike, but have they fumbled Caitlin Clark’s signature sneaker?

Having your own signature sneaker is a status move in basketball and a sign you’re one of the sports cultural and commercial movers. When Nike and adidas dominate so much of the basketball category, players often have to look at the tier below or even newcomers to be able put themselves central to a brands focus. New Balance, Puma, Under Armour, Converse, Reebok, Anta, Li-Ning have all looked to carve more of a share of the market by enticing players who want to have more control and step outside of the shadow Nike and adidas star talent has. When Shai Gilgeous-Alexander moved from Nike to Converse and made him creative director of their basketball division, it looked like another example of the shift. This week, SGA, the back-to-back MVP returned to the Swoosh as Converse’s move to regain a standing in basketball seems to have been shut down by its parent company. Is SGA unhappy at Converse? Or have Nike simply decided they made a mistake letting him go in the first place and made a portfolio play and power move to rectify it? Time will tell but hopefully the next Shai 001 update or new silo won’t take as long as Nike have with Caitlin Clark’s sneaker.

Caitlin Clark has transcended basketball and brought so many fans into the sport since her amazing college run with the University of Iowa and now in the WNBA with the Indiana Fever. Nike signed Clark to a name, image and likeness deal in October 2022, before her junior season, then a fresh $28 million contract in April 2024 for 8 years, as Clark entered the WNBA. Her first signature sneaker, the Caitlin 1 and apparel line will go on sale in October, with the sneaker potentially debuted tonight. Given it was known Clark would be a start during her Iowa days and signing her to a full deal saw a bidding war, it seems very strange it’s taken so long for Nike to release the Caitlin 1. Has the changes at Nike as they attempt their turn around under CEO Elliott Hill seen the ball dropped with a star that could arguably draw Lebron James and Kevin Durant popularity to the category?

FIFA in something good shocker

FIFA has launched the Female Health and Performance Project, a new global initiative that will provide science-based knowledge tailored to female players. Between 2014 and 2020, only 34% of participants in sport and exercise science studies were women, while just 6% of sport science research focused exclusively on women. This new project aims to respond to that gap in sport science with 30 online modules across 13 topics and resources for players, coaches, medical staff, parents, the general public and all 211 FIFA Member Associations.

How sport grows, who shapes it, and how it impacts communities, politics, participation, public value and wider society.

The NBA and NHL finals record best figures for years

The New York Knicks long awaited return to the top of the NBA drew the biggest viewing figures for an NBA Finals since Michael Jordan played for the Chicago Bulls. The series with the San Antonio Spurs was close and entertaining throughout and the deciding game 5 audience peaked at 33 million, averaging 24.5 million viewers on ABC and ESPN. This made it the most-watched since the 1998 NBA finals between the Bulls and Utah Jazz, which was to be Jordan’s last ever finals. This year’s ratings were also the highest on ABC and ESPN since they started broadcasting the finals in 2003.

Record figures for Women’s Champions League watching

The Women’s Champions League doubled viewing during the 2025/26 season, expecting to reach at ‌least 44.5 million once the final was included, UEFA said in a report. 39.7 million viewers watched across ​the Champions League before the final across 207 territories, with 30 free-to-air ⁠partners showing the final, making it the ​most widely available title match to date. Social media engagement also climbed considerably, with a +50% year-on-year increase in video views (947 million) and 52 million engagements.

New CBA expands WNBA games and player opportunity

The new collective bargaining agreement between the WNBA and WNBPA will see an increase in games next season, rising from 44 to 50. Another element of the agreement is giving players looking to gain a chance in the league or keep them from falling out a new opportunity to do so with the development deals introduced. The league has recently expanded to 15 teams, but there’s no development league supporting it, like the G-League does for the NBA, so chances to impress and make any 12-player roster is small. Now teams can offer the new development deals to two developmental players per team, who can practice, travel with the team and are able to be activated for up to 12 games. So far 13 of the 15 teams have used at least one development deal. Teams are using them to take a look at players who have been waived elsewhere, like the Connecticut Sun have done with Hailey Van Lith, or take a closer look at international players that have no WNBA experience.

Saudi Arabia’s mega futuristic Tennis centre

The New York Times reveal details of the new National Tennis Centre in Qiddiya City, funded by the The Qiddiya Investment Company who are owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF). The new centre will be ready for the first edition of an ATP Masters 1000 event in 2028 and will have 30 courts, 28 hard and two clay, including a 15,000-capacity Centre Court with a retractable roof, and three further show courts, one of which will be an 8,000-seater with a roof.

B teams in WSL?

In May, a proposal to allow four academy sides from Women’s Super League clubs to join the third tier in 2027 was approved by the FA Women’s National League board. Understandably, this has divided opinion with current champions Manchester City, a side with hefty resources all in favour, whereas 52 Women’s National League clubs have formed an alliance and are pushing for a vote on the matter. A final decision is expected in July.

MLB Lockout? The players think so

In the annual MLB player survey by The Athletic, there’s a strong belief the league is heading for a lockout in 2027, which would derail the turn around the sport has had during the last few years thanks to the pitch clock change and star players like Shohei Ohtani making the sport more accessible and entertaining. One of the key points that players won’t agree to is the likelihood of a salary cap.

BIG3 to go public

Ice Cube’s the BIG3, the basketball 3x3 league that features former NBA players is about to enter it’s 9th season and is going public, entering an agreement with a special purpose acquisition company to do so. The deal values the league at $290 million pre-money, with 100% of the existing equity expected to convert to common stock of the combined company at closing, sometime later this year.

It feels very surface level across a variety of adverts from global and local brands around the world cup for this year’s edition. There are some exceptions and standouts, but for the most part they stick to the default convention of fan celebration when a goal is scored and maybe, just a little moment of jeopardy before the high.

This creative execution is often the case when brands do the big campaign ads around football, but during a tournament where the world’s attention and brand bucks is focused, it’s when it really hits home how conventional, lazy and all the same it feels when every ad defaults to the mean.

There is little in the way that shows the breadth of emotions or depth of experiences fans go through and what international team fandom looks and feels like.

Fandom is broad and deep

Fandom is celebrating goals, but it’s also the anticipation leading up to the game, the moments after and until the next one. The tension, debates, rituals, superstitions, doubts, excitement, travel, optimism, planning, lows, routines, the places and spaces fandom is expressed.

Fandom is showing support for a team, but it’s also connection, tribalism, escapism, identity, bonding, a sense of place, pride, belonging and coming back for more when you should know better.

International fandom is supporting a nation, but it’s increasingly more complex and layered, with multiple teams favoured. People support where they’re from, where they grew up, where they now live or family ties are. It’s putting aside club loyalties and rivalries for a common cause.

We’re barely a week into the tournament and we’re already seeing the diverse make up of fandom, the different rituals and routines, people from all walks of life coming together in unison. It actually does look like a melting pot of cultures coming together.

The brands show none of this to any great length which is a shame given the number of big global brands who are sponsoring or advertising at the biggest and most global world cup to date.

It’s not just football where fandom is broad and deep. Look at any of the major sports leagues around the world and you’ll see fandom expressed across a breadth and depth of behaviours and emotions. The names of the stadiums and places for where it’s expressed might be different, but how and why it’s expressed will look just as universally similar and layered as any sport.

The Five Boroughs to the World

On Saturday in Texas, at the Frost Bank Center, fans of the New York Knicks had taken over the arena, just like they had done throughout the NBA play-offs to create a slice of MSG on the road. Ticket prices reached record highs and while it’s easier for a Spike Lee or Timothée Chalamet to afford those prices, there were plenty of Knicks fans that had to be there, at any cost, to witness the moment the team put a 53 year wait for a third NBA Championship behind them.

Back in New York city, across the five boroughs people, blocks and neighbourhoods came together on a night where, political views, religious beliefs and quite simply life, were put aside to support and hope one of sports most famous teams could deliver. Generations of fans had never seen the Knicks win the chip. They might have heard about the folklore from their elders, or in bar chat. For those that saw it in 1973, they may have never expected it to take as long to see it happen again.

Those that were celebrating in San Antonio, New York, across the US or around the world were united in their love for the blue and orange. They might be MSG regulars or once in a lifetimers, born and raised New Yorkers or transplants, locals that went global or have followed from countries and timezones a far. This was a moment shared even if the proximity, intensity and relationship with the Knicks varies. Fandom is expressed on different levels and layers, but it all forms part of someone’s identity and Saturday night wherever people were gathered or watching, they all felt a sense of belonging.

Multi-layered fandom

I was born in the 80s and grew up in Southampton, a port city on the South Coast of England. I didn’t support the local football team, instead following my Dad’s and his Dad’s passion for Queens Park Rangers, the closest team to where they grew up in London. During the World Cup I want England to win it. It’s those two teams above anything else.

I’m also a child of the 90s and for those who grew up in a world before Sky TV was showing wall to wall football, Channel 4 brought us into a world of Italian skill and sophistication with their weekly Serie A broadcasts. Everyone had an Italian team of choice due to this. Mine was Juventus and the 12-year old in me was overjoyed when I finally paid a visit to Turin in 2024 to watch a game. When Sky started showing Spanish football, everyone at school started watching and picking a team. This was the year of Ronaldo’s incredible one season at Barcelona so I had to get his shirt on a family trip to the Catalan capital when I was 13. In March, I went to watch cult football team St.Pauli, a team I feel passionate about that does things differently on and off the pitch and whose left leaning views and outlook on life reflects my own. I might not support the local football team where I was born, but I express local pride for and support my county’s cricket team, Hampshire. Most mornings during the NBA season you’ll find me watching the previous night’s Orlando Magic game and making pilgrimages to Florida for games.

Back to the World Cup. National-team loyalty is no longer simple. Fans support where they were born, where they live, where they grew up and where their families come from to create layered, multi-team identities. Across the USA, Canada and Mexico, 74% of fans support more than one nation, 12% above the global average. The most football-passionate demographic in the USA will be Hispanic-Americans.

These are the realities of modern sports fandom. The beauty is in the complexity, the messiness, the contradiction and all the ebbs and flows.

Loads of brands say that they’re for the fans and part of sports culture, but this has to mean more than just defaulting to fan celebration conventions. Sticking to the surface level may give the impression of reflecting fandom, but it misses the opportunities to show a realness that fans know, see and live.

The opportunity

When it comes to sport, we’re not selling brands and products to rational people. We’re trying to sell brands and products to people who are deeply emotional and passionate about the team(s) they support.

The brands that go further are the ones who grasp the differences between a New York Knicks fan in the Bronx and Berlin, as well as the unifying characteristics. They’re the ones who show up all year round in the moments in between, not just the tentpole. They’re the ones who understand a fan may support the country their family was from first, not where they were born or currently live.

Sport delivers reach, but the old way is thinking reach will equal success. Credibility needs to be earned to create meaningful opportunities to sell to fans. Fandom is now so vast and complex, you have to understand the differences and unifying factors across the various sets of fans and create work that resonates with all. There’s richness in the unifying characteristics of fans beyond goals celebrations. There’s even more richness the deeper you go when figuring out what appeals to the different relationships fans have with their teams. It requires a multi-layered approach. That’s the new way to think.

When we stick to surface level convention, we may be seen to be ticking the right boxes, but to really matter to fans, it requires a deeper understanding and a willingness to embrace the complexities of fandom.

My goal at Vivrant is to continue to highlight, explore and show the breadth and depth of that complexity and the beauty that lies in sports fandom.

I want this to become an essential newsletter each week for sports marketers and anyone working across sport to have a variety of marketing in one place as inspiration. There will also be some commentary on any insights or trends coming through in the work and bigger picture across the category.

On to this week, where we’ll kick-off with a World Cup special that rounds up what I’ve seen across the brand ads leading up to the tournament, which sees a lot of David Beckham, some work that truly stirs the emotion and question marks on how football fandom is portrayed.

Conventions

All the hallmarks of football adverts are represented with the classic conventions of national pride, celebrity cameos, slow-motion action, pauses before a special moment, state of the nation manifestos, inspiration journeys and hard work creates the magic. Just because an advert follows convention, it doesn’t mean it’s bad as the execution of that convention becomes more key. At the World Cup we’re talking big production budgets and media spend which I think has made a lot of the big convention following ads feel too glossy. They’re so surface level where the lack of any depth, tension or interesting fan insights means you could swap logos from another brand within the category. You will likely only remember some of the brands because of the sheer volume of product nods and frequency in the media buy. Most of the big players are trying to reach more than just football fans so playing the hits becomes a default, rather than attempting to disrupt the category and stand out.

Football, not soccer

Where the World Cup is being hosted was a natural one to lean on, with the football vs soccer language use and difference in cultures so there’s a lot of “it’s football, not soccer” lines in adverts. I won’t be featuring gambling ads on Vivrant, however one known for their banter and humorous adverts has made one of the more enjoyable it’s football, not soccer and English vs US culture very well, featuring Danny Dyer and Rob Lowe.

David Beckham: Everything, Everywhere, All At Once

Goldenballs has been putting in the work this tournament and it feels like every other advert features him, whether it’s pulling pints for Stella, pushing Pepsi, flogging burgers, looking for crisps, home improvement, surprising telco customers, or rolling back the years for adidas. He’s doing so much that for Lenovo they decided to play up to this with a ‘got a lot going on’ angle in Maxium David. Talent is a tried and tested formula to bring attention and credibility to a brand or product and Brand Beckham is a mega operation, but I do wonder if too much exposure of the same person across brands begins to diminish a brand’s communication?

Backyard Legends vs Rip The Script / adidas vs Nike / marketers vs audience

adidas vs Nike is an argument as long as time and a prime target for marketers to weigh in on who won, why one ad is better than the other, or simply why one didn’t work for them. That last point is funny to me, as it only takes a few moments to get into the comments below on social to see how well both Backyard Legends and Rip The Script have done to appeal to the people the brands are actually wanting to appeal to, which isn’t marketers on LinkedIn (or writing weekly Substack creative showcases ;-)).

Both are brilliant, epic and what you want to see from the global sportswear giants. I know both have the budgets and talent to do so, but my main takeaway from both is the audience will watch longer form brand films if you make them entertaining enough. Neither felt long when watching, they kept you hooked to see what would happen next and the final pay off, while both were re-watchable for the easter eggs, things you might have missed first time and simply because they deserved a second watch.

Both brands are in different places right now, adidas further along their turnaround than Nike, but talk of the latter’s demise is foolish given the sheer size of the company and share of the market they still have. They’re still Nike and Rip the Script showed that it was perfect for what the brand needed to do, reminding people of who they’re in football while giving the audience a roll call of talent across a high octane production. Sometimes that just needs to be ‘the idea’. For adidas, Backyard Legends continued what their creative work has been doing well for a long time now: weaving performance, sports talent, lifestyle and cultural crossover talent across an ode to the places where everyone starts to create their legend, the streets. It felt like an exclamation point at the end of their World Cup lead up work that saw some of the best kit and apparel product storytelling. Both brands have excelled on kit and cultural collab launch content while Backyard Legends and Rip The Script were reminders that sometimes, you don’t need to pick a winner, just enjoy them both because everyone wins.

Role of product

If you’re a sports brand selling kit, boots or equipment, there’s a natural product link to talk about. For non-endemic brands in sports, you have to work harder to show a natural product fit and earn credibility. Products like food and drink can be easier to show a natural role in the fan experience than other categories like finance or cars.

This World Cup has seen a wide range of how brands are showing product roles, in some instances as the natural accompaniment like Brahma and Uber Eats. Duracell goes for the endurance metaphor with their Lionel Messi ad and Valvoline for those who are ‘driven’. Johnnie Walker has released a 24 year old whisky in Brazil which coincides with the length of time since Brazil last won the World Cup. Something Chivas Regal did with Arsenal recently. I can imagine the calls to the distilleries to see how much whiskey of those ages they had. Some use football vocabulary and gestures to link the product like Visa ‘Tap In’ or Coors use of Andrés Cantor’s legendary “GOOOOAL!” for a bar order. Some have pushed the product so far front and centre it feels over the top, even if the product does naturally appear in the fan experience or they’re a long-standing sponsor. Coca-Cola are one of the longest World Cup sponsors but their ‘Uncanned Emotions’ puts football, fans and the occasion secondary to the product.

How fandom is portrayed

Interesting to see how US brands portray fans. Jim Bean acknowledges fandom happens everywhere, not just in the stadium. While Lay’s tells us the fans who always win are the bandwagon fans and encourage you to switch teams if your’s isn’t winning, then another if they don’t and so on. It comes across as putting the very nature of fandom down, but then it’s also starring Will Ferrell and is all very light hearted in execution. Axe / Lynx exaggerates the rituals and superstitions of football fans for a sign off ‘Smell Your Best When You Look Your Worst’ that just about strays the right side of pastiche. Budweiser, Coca-Cola and Stella are three of the brands that all feature fans heavily in their ads, in moments of joy and despair.

I have to say though, there is a lack of real fan culture and depth of fandom shown across the many ads I’ve seen. Beyond the obligatory fan goal celebrations and mini moments of jeopardy before the highs, there is little in the way that shows any of the tensions, breadth of emotions or different experiences fans have around the game. I felt like there was a real opportunity with this World Cup being its largest ever, to show the melting pot of cultures that are going to come together. We’ve already seen great scenes of fans mixing and celebrating together at the early games. I wrote before about how this World Cup highlights how increasingly more complex and layered fandom is with fans not always supporting one team but where they’re born, grew up, live or where family are from. This is a positive thing and the diaspora stories are what makes football a truly global game and these things should be celebrated. None of this is shown in brand comms which is a shame given the number of global brands who are sponsoring or advertising. A lot of brands say in their ads or supporting press releases and trade interviews that they’re for the fans, but this only seems to mean showing celebration conventions.

Personal faves

Big faves for me personally are no surprises, Backyard Legends and Rip The Script. The Trainspotting vibe of adidas football’s Scotland ad is great. I also love Brahma’s energy of Brazil football passion mixed with recreations of their classic World Cup moments. SuperSport / CANAL+ ‘Everything Can Wait’ in Africa shows the impact on the daytime when following the tournament through the night due to time differences. Flamin’ Hot® ‘The Warmest Welcome’, sees Mexico fans get revenge on Arjen Robben and Maxi Rodríguez, two players that broke their hearts in previous tournaments. I like the France’s players going all Hollywood in Orange’s ad. EE’s ‘Yes Boys!’ is a powerful film about how football communities can help counter the pressures young boys face online and is one of the most emotive films to coincide with the World Cup.

Despite working in advertising for a long time, I clearly am a sucker for big star talent, nostalgia and emotion drivers. We can sometimes over-intellectualise things working in marketing, but if we entertain consumers, make it memorable and authentic to their experiences of sport or fandom, you go a long way to winning. This tournament’s set of brand ads are enjoyable in the most part, with some really great stand-outs. I just wish we could see more depth and nuance explored when it comes to fandom and move beyond the familiar fan tropes and convention. Let’s close the gap between the talk of being there for the fans and part of fan culture in press releases with what that actually looks like in real life, being reflected on screen.

World Cup Adverts Creative Showcase by Category

Sportswear

adidas - Backyard Legends

Nike - Rip the Script

adidas - Scotland You Got This (Trainspotting inspired)

adidas - Japan Kit Launch

Nike - Canada Rip the Script

Telco

EE - Yes Boys!

At&T - These Neighbours Didn’t Know Each Other

Orange - Les Blues are going to America

Verizon - Golden Ticket

Tech

Lenovo - Maximum David

Hisense - Our Host

Google Pixel - Made for the Beautiful Chaos

Media

Canal + / Supersport - Everything Can Wait

BBC - Let’s Make it Iconic

ITV - All In

Fox - Do You Believe? Anything can happen on home soil

Alcohol

Brahma

Michelob - The Superior Match

Quilmes - Two in a Row

Heineken - Fan Volunteers

Coors - Coooooorssssss!!!!

Castle Lager - The fans that stood the test of time

Stella - Celebration

Budweiser - Let It Pour

Jim Beam - Home Field Advantage

Tennents - Time to Dream

Johnnie Walker Brazil - 24 year Brazil Whisky

Retail

Dicks’s Sporting Goods - Where it all kicks off

Lego - Everyone wants a piece

Home Depot - We all have a name

Energy / soft drinks

Powerade - Power Your Fate

Pepsi - Home of football banter

Coca-Cola - No Better Feeling

Coca-Cola - Uncanned Emotions

IRN-BRU - We are made in Scotland from Girders

CPG

Unilever - Smell your best when you look your worst

Duracell - x Messi Reboot

Motors

Hyundai - Next Starts Now

Volkswagen Brazil - The Dream

Travel

Turo - How You Get There

Food

McDonalds - World Cup Cups

Lays - Bandwagon

Flamin Hot - The Warmest Welcome

Delivery

Deliveroo - Football Just Got Even Better

Uber Eats - Who could cook at a time like this?

Doordash - Deliver Us Football

Fashion

Burberry - A Good Sport

Finance

Visa - Everything is a Tap In

Each Thursday I’ll be looking at these across 3 macro clusters covering:

Sports Fandom, Culture and Experience

How people watch, follow, express, access and emotionally connect with sport across fan behaviour, culture, media, retail and live experiences.

Athlete Empowerment, Performance and Innovation

How athletes, teams and talent systems are being shaped by performance demands, technology, workload, wellbeing and empowerment.

Sports Growth, Power and Society Impact

How sport grows, who shapes it, and how it impacts communities, politics, participation, public value and wider society.

These micro signals and things of interest that are spotted will form larger research and trend reports on Vivrant in the weeks and months to come, looking at the bigger picture and what they mean for how sport is watched, played and experienced.

On to this week’s edition, which given it’s out the day a certain global football tournament that has already been causing much controversy begins, will lean heavily on the football side but will be more balanced in future and still contains signals from the world of basketball, cricket, Formula 1 and card collectables.

Themes in this cluster include the Fan Experience | Future of Fandom | Cultural Crossover | Retail as Connection

Football without fans to exploit is nothing

This week I covered how fans give the World Cup meaning and shape the story, despite FIFA’s best efforts to make the tournament inaccessible through extortionate ticket prices. It seems FIFA’s aim to extort as much money out of fans as possible knows no bounds, with the news they’ll charge $79 for a stadium shout out on the big screens. FIFA also wants your data as well and are encouraging match attendees to pick up a Fan ID card that they can then link to and enjoy exclusive content, unforgettable experiences and memories.

Fresh injection into the football x fashion category

I’ve written about the football shirts role as a fashion grails before and the how they’ve impacted wider fashion & streetwear culture as well as being influenced by it. It’s now become such an established product move for sportswear, streetwear and fashion brands to work together and have mutual influence that this sub-category can feel samey, but Nike have kicked new energy into things ahead of the World Cup. By partnering with a well known fashion or streetwear brand in each featured nation, they’ve elevated what would easily be overlooked functional pre-match wear to create looks that rival some of their actual match shirts. In France, it’s with Jacquemus, Canada it’s Nocta, in the Netherlands it’s Patta, the USA have dipped into the Virgil Abloh archives and in England we have Palace Skateboards. My favourite might be for a team that didn’t qualify for the big tournament, with Slawn’s work for Nigeria. The roll out of pre-game tracksuits, shirts and other fits for their World Cup team rosters happened in the recent World Cup warm-up games and they look great.

adidas have heavy kit presence at the tournament as well as being one of the main sponsors and they went extra hard on their kit launches this year with elaborate launches and bringing back the trefoil for the aways. Most best kit lists have multiple adidas entries in the top five and while the focus has been on the match kits, they’ve also dropped some heat with collaborators. See the Thrasher link up with Argentina and Kith for the blue and white’s captain and game’s GOAT Lionel Messi. They’ve also released a third kit with social enterprise Someone Somewhere, which has split opinions on it’s production methods.

Every brand that has any sort of relationship with or love of football has been releasing football related wears for an alternative look to rocking a current or retro team jersey. Highlights come from Corteiz, Drama Call and About:Blank.

You thought the World Cup was expensive

Ticket prices at the World Cup are high, but not New York Knicks in their first NBA Finals since 1999 high. The final’s rematch against the San Antonio Spurs has been close and entertaining, with resale tickets for the highest sections reaching over $7,000 a ticket while closer to the court has fetched over $100k in some instances. To sit in celeb row, an auction for two tickets raised over $1 million for the Garden of Dreams Foundation - the highest single donation ever received.

Ultra’s inspire NBA atmosphere initiative

The NBA wants to launch in Europe and a San Antonio fan club founded by their French superstar Victor Wembanyama, called The Jackals, are bringing a European football atmosphere to the NBA finals with chants and tifos. Wembanyama drew inspiration from the ultras of Paris Saint-Germain, who he admired while growing up in France. The NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is hopeful an NBA League will begin in 2027 with final bids for permanent franchises due by the end of this month and awards expected as soon as autumn. I previously wrote about this here and will be following up soon.

Live selling is a new commercial frontier in sports card selling

The biggest live-selling businesses in the trading card category are estimated to be generating $100 million or more per year in revenue through box breaks and live selling. It’s helping a hobby turned profession scale to new heights, bringing a layer of performance, while also raising issues over trust and market integrity.

Entertainment crossovers

Stepping outside of sport to reach new audiences and gain cultural relevance is a go to tactic for growth and both F1 and Cricket have announced interesting partnerships lately. In recent years, Formula 1 has seen a huge surge in growth with younger fans and data shows that more than four million children aged 8-12 now actively follow the sport, so announcing a deal with Disney where Mickey & Friends will be across F1 experiences, content and merchandise feels a natural fit. While not as big in scale as a full blown merchandise and experience ecosystem, as part of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and in partnership with Sky Sports, the West End and Broadway global musical Wicked will perform as the opening performance at the tournament’s first match in Birmingham on 12 June.

Themes in this cluster include Player Empowerment | Athlete Overload | The Optimised Athlete

Lebron is TIME Magazine’s athlete of the century

LeBron James is named by TIME as the defining model of the modern athlete. Some one who is not just an elite performer, but a businessman, cultural figure, political voice and power broker. I’ll alway put Michael Jordan as my GOAT personally, but I’m a big Lebron fan and he’s paved the way for many athletes to show they’re more than just an athlete and don’t need to just ‘stick to sports’. He’s showed a player can build companies, use their platform politically, create opportunities for friends and partners, invest in media, tech and community projects, and still remain at the top of the game. Combine Lebron’s playing peak, longevity and off-court influence, few athletes come close and he epitomises the player empowerment and player-led media movements I love to talk about and will feature heavily at Vivrant.

NIL is reducing the number of players declaring for the NBA Draft

When Name, Image, Likeness was passed so college athletes could finally generate revenue that used to only be for their colleges, it was seen as a win for athletes but uncharted territories for what other impact it would have. One area we can see big impact on now is the number of college basketball players declaring for the NBA Draft dropping. Since the bill passed in 2021, the first season of NIL had 353 players declare early-entry. In April this year, that number dropped to 71, a 79% reduction which then saw a further decline with 38 players subsequently withdrawing. With the money now on offer to college athletes through their own brand deals and revenue sharing with the colleges, the opportunity is there to earn more money than a late first round pick could. Braylon Mullins, a very likely first round pick this year, decided to return to UConn. “I think the world has changed. There’s not this pressure to go to the NBA now because of the money situation [due to NIL]. Players like Braylon are probably, he would probably make more money at UConn next year than he would if he were the No. 15 pick [at the NBA draft],” his head coach Dan Hurley told The Athletic. More returning players is making the college game stronger and creating more household names than the one year and done era. There is still a risk to injury, drops in performance or other hurdles that could impact a draft position by staying in college longer, but it may also help players where another year in college is more beneficial to their longer term pro prospects and now they have a financial reason to stay instead of a potentially too early jump.

Something that also has an interesting knock on effect, the prom NIL era. The high school rite of passage has turned into into a cultural phenomenon, part victory lap and part personal branding opportunity.

Pat Mcafee to double his ESPN salary

One of the big stars in sports media and key driver of the player led media era is inline for another big payday as ESPN look to increase their deal with the former Indianapolis Colts punter Pat Mcafee from $30 million a year to $60 million.

Themes in this cluster include Sports Growth | Participation & Community Sport | Society Impact | Sports Politics

All the risk, for FIFA’s rewards

Not everyone wants the World Cup on their doorstep and the Chicago mayor, Rahm Emanuel, revealed why he turned down the opportunity to host games in the city. FIFA are expected to make $11 billion from the tournament, with cities being asked to take on all the risk, while FIFA takes home the rewards.

School cancelled for football

I always dreamed of days like that when I was at school, but it’s actually happening in Mexico City to ease traffic for the host’s opener against South Africa at the Estadio Azteca, alongside workers being asked to work from home.

ICC Women’s World Cup set to be the biggest

With around 200,000 tickets sold already, the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is set to be the biggest yet with record-breaking figures achieved before the tournament has even begun and comfortably eclipsing previous ICC Women’s T20 World Cup benchmarks for tournament which begins in England tomorrow, 12th June. A launch with all 12 captains in attendance too place under London’s famous Waterloo Bridge, transformed into a massive cricket pitch for the first time.

A landmark signing for the WSL, but the game needs to move from visibility to viability

London City Lionesses rise has been remarkable, if not without it’s controversy and this week they made another big step to shaking up the WSL by signing one of the best players in the world, Alexia Putellas, with Mary Earps reportedly already signed. The team, owned by American businesswoman Michele Kang has just finished its debut season in the top flight and as its only independent, is looking to make major moves in the game. While London City is one of the game’s examples of the popularity and growth in the game, a recently released report suggests the women’s game is at a crucial point.

The Cutback has some of the best writing on football on the internet and what they do for women’s football coverage is outstanding. They’ve recently released a definitive free-to-read report on the present and future of women’s football which outlines why visibility isn’t the issue, but viability is with attendance retention one of the key barriers to overcome. An informative document which reads as a state of the nation address, as well as providing a blueprint for the key next phase in women’s football.

Li-Ning look set to make a big US retail push with Steph Curry deal

Chinese sports brand L-Ning and Anta have been making moves the last few years to sign NBA stars with the sport very popular in China. The latter signed Kyrie Irving after he left Nike under controversial circumstances and his popular Kai silo has helped make waves in basketball. Li-Ning have a steady roster of credible NBA players and both brands would like to grow their presence not just in basketball, but in the US retail arena. Li-Ning may have just made the signing that will open the doors to that with a major move in partnering with arguably the greatest shooter of all time in Steph Curry, to a ten year deal. Curry caused a big shock when he parted ways with Under Armour last year and was able to take his Curry brand with him. For the rest of the season we got to see arguably the greatest sneaker free agent run with Curry wearing a variety of current and classic franchises and silos across all the current major and once beloved brands. The excellent sports, fashion and culture writer Daniel-Yaw Miller has a great breakdown on why the move happened on SportsVerse.

Enjoyed this week’s digest? Subscribe now for more weekly editions highlighting the key signals, trends and forces shaping sports.

In today’s article I outline what makes the tournament special, through where it’s experienced and how the story and narratives take shape.

Communal moments

Tournaments have always been a communal experience. Watching in our homes, around friends, in pubs, at watch parties or fan parks and public viewing spaces is how most of us will experience the tournament.

At home you’ll have different generations debating why their era was better, but united in their nation’s support. Around friends you’ll debate the GOAT and team selection while everyone plays to their roles in the group watch dynamic from host to who ends up bringing the most beer.

Down the pub, bar or coffee house you’ll connect with people whose name you won’t know or remember, but embrace during the times of euphoria and despair.

Watch parties and fan gatherings have evolved into cultural events in their own right from wild scenes in Croydon Boxpark in the UK to public square celebrations across capital cities. Who can forget the mass street parties in Buenos Aires when Argentina won the World Cup during their nation’s summer?

Cultural & societal rituals and routines form the structure for how fandom is expressed so from one country to another, things can look similar in some comparisons and widely different to others. The experience in the UK, Germany, Australia and France can feel very similar for example. Images of pubs, bars, beer gardens and pints in hand. In Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the social architecture of football looks different. The match is still public, emotional and collective, but it often happens through cafes and restaurants.

Emotional bonds and escapism

A tournament’s communal moments create a shared emotional release that turns fandom into something bigger. Club loyalties, political persuasion and whatever is going on in your life at this moment gets put aside as it feels like nearly everyone is going through the country’s tournament ebbs and flows together.

Your colleague at work who you thought didn’t like football, is suddenly caught up in the energy only an international tournament can bring. Speaking of work, good luck to anyone that gets anything done during the tournament.

It doesn’t mean football is more important than whatever is going on in your life, nor can it take precedence over some truly awful things happening in the world right now, some of which one of the tournament host’s presidents is presiding over. Football has always been the most important of the least important things in life.

Football has always provided a mode of escapism. Football has always offered an outlet for someone to express identity and find belonging. In a world of increasing loneliness, the belonging that football can provide and in particular when it’s at a national level during a tournament, can only be a welcoming thing, even if it’s just for a few weeks or simply the 90 minutes.

Timezones test commitment and dictate the modes of engagement

World Cup’s always provide a test of stamina and support depending on how the host nation(s) time difference impacts you. Late night and early morning games may disrupt the tried and tested social norms, but they also create different ways to watch, stay engaged and follow the tournament.

I can always remember staying up late to watch Italy’s games at USA 94 as I was obsessed with Roberto Baggio. While the World Cup in Japan and South Korea in 2002 meant a final England group game happening while sitting a college exam and a memorable club night turned into breakfast at the local pub for England vs Brazil. The lack of sleep felt worth it when Michael Owen scored the opener, less so when David Seaman flapped at Ronaldinho’s cross-shot.

A North America World Cup will see late-night viewing in Europe and Africa to early-morning matches in Asia. Games will be competing with work, school and sleep which will see catch up media, highlights and social conversation come into its own to stay informed.

The 90 minutes fuels the content eco-system

Sport is the last monoculture that brings people together for those you had to be there euphoric moments, that have to be experienced in real time for the most optimum feeling.

The match is still the main event for the majority of fans and it feeds an eco-system of reaction, analysis and perspective where fans get to delve into a feast of football content. For some fans, the match is simply raw material feeding the short-form ecosystem: highlights to stay updated, edits, remixes and reactions to reshape the story in real time.

Many will follow the World Cup without watching much or any of the 90 minutes. Sometimes timezones will dictate that, while for others it’s just how they engage with the game as they flip between platforms constantly, consuming what feels relevant in the moment.

Multiplatform experience

WARC Media projects the tournament will inject $10.5B into the global ad market, which is less than in Russia 2018 where a $12.6B boost was generated. What’s changing is the evolution in attention from a linear broadcast and captive audiences to multi-platform experiences and audiences who are participating, creating and engaging in the feeds and comments sections.

Fans are no longer just watching games, they are co-creating its narrative in real time. Fans will be creating edits, reactions and storytelling formats that shape how the tournament is experienced.

The big brands will still be present across the linear broadcasts and the hydration ad breaks during games, but increasing brand focus is chasing the fragmented audience attention. The mico-moments outside of the 90 minutes in-between games where anticipation and reaction is shared and lived through has always been an important facet of a fans tournament experience.

The traditional broadcasters play their role as the ones showing the games but the rising independent media class like Versus, Copa90, The Rest is Football and Men In Blazers will be the ones that become the go to for the moments in between.

The Creator-led World Cup

Back in 2022, I don’t remember the term creator being used much. YouTubers and Influencers were the names of the people who helped provide an alternative look at the World Cup away from the traditional broadcasters and media. Now that term and industry around it has exploded and it feels like the story and narratives of the World Cup will be heavily told this way, making this the creator led World Cup.

Creators will shape how fans watch, feel and follow the tournament acting as daily storytellers, cultural interpreters and emotional anchors. Creators now hold such influence that 44% of fans say they’d choose a creator over an official broadcast or watch both together (Rising Ballers FWC Heartbeats Report).

TikTok have partnered with FIFA to bring 30 global Creator Correspondents who will provide behind-the-scenes access and storytelling throughout the tournament. DAZN ran a competition for people to nominate their favourite creators per qualified team to bring fan-led perspectives.

We’ve already had a pre-tournament creator led story show their influence, by raising the awareness of New Zealand’s Tim Payne. Argentine creator El Scarso galvanised his followers to put the spotlight on a lesser known and followed player, now Payne has gone from 5,000 followers to over 5 million, becoming a global sensation.

One aspect of content I’ve been enjoying so far is the story of the host cities told through its culture, whether its OnlyScrans showing us the best places to eat or MattyFC exploring the respective football scenes. It’s these stories that fans want to consume and seems a missed opportunity by brands who could have partnered with creators or created their own host city based content.

Football is nothing without the fans

This World Cup may go down as the most commercialised of all time, with real issues in how FIFA and one of the hosts have handled how it comes to life. This can’t be forgotten but it also should not take away from how World Cups bring people together and how they’re experienced in all their facets around the world. This World Cup will be as emotive as ever and the biggest expression of fandom on a global stage that we’ve ever seen.

Over the last few weeks plenty of brands have been rolling out their big World Cup creative and campaigns. There’s been a lot of David Beckham, the classic adidas vs Nike talk on LinkedIn, plus the usual mix of football inspiration and achievement cliches covered.

Next Friday, I’ll be publishing a deep dive into the World Cup work that has been rolled out so far, which will be the first of my weekly sports marketing creative work round-ups. Each Friday we’ll look at the content, campaigns and activations that have caught our eye so if you haven’t subscribed yet, please do.

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For today’s article, I wanted to take a look at the narratives, moments & things to watch that will come to life at the World Cup and from a marketing perspective, it might give an indication to how brands show up, while it might also offer some last minute content ideas.

Let’s address the elephant in the room straight from kick-off…

We can’t just stick to football

It’s too naive to think football and politics can live separately anymore and this World Cup is going to make it harder to escape from. Due to the USA-Iran conflict, we have one nation being bombed by a host, whose president was given the dubious FIFA peace prize. Add in the travesty that is the terror ICE have been causing people and how a number of teams that have qualified will struggle to have support from their fans as they’re on banned lists, it’s going to make for a controversial and uncomfortable backdrop. There was an unease over the Russia and Qatar World Cups that soon went away once the football started, but it doesn’t feel like that’s going to be the case this time.

Host cities become cultural stages

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be defined not just by what happens on the pitch, but by its 16 host cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Each location shapes how fans experience the tournament and the diversity of the host cities each offer a distinct identity: from Atlanta’s hip-hop scene to Guadalajara’s tequila and mariachi heritage, Kansas City’s bbq culture to Toronto’s multicultural energy. I’m hoping we’ll see plenty of brands on the ground combine the football with the host city’s cultural offering for fans, as the tournament becomes a series of localised cultural moments, where the experience extends far beyond the stadium into food, music, nightlife and neighbourhood life.

Expensive ticket prices, who is football for?

Going to watch sport in person is increasingly becoming a luxury, as ticket costs continue to spiral out of control. The way FIFA have priced and run the ticket buying process for this World Cup and excuses to try to justify it is a further indictment of their greed, but also narrows the net of who actually gets to watch football. USA has yet to sell out its opening game against Paraguay. Could we see empty seats or less atmosphere as the real fans that create it are priced out for a more corporate hospitality type of fan more focused on selfies and champagne? Plenty of tickets are still available so can brands step in here to buy them on behalf of fans and ensure the tournament is for everyone?

Layered Fandom

National-team loyalty is no longer simple. Fans support where they were born, where they live, and where their families come from to create layered, multi-team identities. Across the USA, Canada and Mexico, 74% of fans support more than one nation, 12% above the global average. The most football-passionate demographic in the USA will be Hispanic-Americans. This is one of the many interest facets of fandom and is a story that should be told more frequently and widely.

Hydration breaks: player welfare dressed up as a revenue grab?

FIFA have mandated hydration breaks at 22 minutes in each half at every game to protect the players from the heat. The announcement was made at a World Cup broadcasters forum, where FIFA announced commercial broadcasters could sell advertising within this 3 minute break. This will change the viewing experience as a load of ads breaks the play, but something going under the radar is how this impacts the game, when we’re essentially now playing football across 4 quarters, like in the NBA or NFL. This has the potential to kill one team’s momentum in games, while also offering new tactical opportunities for coaches as if it was a time out.

American Sports Crossover

Football’s influence now extends into elite US sports, where athletes are actively engaging with and drawing inspiration from the game. From the NBA to the NFL, football has become a shared cultural reference point shaping playing style, identity and fandom. Players like Lebron James, Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo have invested in clubs, while Joel Embiid and Victor Wembanyama have spoken about its influence on their play. The NBA finals are on as the tournament starts so the overlap will become more visible than ever.

All the football, all the time

Can you have too much football? This tournament might push that theory to the limit. By adding 16 more teams we’ll see the number of games increase by 62% to 104. It used to take 64 games to crown a World Champion, now it will take 72 games for the group stage to eliminate 16. To win the World Cup you’ll now need to play 8 games, as there is an additional round of 32 that needs to be won.

Expanded tournament means discoveries and new stars

While I do think 48 teams is way too much for a World Cup, it does mean we’ll get to see teams on the world stage for the first time, which means new discoveries from players to fan rituals. I think back to how Jamaica in 1998 and Senegal in 2002 captured the world’s attention through their play, style and fan culture. Teams like Cape Verde or Curaçao could be those teams in 26. I’ve already got a soft spot for Curaçao based on their amazing adidas away kit alone.

Ronaldo vs Messi legacy

Two of the greatest players of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are very likely playing in their last World Cup unless there’s some sort of Tom Brady longevity thing about to happen. From rivals to now respected friends appearing in ad campaigns together, both will grace the world stage for a record sixth time as the biggest names in the sport, even if they’re not gracing the best leagues in the world anymore. It will likely be another chance for the adidas vs Nike chat to flood the feed and both brands will be celebrating their final game at this tournament.

The next wave ready to make their mark

With Messi and Ronaldo expected to play in their last World Cup, it’s time for the next wave to take over. Stars expected to shine include Lamine Yamai, Kenan Yıldız, Désiré Doué, Gilberto Mora and Ibrahim Mbaye, but there’s always a player or two that comes from nowhere to let the world know their time is now.

USA and Canada’s football evolution

Mexico has had a rich football culture for a long time, their credentials are not in doubt. For the USA and Canada the tournament is a chance for both nations to show the world how their respective football cultures are evolving. The USA has come a long way since that infamous Diana Ross penalty miss when hosting the 1994 World Cup. The MLS hadn’t started then but now has 30 teams and a growing infrastructure beneath it, where teams from Inter Miami to Portland Hearts of Pine are creating their own supporter culture. Canada’s national team success is helping turn it from a niche sport to one growing in popularity as fans get behind the local teams in the developing Premier League.

Final Thought

What happens on the pitch at the World Cup creates the over-arching storylines and naturally impacts the mood and investment in your team or teams depending on their progression. They’re are also about so much more beyond the pitch.

From the celebration of different fan cultures around the world, to how the tournament’s are experienced across the respective nations at home, on the go, in social third spaces and beyond. The outlets and people that provide the daily updates and the places that facilitate the fan conversation. It’s these micro-moments and coming together that makes a World Cup special and always the biggest opportunity for brands, official sponsor or not. As the tournament takes shape, we’ll get to see which brands are just jumping into the World Cup because it’s where the attention is, or are involved to facilitate, enable and contribute to how fan’s experience the tournament.

I’ve spent time working with Havas Play, Fuse, Out of Nothing and more recently Ear to the Ground and the type of work I’ve been doing has led me to rethink how I view Vivrant as a space to write and what to write about.

Rather than brands and cultural relevance which saw me writing about sports, as well as how people create cultural relevance for brands, I’m now refocusing to just write about sports and in particular the signals, shifts and trends shaping how sport is experienced, played and impacts society. I’ll also be writing about the creative work and activations that wins with fans and the people behind them. I hope you’ll stick around. You’ll also notice this part of Vivrant is now powered by Substack so if you’re on there, let’s connect and chat sports.

Here’s a little more on what’s to come at Vivrant…

In a fragmented world of culture and interests, sport is arguably the last monoculture.

It’s the one thing that can unite people around a common goal and moment in time, no matter their background or beliefs. Whether it’s thousands singing in unison at a football stadium, or a whole Sunday planned around NFL football - the rituals, routines and emotions are shared.

It’s no surprise more brands are looking at sport to invest their marketing budgets as it offers the opportunity to reach large amounts of people over multiple opportunities across the sporting calendar.

The days of treating sport as an addition to core brand marketing plans or a nice to have has moved on as sport touches so many aspects of culture. But the days of treating all fans the same, or thinking some logos on sponsor boards or shirts will cut it and win fans over are long gone. The brands that understand the nuances, complexities and even contradictions within fandom, as well as the wider sports landscape will succeed in sport.

Fandom is vast and varied, where there is no longer one type of football or basketball fan out there, to use two sports as examples. Fandom now comes with multiple layers with closeness and intensity depending on a person’s relationship with any one sport or team.

The athletes themselves are not just sticking to sports anymore, as they build their own brands, platforms and businesses while also standing for what they believe in. The player empowerment era is in full effect.

While sports growth accelerates through more global commercial opportunities where power and influence is shifting between leagues, investors and countries, the bedrock of the game in communities, grassroots and society has never been more important, or fragile.

How a sports marketer navigates the ever evolving landscape shapes the effectiveness of any campaign, sponsorship or athlete partnership.

I’ve been working across sports marketing in various roles agency and brand side and now as an independent for over a decade across sponsorship, product and kit launches, brand platforms and campaigns. This includes working with brands such as adidas, New Balance, Reebok, Nike, JD Sports, Wilson Tennis, Puma Golf and sports sponsorships for Mobil 1 (motorsports) Lloyds (British Cycling), Asahi (football, baseball & rugby), Chivas Regal (Manchester United), Powerade (EPL) and Coca-Cola (EPL).

I believe the best work entertains and engages sports fans when it’s genuinely meaningful and brings them value.

To get there takes multiple forces all coming together: creativity, conviction, bravery and belief but it starts from understanding the subtle nuances, going beyond the margins and digging deeper to understanding how sport is experienced, played and impacts society.

Here’s where Vivrant comes into play. I love working in sports and feel lucky to do so with my favourite part of the job being where I’m bringing people valuable insight, research and intel that helps shape their sports marketing. There will be an insights and strategy offering to follow, but today I’m relaunching Vivrant on substack as the place for sports intel and inspiration.

Each week as a subscriber you’ll get regular updates on the latest signals, trends and forces I’m spotting at a micro-level and what they mean for the bigger sports picture across the following clusters.

Sports Fandom, Culture & Experience

How people watch, follow, express, access and emotionally connect with sport across fan behaviour, culture, media, retail and live experiences.

Sports Growth, Power & Society

How sport grows, who shapes it, and how it impacts communities, politics, participation, public value and wider society.

Athlete Empowerment, Performance & Innovation

How athletes, teams and talent systems are being shaped by performance demands, technology, workload, wellbeing and empowerment.

I’ll also be highlighting the best of the sports creative and campaigns that are cutting through and speaking to the people behind them, to help inspire your own sports marketing.

It will be quite football heavy to start because of the World Cup, but you can expect a variety of sports to be covered and I’ll be publishing 3 times a week across the following areas:

Monday: What’s shaping sports? Digest

This is a weekly digest that is summarising the signals and trends I’m tracking across key themes within the future of sport.

Wednesday: Sports Marketing Perspective / Analysis / Interview

A rotating weekly deep-dive feature that will offer perspective or analysis of what some of the signals and trends I’m spotting mean to the bigger picture of sports. Other weeks we’ll be speaking to and handing over the space to sports marketers working across the wide breadth of sports marketing.

Friday: Sports Creative Showcase

This is a weekly showcase of the work that’s catching the eyes and winning with sports fans whether it’s a new brand campaign, activation, launch or social post and all in between.

Welcome along.

Forza Vivrant!!

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This could be a reality in the next few years and will shake up the existing European basketball structure. I think we could see some interesting partners enter the sport and I’d be watching some of Europe’s elite football teams to get involved.

Basketball is massive in Europe. It might not scale the heights of football but the EuroLeague is full of fanatics and ultra’s with a decent standard of competition. Three of the best players in the NBA are European with Nikola Jokić and Giannis Antetokounmpo winning 5 of the last 7 league MVPs. Luka Dončić will likely win at least one in his career. Beyond the MVP level, European players make an impact on their teams and 14% of rosters last season had one on them.

Europe offers the NBA a chance to grow the game further and ultimately, their power and revenue. For years the talk has been of expansion coming from potential teams in either Las Vegas, Mexico City or fixing previous wrongs with Seattle coming back. To do so means current teams have to give up a slice of the pie when it comes to the league’s commercial revenue. Despite each existing team receiving a portion of any expansion fee a new team has to pay for entry, this isn’t satisfying owners who have to split revenue with more teams at a time when the NBA has just signed its newest record breaking TV deal, worth a total of $75 billion over the next 11 years with Disney, Amazon and NBC.

In recent months talk has cooled on North American expansion and conversations with potential partners in Europe to get a league going have picked up momentum, causing all sorts of rumours and potential scenarios for what an already fragmented landscape could look like in Europe.

The Game in Europe

FIBA governs the sport of basketball worldwide and runs their own competition called the Basketball Champions League, but that doesn’t include the calibre of teams you see in the privately owned EuroLeague’s tier 1 and tier 2 competitions where they can count on European heavyweights like Real Madrid, Olympiacos and Fenerbahçe. The EuroLeague stands to lose more if their marquee teams defect to NBA Europe.

In May, an openness to working together was declared after talks between all three parties, brokered by NBA legend Tony Parker, now owner of ASVEL, a French basketball club in the EuroLeague who would be a shoe-in for this new venture. Naturally the EuroLeague wants to keep its power, but there’s little incentive for Silver and the NBA to make all this noise, just to lend some support. They want control and don’t feel as if the current stakeholders in the European game are doing enough.

“We think that the commercial opportunity has not kept pace with the growth of the game” on the continent, and his goal was “to create a larger commercial opportunity, and not just because commercial opportunity suggests you can grow revenue but because we believe that with markets, if you can create proper incentives, you can get significant additional investment, and ultimately, that’s the way to grow the game at all levels.” Silver told The Athletic.

Basketball x Football

One of the potential partners who the NBA met with last week was Real Madrid, EuroLeague’s biggest club. If they sign up to this new NBA Europe League, the floodgates will open.

They fall under the same umbrella as the football team and the power of the Real Madrid brand means the basketball team has one of the biggest budgets. Other basketball teams like Barcelona, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, Fenerbahçe and Bayern Munich are all part of the same umbrella as their equivalent football teams and would all be expected to join any NBA Europe League.

Other existing basketball teams will follow, while I’ll be watching closely how these multi-sport clubs could be the model and key to where some of the newer teams come from. Particularly with football having so many American and Middle East investors who also have involvement with basketball.

Red Bird Capital owns AC Milan and while there is a Milan basketball team, Olympic Milano, the American investment firm were one of the groups the NBA cohort met last week and would indicate a potential AC Milan basketball team. Basketball is big in Milan and it’s the only city in Europe that has a Jordan World of Flight store. The Jordan brand made waves with its first of a kind partnership with Paris St. Germain, so it would be a no-brainer for an eventual basketball team to be formed under the French team’s umbrella with Silver having already met with their owners, Qatar Sports Investments. In June this year, Kevin Durant increased his stake in PSG and would consult on future basketball plans.

Silver is keen for London and Manchester to be involved and NBA Europe was a key topic of discussion when he met Starmer and Khan. There are already existing teams in each city, but this doesn’t mean the London Lions or Manchester Giants would necessarily take those spots.

You can’t escape American investment in the Premier League and the majority owners of Arsenal (Kroenke Sports & Entertainment) and Chelsea (Todd Boehly) are both involved with a number of US sports franchises including NBA teams. The former with the 2023 NBA Champions Denver Nuggets and the latter with the LA Lakers.

Liverpool’s owners the Fenway Sports Group own the Boston Red Sox in baseball, but don’t appear to be interested in basketball given they weren’t an expected bidder when the Celtic’s were recently up for sale. But, they do have Lebron James involved in their Liverpool ownership. Along the M62 in Manchester, the owners of the blue side of the City are involved with basketball in Abu Dhabi and want to get more involved globally.

An Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester City basketball team might seem too far fetched for more traditional fans, I can almost hear the talkSPORT rage now. We’ve never had the multi-sport club structure like a lot of European clubs have had for decades. However, as football continues its growth as a cultural lifestyle entity and continues to make links with the original cultural lifestyle sport basketball, don’t be surprised if interests start merging.

Basketball is the second most popular participation team sport in England with more than 1.5 million people playing at least twice a month, but the domestic game can often be found in a state of turmoil through investment issues and politics at the top. One can only imagine how the power of the NBA brand could help elevate the domestic game into the wider consciousness in the UK.

What the NBA brings

With the power and influence of the NBA behind the league, you can expect bigger TV deals and commercial opportunities. Existing NBA teams in North America will have more opportunities for growing fanbases in Europe beyond the odd regular season visit, with games or tournaments between the respective league’s champions or top teams.

This new NBA Europe league is said to offer teams ownership of the league and could be where the more entrepreneurial players like Lebron James and Kevin Durant become involved. Could a marque name like that play in the league to really help launch it? That might be a stretch given the stage of their careers and the progress needed to be made to make this league a reality.

I would expect bigger salaries available than what the existing European league’s offer and attract a better calibre of NBA players than they do currently. Real Madrid just signed Chuma Okeke as their marquee signing, a player that was out of the regular NBA playing rotation. If the NBA Europe league was here this summer, I think current free agents like Russell Westbrook, Ben Simmons and Cam Thomas would all be considering offers and some players will start looking at multi-year deals in Europe, over a one year minimum in North America.

The bright lights and heavyweight status of the NBA is going to have real powers of persuasion with the existing elite European basketball teams and potential partners. In the last few weeks it’s become clear this is the flight of direction for any NBA expansion and the pace will soon pick up if they want to get something started in the next few years. Once the NBA decides they want to do something, there is no stopping them and while purists might not want the game in Europe touched, there’s no doubt in my mind that their involvement is only going to grow the game from participation to the general sports fan’s interest.

As part of the Drive to Survive impact on F1’s growth and broadening of the audience I’ve been interested in how fashion has capitalised on this as well as played its part in making the sport popular and driven its cultural credibility.

LVMH recently announced they’ll enter a ten year partnership agreement worth an estimated $1 billion beginning in 2025, the sports 75th year. Chanel released an F1-inspired T-shirt that went viral and earlier this year A$AP Rocky’s first collection as Creative Director for PUMA’s F1 partnership sold out. Streetwear brands Awake NY, Palm Angels and The Sunday Collective have all released motorsport related drops and it’s now not uncommon for Hypebeast, Complex, Vogue and GQ to regularly report on the sports growing fashion and culture credentials.

Lewis Hamilton Changes the Game

The beginning of F1’s fashion flex springing to life starts with one man, Lewis Hamilton.

On the track, Hamilton made an instant impact with an almost debut Championship winning season and as he moves closer to two decades in the sport, he’s seen and played a part in the growth and popularity of the sport. His seven world championships in 18 seasons is matched only by Michael Schumacher and off the track, year by year he’s pushed against the preconceptions of how a racing driver should look and present themselves.

Despite the sport’s glamour and drivers that looked like they’d walked off a GQ photoshoot like David Coulthard or Jenson Button, the sport always felt more classic and refined than youthful and energetic. Hamilton brought a new wave of self-expression and style.

Over the years we’ve seen the Dior ambassador’s style evolve and brands worn from LV to Prada, Rick Owens to classic British Burberry and the new generation of Wales Bonner and Martine Rose. You’ll see him at the British Fashion Awards and Met Gala, where he’s been chosen as one of the 2025 co-hosts.

Between 2018 and 2020 he moved from wearer to designer, as he designed five collections for Tommy Hilfiger, who Hamilton is a brand ambassador of and they’re a brand heavily involved in F1 for decades, as well as a sponsor of Hamilton’s Mercedes team.

In 2021, Hamilton launched his own clothing brand called +44, where he’s released three collections, including working with most Takashi Murakami. There’s still racing left in his career, but these moves in fashion show what his post-race career will involve.

In an interview with GQ in April he said “Honestly, one of my dreams is I have thought about creating my own diverse LVMH,” he says. “Like, I don’t know if we live in a time where that’s really possible. But that’s something that I’m conceptualising.”

While LVMH are now about to take a wider role with this deal, could Lewis be involved with the next incarnation of luxury house to be involved with the sport. If I was Bernard Arnault, I’d be making Hamilton one of my people to meet with.

The Luxury Set

F1 has always attracted a luxury consumer with the glamour of an F1 weekend more akin to a mini-festival for the high-net-worth set. The combination of high-octane sport, risk and threat of danger as well as a place to climb the social ladder attracts the entrepreneurs and social climbers wanting to be seen and make deals happen. Brands like Rolex, Hugo Boss, Johnny Walker and Rolex have all spent millions down the years looking to attract these people and associate with the sports glamour.

In the Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard and Jenson Button era they would all regularly promote these brands and it was very much selling high end luxury and aspiration to people, through these debonair drivers.

Now the Hamilton generation and Drive to Survive effect has broken down some of the walls and made the sport feel more accessible and inclusive. There’s still a long way to go but there is certainly a more energetic, youthful and diverse feel about the sport in the last few years than the previous generations with the average driver and fan age trending younger.

F1’s fast growth has made it an attractive proposition for high fashion brands as they look to drive relevance and we see a shift to partner with more sport stars in ambassador roles and feature in campaigns.

As we see a broader set of brands enter the sport and beyond the luxury fashion set, we’re seeing more streetwear brands enter. This would have been unthinkable in the 90s and as recent as the 2010s but in the streetwear-fication of everything era we’ve got a regular line of capsule collections and drops.

The Streetwear-fication of F1

Last year, Awake NY partnered with Tommy to create a capsule collection, modelled by Mercedes drivers George Russell and Hamilton, as well as featuring their numbers in a release mixing archive race looks with streetwear staples. The uptown and Americana world of Tommy, already ingrained in the 90s street aesthetic and Hip-Hop culture meeting the downtown coolness of Awake NY’s streetwear credentials would be an interesting collab at the best of times, but throw in the mix of motorsports as well and it’s one of the more eye raising and interesting collabs out there in the saturated world of collabs that we’re in now.

Palm Angels have worked with Team Haas and really immersed themselves in the sport since joining in 2022, with founder Francesco Ragazzi being a big fan of F1 since childhood. Targeting key races in Miami and Las Vegas to launch a number of collections, they’ve included tees dedicated to the most iconic races of the Formula 1 Championship as well as the usual assortment of race jackets, sweatshirts and even trainers.

Other notables that have caught the eye include team Alpine’s Kappa x Palace collection, launched at a Las Vegas Grand Prix pop up. Fusing sport and street style it had the usual array of tees and hoodies logo cross pollination but also some nice race jackets.

Streetwear has been a natural bedfellow for skate and basketball culture with a recent rise across football. These are all sports that naturally come from, or have elements of street culture within them. It’s harder to make that link with F1 as even at a grassroots level it’s not an easy sport to move into. But maybe streetwear’s role in the cultural credibility of the sport and helping its awareness reach a broader set of people, it can help diversify the people who want to enter the sport.

We’re already seeing a shift in the fanbase and the brands, but also who is making moves in the sport. None bigger than the appointment of A$AP Rocky to be Creative Director of their PUMA F1 partnership.

Puma has a long heritage in F1 and also a great track record of partnering with talent in the world of sport and fashion and this appointment of the Harlem rapper and cultural icon could be a masterstroke for them. Tapping into his fashion, style, cultural and of course music credentials will help broaden the sports appeal further.

The appointment isn’t one of those random Creative Director titles in name only, with hands-on input from the Harlem star so far. The releases from the partnership have been impressive and saw the return of the PUMA Inhale OG sneaker, originally launched in the 2000s, which Rocky personally chose from the archive. As well as the OG, the race jackets, tees, balaclavas and race gloves have all blended performance materials with function and fashion, making it a collection made for everyday wear.

Spectacle or Sport?

For the purist, the concern that F1 is becoming more spectacle than sport has only intensified as part of the sports trajectory with brands and celebrities using the sports appeal to promote their agenda. The more people getting into the sport can only be a great thing, even if their way in was via a celebrity sharing grid walk pictures on social or a brand collaboration.

The watch out though for Liberty Media is ensuring the purists and passionate fans who have been watching long before Netflix got involved, don’t suddenly feel alienated.

For the fashion brands increasing their presence and activity in F1, or new brands joining the party, they can’t just see this as a badging exercise. That may have worked in the previous eras of the sport but now more has to be brought to the table. What value can you bring to the whole spectrum of fans?

It can be very easy for collabs to turn into formulaic brand x brand + racing jackets and tees = generic product that gains PR coverage in Hypebeast one day, but forgotten the next.

With Max Verstappen’s dominance looking to continue into next season, we might not see changes to who takes the title until new regulations are brought into the sport in 2026, where race cars will be lighter and need to be more sustainable. Doubling down on the spectacle off the track in absence of unpredictability on it might grow the sport at the surface level, but what happens to the deeper levels of sport if more brands join to use F1 for their own means?

At the luxury end, sport is increasingly becoming part of fashion brands strategies to reach younger and passionate audiences so more brands are going to want in on F1, the challenge for these brands is going beyond formulaic lines, drops and campaigns and finding ways to bring value and engage the whole spectrum of the sport.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s UR Cristiano launched the 21st August and broke YouTube records for the fastest channel to reach a million subscribers, doing so in less time than a football match takes to play. As of today he’s at 65 million subscribers, more than Taylor Swift and just outside the top 30 most popular channels in the world.

Less than a week later, Travis and Jason Kelce’s popular and award winning podcast New Heights was bought by Amazon’s Wondery Network for a reported $100 million. One of the largest podcast deals in history.

Both moments feel significant in the current state of not just the role of media in sport but also when it comes to athletes crafting their brand, creating content and owning their narrative.

As Ronaldo’s career reaches its tail end he aims to allow fans to learn more about him, his family and views on different subjects. For a footballer so popular to the point he’s the most followed person combining various social media platforms, he’s previously never been very forthcoming or revealing in the media or on his socials, bar the odd family photo and that strange Piers Morgan interview. UR Cristiano far provides the sort of minutia into his life that some would find mundane but will have super fans locked in.

When Travis and Jason Kelce became the first brothers to play against each other in the Super Bowl in 2023 their award winning New Heights podcast had fans and traditional media hanging onto every word as they remarked on the frenzy going on outside of their family. The money might seem crazy but Wondery is buying into a thriving show with a large and engaged audience and is reflective of companies buying up athlete podcasts or launching them with talent.

The era of athletes as brands is something we’re long into starting from the Michael Jordan days through to David Beckham and now the likes of Ronaldo, Stephen Curry and Patrick Mahomes. As part of the evolution we’re seeing athletes become creators and media moguls.

We’ve moved beyond an athlete just posting tweets and Instagram stories to full blown content with production teams around them. Podcasts are getting acquired and players are making documentaries. Athletes are founding companies and selling content to streamers and traditional media. Their content can generate news and set the agenda.

This shift is disrupting traditional media platforms and owners who are having to evolve to figure out where they play in this new landscape, as athletes grow large and engaged audiences.

Humanize the Athlete

Players can now build deeper connections to fans as previously there used to be a barrier between the players and athletes of sport as communication was controlled and drip fed through official channels like the teams, organisations and media associated with it.

With the democratisation of channels and platforms, it’s never been easier for athletes to create different types of content and athletes across all sports are seeing the benefit of owning their IP.

A week doesn’t pass by it seems without a new player podcast or YouTube channel being launched and the quality does vary widely. We’re arguably at peak player content, but the general direction is helping change how we see all sides of an athlete and how they’re wrestling back control of the narrative from traditional and social media.

The Key Shifts

Social media made it easier for any athlete to share their voice, but player led media has become its own category within the sports media landscape thanks to three key moments happening in the 2010’s.

The first actually took place on traditional media and caused a lot of controversy at the time but when we look back now at Lebron James revealing his free agency choice live on national TV, ‘The Decision’ was arguably the biggest player empowerment moment of the decade. If it was to happen today, Lebron would no doubt be hosting ‘The Decision’ under his SpringHill Entertainment Company or Uninterrupted platform, which was founded in 2014.

That same year New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter launched the Players Tribune three days after he announced his retirement from baseball. It has received multiple rounds of investment and become a space for athletes to tell their side of the story. It’s where Kevin Durant revealed his free-agency decision to sign for the Golden State Warriors in 2016 and Kobe Bryant announced his retirement. Players have opened up to reveal sides we don’t often see or raise issues that have changed the conversation, from Kevin Love and Larry Sanders on mental health, Natasha Cloud on racism and social justice and Breanna Stewart on child sexual abuse.

In 2016 renowned NBA shooter JJ Redick became the first current playing and regular publisher of a podcast with The Vertical in 2016, originally on Yahoo but has seen Uninterrupted and The Ringer play host until he set up ‘The Old Man & The Three’ podcast and ThreeFourTwo Productions with Tommy Alter. Redick was once a divisive college player at Duke but that reputation began to change as his podcast grew and is one of the best, most insightful and arguably influential given the number of players podcasts that followed. It was no surprise he rose quickly on ESPN after his retirement to become an NBA Finals analyst or why he was appointed LA Lakers Head Coach this summer, with his basketball IQ and acumen all there to hear and see on his podcasts. These qualities were particularly on display during the ‘Mind The Game’ series launched earlier this year as he meticulously broke down the game with a player he’ll now coach, Lebron James.

The Second Act

These three moments all played their part in a shift to players taking more control and being more open to telling their stories on their terms. To begin with it was mostly players at the tail end of their careers or newly retired who would dabble in creating podcasts or vlogs as they began to figure out their second act.

In basketball, the Knuckleheads (Darius Miles & Quentin Richardson), Road Trippin (Richard Jefferson & Channing Frye), Queens of the Court (Sheryl Swoopes) and All The Smoke (Matt Barnes & Stephen Jackson) didn’t just tell unfiltered stories of their playing days, they have also led to analyst work and media deals.

AJ Hawk, at the time a linebacker with the Green Bay Packers could argue he actually launched the first player podcast when the ‘Hawkcast’ in 2014 but was very sporadic with it as his career drew to a close.

In football, Peter Crouch’s everyman personality grew with his popular podcast, while Ben Foster’s Cycling GK YouTube vlog showed us his love of two wheels and took us into his games with his cameras in the goal to give fans a different access to the game. Jill Scott’s Coffee Club spoke to her old Lioness team mates and Hollywood stars. Jon Parkin’s and Chris Brown’s Under The Cosh shed light on players who, like them, mostly made a career outside of the Premier League where life on and off the pitch is very different.

Last year Serena Williams launched her YouTube channel to document her post tennis career as an entrepreneur.

Redick’s Influence

Now we’re seeing more active players following JJ Redick’s lead and getting shows off the ground while still playing to take us into the current state of the changing room and day to day life.

Paul George is one of the more popular NBA players and his Podcast P show goes out regularly during the season and has revealed him to be one of the better interviewers out there, including those who do it for their profession. Duncan Robinson, Austin Reeves, Josh Hart & Jalen Brunson have all added to the mix. Draymond Green broke new ground by podcasting just hours after each NBA Finals game in 2022 as the Golden State Warriors returned to NBA title winning ways.

Carmelo Anthony was the most prominent on YouTube throughout his playing days. During the NBA Bubble, when the 2020 season finished at Disney Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Philadelphia 76ers rookie Matisse Thybulle vlogged from inside. The player summer workout vlogs are beginning to become their own genre. Serge Ibaka’s cooking show is just weird. Aerial Powers of the Atlanta Dream and Isabelle Harrison of the Chicago Sky produce great day in the life content.

Back to football and Jude Bellingham launched his YouTube channel around the time Ronaldo did and while not quite on the subscriber scale given the early stage of his career, the intention is clear with his documentary series Out of the Floodlights going behind the scenes of a successful debut season at Real Madrid but also brand Bellingham.

Bussin with the Boys Will Compton and Taylor Lewan is one of the most popular NFL podcasts that was started when both were active in the league and picked up by Barstool Sports where their deals are in the seven figures. As well as Bussin With The Boys, Barstool Sports has pods with Arian Foster, Pat Beverley Ryan Whitney and Paul Bissonnette while The Ringer has or had shows with JJ Redick, Steve Kerr C. C. Sabathia, Ian Wright, Raja Bell, Ben Foster and Austin Rivers. In 2022, The Ringer was acquired by Spotify for around $200 million.

It makes sense for digitally born publications like Barstool and The Ringer to work with active and retired athletes as part of their vast podcast networks but what about the legacy players like ESPN, Sky Sports and the BBC? They’ve got involved to varying degrees from the BBC launching Peter Crouch’s podcast to Sky Sports influence on The Overlap but it’s at ESPN where a blurring of lines is happening and could indicate where the traditional players could move.

Pat McAfee launched his self named show after his NFL career ended and has become one of the most popular figures in the player media era as it grew and moved through digital platforms and publishers like Barstool and SiriusXM before eventually landing at ESPN. The show isn’t just going out across where you get your podcasts or YouTube, it’s on the main ESPN channel. ESPN was already paying McAfee as a full-time analyst for college football but to bring his popular show under their umbrella they had to front up an eight figure deal to licence the content. They don’t even get to own it as McAfee retains control. Why would ESPN do this?

The leading US sports network is already increasing its spend to hold onto various live rights across the main American sports leagues, but when Sports Center doesn’t hold as much influence on news or highlights anymore as that can be found on social media, they need to keep people watching outside of games. I’d expect more deals to be made with players in the future and form part of their daily programming but this does seem to come at the cost of the expertise they’re losing when journalists like Zach Lowe and countless others have lost their jobs due to budget cutting.

The Mogul Era

Some athletes are thinking bigger than creating or selling one show and looking at building networks, platforms and companies.

Uninterrupted is now a decade old, a partnership between Lebron James and his school friend and business partner Maverick Carter. That’s spun off shows like The Shop and branded content like Kneading Dough with Chase and sits under their SpringHill Entertainment. NFL legend Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions joined forces with Uninterrupted and Higher Ground Productions, the studio run by former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama to create Netflix’s newly launched Starting Five, a season in the life of Lebron and four other NBA players.

Other notable companies and publishers include Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman’s Boardroom, Stephen Curry’s Unanimous Media, Carmelo Anthony’s Creative 7, Rio Ferdinand’s 5 Media, Tom Brady’s 199 Productions as well as Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson’s All The Smoke Productions. The media and commerce company Togethxr, from Sue Bird, Alex Morgan, Chloe Kim, and Simone Manuel is designed to elevate women’s voices, around but not exclusively within sports.

The Player Led Documentary

With all this player led content and ownership, we’re getting to see many sides of the athlete and access we previously didn’t have in generations before which should be applauded and appreciated.

Do we get to see all the sides and are those stories told impartially? The fact an NBA player can now respond to criticism from Stephen A. Smith on their own channel and providing their view is certainly beneficial both to the player and the fan. For too long the narratives of players were distorted by the media. My worry is when things become too polished to the point we lack the impartiality and where that could happen the most is the rise of the player led documentaries.

I grew up in a generation of 30 for 30 documentaries like the Fab Five or fly on the wall docs you can’t believe were approved like An Impossible Job. Now these player led docs feel more like auto-biographries or infomercials. David Beckham’s, Stephen Curry’s Underrated and Tom Brady’s Man in the Arena are both produced by the athletes production companies so are we really getting everything we could?

I appreciate I’m being picky here as some players will never let a documentary crew in unless under their own production company, so at least we get something even if they’re leading. I just hope we still get more of the Andy Murray ‘Resurfacing’ or Roger Federer ‘Twelve Final Days’ where they’re not involved in the direction or production side and it feels rawer, unpolished and all the better for it.

The Future

In previous generations if an athlete didn’t move into coaching, they would try to stay in the game with a lucrative move into the media as a columnist, pundit or analyst and while this continues today, players are now just as likely to become the media and do it their own way.

The dynamic has now shifted and player led media is finding more engagement and relevance with fans and it’s not just content about playing days or locker room life anymore. Player led media has the influence to attract politicians, musicians and on screen stars to the point an appearance on player’s podcasts is part of a PR plan to promote their latest output.

As traditional sports media continues to figure out how to keep subscribers while costs for live rights continues to rise and streamers also battle for subscriptions, working with athletes by licensing their content or providing the infrastructure to make it their way feels like a mutual win for reach and relevance as long as the relationship is balanced.

Player led media will continue to grow as athletes are creating content earlier in their careers as they see how older generations have led the way to craft their brands. In the age of NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) this will be happening long before someone turns to the pros.

Players creating podcasts, YouTube’s, documentaries and companies isn’t just an evolution of the sports media landscape, it’s a seismic shift to sports becoming more inclusive, more diverse and more authentic as players lead the narrative.

Today I wanted to kick things off with a look at football kits and the levels of creativity and cultural influence that is helping kits go beyond badges of honour to fashion staples, how the kit launch is being used as a chance to show up in culture and why staying true to a club or city is crucial to kit marketing.

Every summer football fans thoughts turn to hope and improvement, new players coming in and out and also one of my favourite things each summer with the new kit reveal and first sighting of it during pre-season.

As a kid I was fortunate that my parents always got me and my brother the latest QPR kits home and away more or less the day they were released each season and we’d have them on constantly at home, down the rec, at the supermarket and some far-flung UK outpost pre-season game.

I used to cut out my favourite kits from an array of football magazines. A classic Italy kit by Diadora, Kappa’s mid to late 90s Juventus and Barcelona numbers. I loved when football shirts appeared in music videos or by my favourite artists. The Gallagher brother’s attitude shown in their Manchester City kits, or the England third kit from Italia 90 forever known as the New Order shirt after the ‘World In Motion’ video.

In recent years I find myself back to being that excited 10 year old waiting for the new QPR kits to drop each season but also looking out for new kit releases in general on a variety of places like Soccerbile and Mundial. News around kit culture from leaks to who is making them is treated with the same excitement as transfer gossip as a world grows around kit culture.

You’ve got people appreciating the look and design of the kits even if it’s a team you don’t support. You’ve got people wanting to show their deep knowledge and taste by wearing a rare shirt or cult team. You’ve got people getting into the weeds of who is designing the kit. You’ve got people who may not have deep knowledge of the team but just like the way it looks.

The football shirt is a way for fans to express their support for the team on the pitch in the stands and off it, but now the appeal has broadened. They’re also badges of honour to signal your tastes, knowledge or style.

The whole football fashion moment has played a part but also the general growth of the sport as a wider range of people take interest in it, all expressing different levels of fandom compared to the more tribal traditional season ticket holder or match goer.

There are different layers to football fashion as it goes further back than any recent trend. You go back to late 1970’s and early 80s when the football casual subculture existed through to the more recent decade of the adidas Spezial range, influenced by the terraces and has just launched Spezial FC.

These are way more authentic to the culture than blokecore. When it comes to the latter, like any niche or cultural moment related to fashion, there will always be some people quickly dipping in and out until the next thing catches their eye or TikTok tells them what’s hot. The football shirt is having its Nirvana and Ramones t-shirt moment where a certain type of fashion conscious buyer wants to buy into something even if it means they don’t know all the ins and outs.

The Cultural Influence

Why are we seeing kits everywhere now?

Culture is having more influence on football where no longer is football, fashion, music and art kept separate as players, clubs and fans all become much more closely connected to culture by letting those influences in to create this melting pot of creativity.

Players themselves are now not afraid to express or show their cultural interests and influences as we see from the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Chloe Kelly, Jackson Irvine, Rafael Leão and Trinity Rodman to name a few.

I’m old enough to remember Les Ferdinand and John Salako modelling for Topman and of course David Beckham’s sense of style brought in the big fashion brands but only recently have the luxury fashion brands really emphasised football. We don’t feel surprised when Burberry work with Ebere Eze or Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling and Trent Alexander-Arnold feature in Bottega Veneta campaigns or Jack Grealish and Leah Williamson become Gucci Ambassadors.

Football kits show up off the field in more cultural ways than ever before, similar to how basketball jerseys both current and Mitchell & Ness retro were seen in most Hip-Hop videos in the 90s and early noughties. It’s now common to see football shirts in videos by Central Cee, Dave, AJ Tracey, 21 Savage and Stormzy to name a few. An early moment here was the Dave and AJ Tracey track ‘Thiago Silva’, with both emcees wearing the PSG shirts and shot around Paris and in particular the Parc Des Princes.

Kit makers Nike and adidas have looked outside of the core football product function to create kits and apparel through their lifestyle & talent partners or even other sports. Think PSG and Jordan brand, Stella McCartney and Arsenal, Palace and Juventus. Last year adidas had Grace Wales Bonner designing the Jamaica jersey and launching it in her Paris Fashion Week show, while they had Nigo of BAPE design a Japan World Cup kit.

Streetwear has had an influence on how clubs treat kit roll-outs with clubs releasing multiple special editions, pre-match & leisurewear that all has a story behind it like Arsenal’s Carnival inspired pre-game shirt, that celebrates their Jamaican fan base. And just like streetwear created grails and a resale scene with players like Stock X and GOAT, we have something similar going on with kit resale as a clamour for nostalgia and the 90s helps retro kits become grail worthy items. The rarer or more storied the shirt the better. Retailers like Cult Kits and Classic Football Shirts are thriving with the latter recently taking on investment from The Chernin Group to the tune of $38.5 million.

Kit designs are like works of art and culture historian, kit expert and Lovers FC founder Neal Heard has written the book A Lover’s Guide to Football Shirts as well as curated an exhibition of the same name.

Inevitably the football shirt has now become a marketing tactic for brands who want a piece of the cultural relevance they offer. Even food and drink has got in on the act with local pizza spots and cafes all collabing with local designers or clothing brands to create their own football shirts.

There are some good ones out there like the recent Jameson x Mitre x Percival kits and Pompeii brand with Kappa spring to mind, but we’re reaching the point where a football shirt has become a go to marketing tactic in a toolkit of brand goods like branded pens and umbrellas. We’ll start to see a clutter of branded kits with varying degrees of quality and authenticity to why they’re making them.

When it comes to marketing the kits by the actual football clubs themselves, we’ve come a long way since the days of the club catalogue photoshoots.

The Ted Philipakos Impact

Football kit launch convention was grabbing a couple of players after training for some snaps in the new kit with poses ranging from the classic hands on hips to the points to badge pose. Ok, you still see those poses but now you’ll also see shoots that have taken on a much more fashion aesthetic with new kit imagery more akin to a fashion brand lookbook than your back in the day club catalogue.

It was a club that’s been bankrupt multiple times that ripped up the rulebook when it came to football kit marketing and has now influenced many a kit launch shoot. Venezia FC have changed how kits are designed and marketed. Esquire dubbed them the world’s most trendiest football team back in 2022.

Waiting for the new kit releases from Venezia FC suddenly became a thing, thanks to brand director Ted Philipakos, who worked closely with revered Munich design studio Bureau Borsche and Nowhere FC to rip-up the rule book. With each new kit release creating hype as if it were the latest Supreme or Nike sneakers drop through cut through designs with Kappa and lookbook styling not out of place in a GQ fashion shoot.

After turning heads with his work at Venezia FC, Ted Philipakos moved onto Athens Kallithea with his brother and has rolled out a similar approach with Kappa once again creating some of the better kits out there. They really hit it out the park this summer with a launch film for the new season kits called ‘Hold Me Close to you’ which looks nothing like any kit launch you’ve seen before and is a short film that looks more like a romantic escapade around Athens then a kit launch.

Does this ruffle feathers with the purists? Yes. But isn’t this more interesting than the paint numbers approach clubs tend to take? Absolutely.

The Opportunity for Clubs

For the clubs, the kit is a big revenue stream each season outside of TV, sponsorship and ticket money so stands to reason the way they promote them has increasingly taken on more importance with social channels to fill and anticipation to fuel.

How football clubs launch the kits offers a chance to tell a story of the club, the fabric of the club’s ethos, heritage and fan base. With clubs looking for more opportunities to expand their reach we’re seeing the creativity pushed and teams moving away from sports catalogue convention.

Kappa and adidas are at different ends of the scale in terms of budgets and teams they work with but both have won the summer as far as I’m concerned with their approach to launching kits and telling either a story with substance.

While Nike have seemingly softened the importance of football to the brand based on recent effort and output, adidas have in the last few years reinforced their credentials as the brand on and off the terraces with the scale of the Samba and Gazelle success as well as continued credibility of the Spezial range led by Gary Aspden.

On the pitch they’re also reinforcing their credentials as technical partners having released the best kits for the World Cup in 22 and Euros in 24 and some classics on the club front in recent years.

This summer the three stripes have reached another level with designs generating praise beyond a club’s own fans. They’ve also hit it out the park with some great launch films that truly showcase the fabric of what makes the clubs heritage and fanbase special. High praise here for their launch films for Newcastle returning to the three stripes, Manchester United’s third with Barry Keoghan and Aston Villa with Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler.

All feature elements that make up the club, the fan base or the city whether it’s who stars in it or the sound track, to the local symbols and signifiers featured.

Now adidas have the budget others other brands don’t have with clubs that have global reach, but that doesn’t mean creativity can’t be managed on a smaller budget and Kappa have absolutely led the way in this light.

Maybe it’s the Ted Philipakos impact rubbing off on the brand but Kappa have carved out a lane of their own with fashionable aesthetics and localised storytelling in their kit launches for their roster.

I already mentioned the Athens Kallithea short film, while another smaller team punching beyond their weight with creative output in the Kappa roster is Red Star FC in Paris. Ex-pro player David Bellion is one of the few Creative Director’s in the sport and for this season’s kit launch they celebrated the connection between the team and the local community in Saint-Ouen, the area that surrounds their home of the Stade Bauer by featuring the people and places that made up the local arrondissement.

Genoa have always had a classic kit that keeps it simple to shine and Kappa have honoured that with this season’s design and launch campaign. Titled “Beauty of Genoa”, it focuses on the Portofino neighbourhood and celebrates the everyday life of the people in the beautiful Italian Riviera location.

Other notables include the launches by Macron for Crystal Palace, Slovakia & FC Basel with a late contender from Puma for Manchester City’s Oasis Definitely Maybe inspired third kit. There’s some nice videos for PSG and Liverpool kits from Nike but feel they could have pushed them further beyond studio shoots. Worth a watch is the effort from Barcelona which is more on the playful side and features a bunch of legends and a look into the Catalan city.

Staying Authentic

When it comes to launching football kits, the game has changed and while purists may roll their eyes at fashion lookbooks and short films, there’s no doubt they have contributed to the ever growing and evolving melting pot of football, creativity and culture. While also taking inspiration from culture and the creative talent adjacent to football.

With so many kits, pre-game and leisurewear released each season by clubs we can’t expect masterpieces every time. While some clubs are setting such high bars that it is going to be a challenge to find a new angle to launch a product that doesn’t change too much from one year to the next.

I’m here for the creativity though and we should embrace the clubs and suppliers that want to do something different and break with convention. By all means lean on the fashion lookbook aesthetics but not for the sake of it. If everyone starts following the fashion lookbook template then we fall back into convention again. So where else can you go? It doesn’t have to start and end with some visuals and a film. Back in 2022 the agency I worked for TBWA launched the adidas World Cup kits via ‘leaking’ the kits in cultural moments and spaces relevant to that nation rather than a traditional film and press release.

Kit launches are a chance to make revenue from fans and reach new ones, but they’re also an important chance to communicate all the great and good of your club and what it means to the people and places that make it.

It’s really important for anyone working on these launches to understand the cultural fabric that makes up a club, the city or town they’re in. Celebrate the importance of the fans who go to games, but also those in the community around the club that are the heartbeat of an area when a game isn’t on. Show us the intangibles and essence of the club, the city, the people and the community that makes the club stand out against the next like the earlier mentioned Red Star FC. I really like how the newly formed Brooklyn FC launched their kit by making what is essentially a love letter to the borough or the sense of place you get from the St.Louis City Confluence kit launch.

This has to be the starting point for any great kit launch in my book to keep it authentic and not just find a loosely connected reason to shoot in a more lifestyle setting with a fashion photographer. While football opens itself up to more creativity for the better, finding the balance between substance and throw-away algorithm chasing content will be the road test for future kit launches and creative output for clubs. I’m excited to see where this goes.

Tradition runs throughout sport whether you play or watch it. Certain conventions, rules and codes are followed in order to play, fit in and understand it.

But times are starting to change and it’s happening at the intersection of sport and culture.

As sport has opened the doors to wider cultural influence I think we’re starting to see a change for the better, where traditional codes and conventions are making way for new definitions of what sport means to help it become more diverse and accessible.

These shifts are coming from subcultural movements being recognised as Olympic Sports, traditional sports being remixed into new formats and even streetwear influencing the uniform of sport.

For a brand, these shifts below are opening up opportunities to reach new audiences, extend product categories or create new ones.

Rise of niche and new formats making sport easier to play and connect

Cultural interests have never been broader as pockets of interest and tribes form around niche interests that shape our identity and are easier to find in a global social world.

This is impacting people’s relationship with sport as they seek out the lesser known but now widely growing sports like Pickleball and Padel. These sports have less barriers to entry and are more focused on the social aspects, than hardcore competition (although you can find that here if you need).

The Gerard Piqué-backed Kings League may not appeal to the purists of football, but the fast-paced format is bringing a new angle to football and finding fans who have been brought up in a social media highlights world. It’s seen appearances from ex-professionals like Javier Saviola and last year caused headlines with people trying to guess the identity of ‘Enigma’ who was playing professionally in La Liga.

With new sports like Spikeball, Teqball and Slacklining all growing in the edges and taking influences from traditional sports, I’m curious to see what other new sports will be created in the next few years?

The Olympics are helping redefine what classes as a sport

Breakdancing made its debut at this year’s Paris Olympics four years after another subculture movement skateboarding arrived on the Olympic stage in Tokyo.

Both historically have been considered an art form and a lifestyle, but there’s no doubt with medals to compete for, the Olympics have solidified both as a sport.

There’s certainly cause for caution to ensure both still maintain their subcultural credibility but both have the potential to break down the usual sporting boundaries and unite people as the Olympics expose both to more people.

Having Crazy Legs of the pioneering Rock Steady Crew advise the Olympic committee on how to incorporate breaking was a great move to make sure the culture is respected.

The growth of Japanese skateboarding and the Olympics in Tokyo crossed paths at just the right time to change perceptions and help become part of everyday acceptance.

With more exposure across the globe for both it would be great to see councils and state departments look at more funding for spaces so people can explore both and continue to create more accessibility.

Streetwear codes are changing the look of traditional sports

We’re seeing streetwear make its influence felt in sports you wouldn’t necessarily first think of, like Golf, Tennis, F1 and Cycling. A blend of form and function from brands is bringing the looks from the street onto the courses, courts and tracks which attracts a younger and more diverse crowd to take interest and participate.

Golf brands like Malbon, Metalwood and Anti Country Club Tokyo are just some of the brands bringing streetwear codes to golf and changing what it looks like to be a golfer.

In F1, A$AP Rocky launched his first collection at the recent Miami Grand Prix as Puma’s new Creative Director. This follows Lewis Hamilton’s influence on the sport through his partnership with Tommy and their recent collab with Awake.

Furi Sport and Palmes are making similar moves in Tennis with Pas Normal are creating grail worthy clothing for those not wanting to follow the Rapha pack.

The opportunity

For brands there are plenty of opportunities across these shifts with new sports to create product for and new audiences to reach. But, as ever when it comes to brands becoming involved in sports, what are you bringing to the table?

Are you willing to look beyond commercial gain because there are new people to reach or new products to create have been unlocked?

Can you continue to help drive these positive shifts and make sport more accessible, to continue to open up doors?

The future of sport will no longer lie solely in the hands of traditional gatekeepers, but new players that will continue to rewrite the rules to truly make sport a continued dominant cultural force and continue to drive change.

You can download all the chapters of the Future of Sport series from TBWA Backslash and Dark Horses here.