By Buddhika Rajapakse and Jacques Bassili The NFL is as synonymous with America as apple pie, democracy, freedom of speech, and free enterprise. But as the comedian Bill Maher famously pointed out, a lot about the league appears inherently socialist and at times dictatorial… at least at first glance. In a series of articles, Jacques Bassili and Buddhika Rajapakse decided to take a closer look at the apparent contradictions in how this most American of sports is run and what other sports can learn from it. Before we get started, let's define what we mean by socialism. Stanford Un ..read more

By Stephen Smith What is the founder(s) background? My background is in sports medicine, and I hold an undergraduate sports medicine degree. I also have qualifications in strength and conditioning, and I played elite level rugby. When I finished university I started working for a professional rugby team. Because of my skill set and understanding of the game, combined with my strength and conditioning background, I ended up playing a very interesting role - being the glue in that environment to help translate what was happening on the field and what was happening in the gym or the training ..read more

What are the founder's backgrounds? We Are Sweet started out as two tech-enthusiastic founders in a classic story of designer meets developer. I (Lou Fargeot) spent a large part of my childhood messing around with cameras, video and cracked copies of Photoshop before studying multimedia and interaction design at university. This expertise has evolved and is now considered user experience (UX) in today's digital world.   James, my co-founder, is an exceptional self-taught full-stack-developer who followed his natural talent and opted out of university early to pursue a fast-tracked c ..read more

By Sam Graham Intro In Kieran Maguire’s book Unfit & Proper Persons, the finances required to grow a football club are spelt out in detail. As one would assume, the costs of running a football club jump dramatically as you climb the leagues. Sports teams typically utilise their stadiums with live games for a small percentage of the calendar year, approximately 5% if you base on 2 home games a month over a 9-month season. That puts into context how long a stadium facility will be unoccupied. Tottenham Hotspur are a great example in resolving this dilemma, with the hosting of NFL matches an ..read more

By Paul Bullock Sports documentaries are big business these days. Whether they follow Hollywood stars making their first foray into football or basketball icons enjoying their last dance, the fly-on-the-wall approach has been a buzz-generating success for rights owners and streaming services alike. But what about the value these shows generate for sponsors? How much of a difference do they make to the visibility and value partners can expect to get from their deals? Last year, datapowa ran sponsorship valuation analysis on season 5 of Netflix's Formula One series Drive to Survive, and found t ..read more

By John Grabowski Fan data in 2024 The unwavering support of fans has always been crucial for sports clubs and football teams, often influencing outcomes during critical matches. While the sports industry's overall financial outlook remains positive for 2024, its commercial model continues to undergo significant transformations across both traditional and emerging revenue streams. While traditional areas like sponsorships, ticketing, licensing, and merchandise are expected to evolve through better data collection, analysis, and utilization, today's digital landscape demands more. True differe ..read more

By Matthew Barrett Asking someone about attending a sports conference or event often generates a knowing laugh and this type of comment... “A bunfight.” “The content was really bad.” “Only worth going to see some old friends.” “I didn’t actually go to any of the sessions.” Too often the default of a panel Q&A or “fireside chat” sees half of the audience scrolling on their phones, the rest eyeing the coffee and croissants, or waiting for the networking break to start. The panel itself will see everyone agreeing without any real debate, disagreement, or challenge to the status quo perspecti ..read more

Now in its 4th year, Gary Linke’s, AKA The Missing Linke’s list of his favourite deals across the year is becoming more established than some partnerships! Some of the deals that he has covered previously have not been renewed especially within those newer big spending categories that have emerged in this period e.g. Food Delivery, Crypto, Web 3 and buying cars online. That said, no slowing down with B2B partnerships. Whilst Man United will be leaving Team Viewer in their rear-view mirror they have upgraded their current partner, Qualcomm. This new deal will see their Snapdragon brand display ..read more

By Alex Nunez, SVP of Bidstack Sports Professional sports remains a core pillar of global entertainment and culture, with billions of fans attending match days or tuning in from the comfort of their homes every week. As a result, the industry continues to achieve unrivalled commercial success, generating billions of dollars in revenues annually - approximately 33% of this coming from lucrative sponsorship deals. Franchises and teams continue to effectively maximise sponsorship inventory in access points that are perceived to offer high levels of exposure to audiences - weaving the presence of ..read more

By Lou Fargeot The Sports industry is digitally evolving. But despite advances in the technology available to us, many of the challenges remain the same. I’ve operated a sports-focused tech agency for over a decade and still see many common mistakes. This guide outlines how to get more from your tech partners and build stronger relationships between sports organisations and service providers. 6 Barriers to your digital transformation Dictating requirements Mistrust of the process Impatience in laying foundations Lack of planning for flexibility Exclusively aiming for scale Underestimating su ..read more