Like many industries, COVID-19 has had catastrophic implications for the short-term finances of European football clubs, with the disrupted calendar and matches being played behind closed doors significantly impacting both broadcast and matchday revenues. The combined European football market contracted by 13% in 2019/20 as overall revenues fell by €3.7bn to €25.2bn, the first reduction in revenues for over a decade since the global financial crisis in 2008/09. Financial results from a full season behind closed doors are likely to be even more bleak, with Uefa predicting that in total European football clubs are on course to miss out on roughly €9bn of revenues over the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons because of the pandemic. The start of the 2021-22 season saw the welcome return of football fans to stadia, as the COVID-19 situation across Europe stabilised considerably. The football business industry has evolved after the shocks of the pandemic, with some new trends emerging as football institutions try to recover from such dramatic revenue shortfalls. Private investors have seized on opportunities to buy clubs and negotiate stakes in leagues, cryptocurrency companies have been pouring money into new sports sponsorship deals as they look to continue to expand their investor base and innovative new business opportunities such as NFTs are emerging across the game. These trends reflect the professionalisation journey football industry has been on over the last decade or so, making significant strides as clubs and leagues have matured into established businesses. To evidence this journey with some data, in the first ever Premier League season in 1992-93 the total revenue made by the 22 clubs in the league was £203m, and by 2018-19 between 20 clubs it had grown to £5.2bn – an increase by almost 2500% (1100% when adjusted for inflation). However, even before the onset of the pandemic there was evidence of weakening cost control and profitability in European football. Whilst 2018-19 saw record levels of revenue generation in English and European football, almost half of the Premier League’s clubs recorded losses, whilst both Serie A and Ligue 1 as a whole recorded operating losses. Amidst every crisis lies opportunities for positive, long-term change, and this is the case for football as much as any other industry. It presents an opportunity for football clubs to take a step back, review how they were operating and continue to reimagine themselves as modern-day, sustainable organisations. Part of this evolution process is the rise of strategy functions within football clubs, focused on developing the business strategy across the organisation. Strategy departments are being increasingly adopted in England, with most of the ‘big six’ clubs, as well as many of the other established Premier League clubs having a dedicated strategy team. Their importance will has been elevated by the complex issues all football clubs faced amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Strategy sets out the direction and scope of an organisation over the medium to long term, and a coherently articulated strategy will help the achievement of organisational objectives. Having a clear strategy and associated objectives is crucial to the recovery and continued growth of football clubs, in aiding decision-making and identifying key priorities across the club. At a high level, strategy provides value for football clubs in helping them to succeed across football’s flywheel (a concept produced by football intelligence company Twenty First Group), enabling them to achieve two of their prime and closely linked objectives of winning on the pitch and generating the revenue required to operate as a profitable business. Clubs’ strategy functions are particularly able to influence and potentially help create commercial, marketing and fan engagement strategies across the flywheel below. Increasing commercial revenues is a particularly critical lever in enabling clubs to win on the pitch at the highest level, especially since the introduction of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability rules in 2013 that dictate that clubs' maximum permitted losses are £105m over a rolling three-year period. Therefore, increasing revenues significantly influences the amount that can be invested in talent, and ultimately it is the talent that plays a critical role in winning on the pitch. Having a dedicated business strategy team with part of their remit to focus on driving growth in commercial revenues is one of the biggest areas of value they can provide. It will be interesting to observe Newcastle United’s strategy in this area under new ownership, after Premier League clubs voted through legislation to temporarily ban commercial arrangements that involve pre-existing business relationships in October. Now, just to be clear, the absence of strategy teams historically does not mean football clubs have not been strategic in the past. Every organisation has a strategy. Strategy is what you do, not what you say you do, and it’s about making choices. Every organisation needs to choose to do some things and not others. It may or may not be a winning strategy, but every organisation will have one. So simply by operating, football clubs are required to make strategic choices. Traditionally, rather than having dedicated strategy teams, football clubs make their strategic choices by aligning around executing a sporting directors’ vision. However, having a department of dedicated strategists working at a football club elevates the influence of strategy across the organisation. Whilst all football clubs will have a strategy simply because they actively try to compete, defining a strategy through deliberate, integrated strategic choices that can be applied across decision-making in all departments, enabling them to align towards the key objectives of a club is highly valuable. Strategy functions own the development of this strategy, but also drive implementation and work with different departments to ensure they are working together with clarity over the intended direction to deliver on the key objectives that need to be achieved. A Premier League club that has gone about setting up their strategy team over the last few years opted for a structure that sees dedicated personnel aligned to each of the different main departments at the club, including the commercial sponsorships, marketing and media teams. In this format, the strategists act as business partners of sort to the different departments, enabling the strategy set by the strategy team for the wider football club to trickle down to each of the individual apartments and providing a greater degree of accountability. Anecdotally I’ve heard an example of a club signing a lucrative sponsorship deal with a software provider, which required the implementation of that software by the finance team as part of the agreement. In practice, this turned into a very disruptive and expensive issue for the finance team. This example highlights how siloed departments within a football club can be and underlines the importance of different departments collaborating in line with a clearly defined strategy. This isn’t an issue unique to the football industry, but as it continues to professionalise, enabling the different business departments to align towards a common strategy is an important step. It is also becoming increasingly impactful to have dedicated head of strategy to report to that sits on the executive table, as opposed to reporting to the CEO who will always have a wide array of issues to deal with at any one time, who can elevate the importance of strategic alignment with the executive team. The absence of dedicated strategy people across the board comes with some significant key risks: haphazard decision-making, financial overspend, misalignment of objectives and a lack of clarity. However, we are still some way off strategy teams becoming the norm across the football pyramid. Taking figures from 2018/19 to discount for the impact of COVID-19, there were 15 clubs in Europe with revenues over €320m, with Barcelona generating the most revenue at €840.8m, some way ahead of the second placed team Real Madrid at €757.3m. This is significant revenue, and all indications are that there is room for growth (particularly in commercial). However, when compared to established, multinational sports brands prominent in the football landscape the scale of difference is striking; in 2019 Adidas had revenues of of €21.5bn and New Balance €5.5bn. With a bit more context behind the revenue figures top football clubs is making, it perhaps provides some indication as to why strategy departments are relatively immature today across the football pyramid, as they remain small in comparison with established multinationals with large strategy departments with headcounts into the hundreds. For clubs outside the top 20 to 30 wealthiest in Europe, justifying the resources required to establish a strategy department is challenging, with one industry expert describing that it ultimately comes down to “ownership having a clear off the pitch vision combined with a willingness to invest in the team”. For the time being, most of these clubs are likely to rely on working with external advisory companies on an ad-hoc basis when in need of support on a specific strategic challenge, rather than investing resources into a full-time in-house strategy team. However, this has not stopped some clubs with relatively smaller resources from embracing the potential impact of strategy and trying to use it to deliver competitive advantage. Toulouse FC, currently plying their trade in Ligue 2 in France, being one such example of a club with dedicated strategists. How the evolution of strategy teams across the football pyramid plays out over the next few years remains to be seen, but one thing that became very clear over the pandemic is that fans’ appetite for football is extremely resilient, and this has been a driver of many of the trends that have emerged over the last year. Ultimately, it provides the strong foundation required for football clubs to continue accelerating on their professionalisation journey. Dylan Amin is a Strategy Consultant at a major strategy consulting company. Sources: Uefa: The European Club Footballing Landscape report 2021 Deloitte: Annual Review of Football Finance 2020 Deloitte: Annual Review of Football Finance 2021 Deloitte: Football Money League 2020 Twenty First Group: football’s flywheel Adidas and New Balance: annual reports

The video sharing platform YouTube has witnessed enormous growth in its role in society over the last 15 years. In our latest My Top 10, we asked Unofficial Partner intern, Cameron Wilson, to share his top 10 favourite football YouTube channels. 1) F2 Freestylers Since their launch in 2011, with the aim to entertain a global audience with skills and tricks, the pair have positioned themselves in 2021 as the largest social media influencers in football. They boast an impressive following of 13.1M subscribers on their YouTube Channel and are brand ambassadors for the likes of Adidas, EA Sports and Monster Energy. Their content ranges from bin shot compilations to freekick masterclasses with Gareth Bale and playing Teqball vs Ronaldinho. The F2 Freestylers appeal to a wide audience thanks to the variety and creativity of their work. 2) AFTV Founded by Robbie Lyle in 2012, AFTV (previously known as Arsenal Fan TV) has become one of the fastest growing football YouTube channels and the largest fan channel, amassing 1.3M subscribers on YouTube. The channel is dedicated to covering all Arsenal related content from a fan perspective and has led the way for a new form of sports media. The channel provides content for Gunner fans through post/pre match interviews with fans, as well as discussions with ‘Arsenal Royalty’ such as Ian Wright and Thierry Henry. Editors note: Check out this episode of our podcast with Robbie Lyle. 3) The Cycling GK Watford FC’s and ex-England goalkeeper Ben Foster has created a hit YouTube channel in the last year that has built a following of over half a million subscribers. Ben has uploaded a series of fascinating videos that offer a rare insight to football fans, as he covers his match-day experience from the team hotel until post-match events. He has also signed a broadcasting deal with Sky Sports allowing him to conduct his GoPro filming in the back of the goal during matches. 4) Copa 90 Stories The Copa 90 Stories channel redefined football YouTube with their fan-centric approach, enabling them to build an engaged audience of 1.27M to date. The channel’s videos aspire to enlighten viewers through their interesting documentaries, which explore the history and impact of many of the world’s biggest football rivalries and fan cultures. Copa 90 Stories videos certainly provide entertaining, informative viewing for any football fan. ​ 5) UMM UMM is a recently established channel that aims to target a Gen-Z audience and advocates professional athletes off the pitch as a force for good. They already have a subscriber base of c125K and over 8M views. Their content has involved footballers such as Chelsea’s Mason Mount and RB Leipzig’s Ibrahim Konate. The clips show unseen sides of their personalities via a novel creative interview format and challenges presented by popular Youtubers. 6) Hashtag United Hashtag United YouTube channel was created in 2016 by popular Youtuber Spencer Owen and originally with a team comprised of a group of friends documenting themselves playing in an innovative league format designed by Spencer. However, because of their significant online support with over 500,000 people subscribed to the YouTube channel the club has now grown to documenting the team as a semi-professional football club, which competes in the ninth tier of the football league, and garners hundreds in match-day attendances. They have even been televised on BBC in the FA cup. They won the televised game! Editors note: Check out this episode of our podcast with Spencer Carmichael-Brown of Hashtag United 7) ProDirect Soccer ProDirect Soccer, renowned for being the World’s largest online football store for boots and shirts, have also entered the football YouTube space amassing subscribers totalling more than 350k. The channel offers a variety of football related content led by popular influencers such as Chunkz and Yung Filly, covering content from first touch challenges to penalties with professional goalkeepers. The impact of the work of ProDirect’s YouTube channel can be highlighted by the fact players like Leicester City’s James Maddison and Chelsea’s Mason Mount goal celebrations and boot designs were inspired by their work with the channel. 8) Sky Sports Football Major broadcaster Sky Sports also provides exclusive content on their YouTube Channel which has obtained 2.92M subscribers and total views in the region of 44M. In addition to publishing match highlights and pundit analysis, the channel also provides entertaining videos with footballers such as True/False quizzes and in-depth interviews. However, their appeal to esports fans through streaming live the ePremier League has made a significant impact. 9) The Football Daily The Football Daily is a channel with 1.82M subscribers that offers daily football content presented by Joe Thomlinson. It discusses a range of topics from transfer speculations to team/player of the year debates. The YouTube channel also gained millions of views with its work with football video game Top Eleven which saw the cast get pranked by Manchester United manager at the time Jose Mourinho. 10) Thogden The Thogden YouTube channel has 550k subscribers and 138M views. It is owned by 20yr old Theo Ogden and is a rapidly growing Football YouTube account known for vlogging unique match day experiences, such as travelling to Russia to cover England’s journey in the 2018 World cup. The channel’s interactive and entertaining style makes it very appealing, especially to younger audiences.

The scale of the audio opportunity for rights holders is enormous. They have an abundance of rich content tailor-made for audio, yet current focus seems to be almost completely on digital, video and text based articles as go-to mediums for direct to fan engagement. For most audio seems to be in the “nice to have” rather than “must have” box. But why ignore a cost-effective way to deliver rights in a format that fans want? As Louise Johnson of FUSE pointed out on episode 173 of UP podcast on average only 18% of sports rights holder's sponsorship inventory is digital. This looks massively under underserved when you consider that most large brands are now spending at least half their marketing budget on digital marketing activity. And the reason brands are increasingly focused on digital activity is they are following their audiences as digital becomes the dominant player in their media consumption habits. The same applies to audio.1.3 billion hours of audio are consumed each week in the UK alone with ad spend of £104m across digital audio revenue 70m of those hours are people listening to sport audio and yet, there is a lack of quality sport audio for fans to consume, particularly from official sources. These listening hours could be doubled or trebled with improved available content. Audio also fits perfectly with future consumption trends. The main development for consumption isn't so much around the technology although that will continue to offer new channels, its more within format. Be it audio, TV, VR whatever, the trend is towards faster and shorter. The demand from younger fans is for instant gratification; they are prepared to watch goal highlights on social media or live games on poor streams for the sake of getting what they want NOW. Future sports fans may also not have the attention span for traditional formats (as was suggested in the Super League proposal). 90 minutes of football or 4 hours of cricket won’t be appealing to many of the younger fans. Does this require a change of game format (like The Hundred) or a change in the way that the content is distributed? Audio is a great way to combat the attention span argument as it doesn't require the same level of focus as video. It can be an accompanying media, consumed whilst the audience engages in another activity. Despite this fact audio is also proven to offer deeper engagement with its audience. Even as a “secondary focus” it creates larger emotional response and delivers better recall of messages than other comparable mediums. Add to this the engagement levels of audio vs video (ie. the average podcast listener will consume around 78% of a full episode) and you begin to see why those who aren’t using audio are really missing out. It also doesn't require any specific technology - one piece of audio can already be distributed via many different platforms and devices... it can find an audience where they already are (social, radio, podcast, digital assistants, Alexa) rather than relying on them migrating to a new platform. Rights holders could be cashing in right now by developing an audio strategy, putting audio on all their current channels, increasing fan engagement but also creating new inventory for partners. Equally there is still huge potential for growth within longer form audio like podcasts – both evergreen documentary style content and news / magazine style content. The US is leading the way with podcasting but the UK & Europe are not far behind. In the US alone there are 320m hours of podcasts consumed each week - 121m of those hours are listens to sport podcasts. Brands are starting to really understand the value of the engaged podcast listener. 92% of podcast listening is done solo, with listen through rates averaging around 78% that’s a good 30+ minutes of content being consumed in most cases vs. a 1 min video on social. And with $840m of podcast advertising revenue in the US this year and a forecast of $2.2BN by 2023 why aren’t more rights holders getting in on the act? Sport Brands and rights holders often talk about three key elements within their content strategy: Fan engagement. New markets. Revenue Streams and Sponsorship Opportunities. In audio there is already a tool that can deliver all these things and in an incredibly cost-effective way – yet many in Sport have been slow to pick up on the potential. It’s a secret weapon and it's waiting to be unleashed. Sophie Hind is the Managing Director of Voiceworks.ai & Voiceworks Sport Voiceworks can deliver your audio strategy, from content production & distribution, to developing new technology channels so that you can be heard in a voice activated world.

Michael Naylor is arguably the nation’s leading sports nutritionist, having worked with the likes of England Rugby, Team GB and Southampton FC. He has Co-Founded Tweakd with elite sports chef Omar Meziane in order to create performance-focused frozen meals. "It’s important to consider that when working with athletes, we don’t promote foods as 'Super Foods’... we always take an individual approach, working back from the athletes’ health or performance goals. From this, we match nutrition with great tasting food to contribute to solutions. Here are some great foods to consider when leading an active lifestyle". Here are 10 foods you would frequently find the elite consuming: 1. Salmon It’s high in protein, which helps to support muscle tissue repair. It’s also rich in Omega 3, which may support inflammation management. 2. Rice A high carbohydrate favourite to boost muscle glycogen stores the day before big events. 3. Steak A good source of protein that aids muscle recovery and muscle mass, as well as providing Iron to support endurance performance. 4. Vegan Chicken A vegan chicken alternative, such as ‘This Isn’t Chicken’ is ideal for helping vegan athletes hit their protein goals, assisting with muscle mass and recovery. 5. Beetroot It’s high in dietary nitrates which has the potential (in less endurance-trained athletes) to improve oxygen delivery to muscles and endurance performance. 6. Cherry Juice Not only is it delicious, but it is high in polyphenols which have the potential to support recovery, sleep and reduce muscle soreness. 7. Milk That staple of every household - which is a great source of calcium to aid bone health and is often used post-training to support recovery. This is due to its protein and carbohydrate content to encourage muscle tissue repair and replenish glycogen stores. 8. Broccoli More often than not, this favourite for athletes is present on a daily basis. Why? Because it’s a good source of Vitamin A, E, C and K – helping to support a range of functions from immunity to bone health. ​ 9. Rice Pudding Even athletes get to eat dessert, but they need to pick wisely. This is why a carb packed rice pudding is consumed in the lead to many major events. 10. Greek Yogurt Often consumed for its high protein content to support recovery and muscle mass. Top it with nuts and fruits to create a fantastic, healthy dish. Learn more about Tweakd here.

Name: Archie Cooper Course: Marketing and Management BA (hons) University: Oxford Brookes University Dissertation Title: “A new era of fan engagement: An investigation into how Football Clubs are incorporating the digital transformation into their fan engagement strategies” Number of words: 10,000 Research: Semi-structured interviews with representatives from six of the UK’s leading Premier League Clubs, provided me with some invaluable insights into how football clubs are adopting a new digital landscape to optimise fan engagement Key Findings: Club Apps offer a great way for clubs to utilise their digital assets and specifically tailor engagement to their core audience. They provide fans with highly sought after ‘behind-the-scenes’ content of the players which helps elevate their match day experience Tik Tok grew by 75% last year making it the fastest growing social media platform and football clubs have certainly capitalised on this to satisfy the needs of their younger fans. Many leading clubs mentioned how they used TikTok to produce authentic, data-driven content to increase engagement with this demographic. eSports is exploding and viewership is set to increase by 10% a year up to 2023. This growth is being fuelled by people spending more time online and fans finding new ways to consume sports content during lockdown. However, one of the more surprising findings is that there is still uncertainty among clubs as to where the opportunity lies behind the eSports proposition. Although it is recognised that there is the ability to monetise additional revenue streams through sponsorship opportunities, clubs seem to be waiting for a first mover to fully utilise the platform and provide a clearer vision of the return on investment On return to the physical experience, these clubs will be able to take advantage of the popularity of eSports and these digital platforms, to provide entertaining experiences to enhance the match day experience. The digital transformation is likely to use in-stadia technologies and entertainment to help clubs maximise the live experience for loyal fans as well as broadening their fan base beyond just avid football fans. ​ Any lessons learnt? I’ve learnt that the power and community spirit of football has meant that clubs have been able to rely heavily on loyal fans pouring into stadiums every match day. While this has helped generate over a billion in commercial revenue for the Premier League clubs, it has also given the industry little reason to adopt new technologies and emerging trends. With the crippling impact of COVID on the live experience, as well as fans’ new levels of digital interaction and engagement, clubs are now being forced to realign their fan engagement strategies to maximise fan loyalty - Clubs are realising that their fanbases now fulfil all the audiences who’d typically be associated with supporting them. I’ve learnt that because of this, clubs are focussing on making sponsorships outside of a football environment to encourage audiences with different interests to start associating themselves with football and thereafter joining their fanbase. Conclusion: My dissertation has strengthened my urge to work in sports marketing as it’s expanded my knowledge on the growing role digital plays in clubs fan engagement strategies. Sports sponsorship strikes me as a particularly interesting sector of sports marketing. As clubs look to extend their fanbases by using sponsorships to steer their brand image into industries who wouldn’t typically be associated with football, I believe that this sector of sports marketing is a particular exciting area to work in. Archie Cooper - Unofficial Partner Intern

By Rounak Majumdar In a country known for its religious virtues, sports was never meant to be an ingrained part of living. But ever since British Raj, cricket is one sport that India breathes. THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN SPORT Sports in India dates back to the early 1500 AD. With Chess and Kabaddi being the most ancient and famous, the country is home to around 100+ indigenous sports. Over the years, sport in India has slowly shifted from becoming a favourite pastime to a serious livelihood. Various approaches helped commercialize and develop sporting activities and Indian conglomerates have accelerated it. MNCs like the Reliance Group, JSW, TATA, RPSG Group and others have invested in India’s sporting infrastructure, leagues, grassroots development, high performance and other verticals. The industry, which was valued at over 91 Billion USD in 2019, had its firm beginnings in 1983 when India lifted its first-ever cricket World Cup title, defeating West Indies in the finals by 43 runs at the Lord's Cricket Ground. Cricket was always a popular sport, but the world cup win changed its importance. Until then, superstars in Bollywood were making all the money. The World Cup victory set the tone for Indian cricketers to be converted into lucrative brands. ​ In 1993, the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) received its first broadcast rights fee from Trans World International to telecast an India-England series. Till then, astonishingly, the BCCI was paying the local TV channel, Doordarshan TV, to telecast the games. As of today, Star India pays around 945 Million USD over a five-year deal to the BCCI for telecasting only the domestic cricket matches. THE NEW CRICKET FESTIVAL In 2008, the advent of the Indian Premier League, a franchise-based T-20 Cricket League changed the dynamics of sports business in India. The IPL was the brainchild of Lalit Modi, a business tycoon and the International Management Group (IMG), a reputed sports management firm. The amalgamation of Cricket, Bollywood and Business led the property to soar unbelievable heights. It is one of the very few sporting leagues in the world where all the stakeholders churn considerable profits each financial year. As of 2020, the IPL is currently valued at an astounding 4.4 Billion USD (Around 45,800 Crores INR). For a league spanning 2 months in a year with 8 participants, the rise within 13 years must pique curiosity. RISE OF PRIVATE LEAGUES The IPL was an umbrella for other leagues to mushroom in India. Over the past decade, 20+ sporting leagues kicked off. Amongst them, the Kabaddi (Pro Kabaddi League), Football (Indian Super League) leagues gained momentum. The latest addition to the roster amidst the pandemic was Ultimate Kho Kho League. Another popular indigenous sport, with its origins in the early 20th Century. The rise of sporting leagues increased opportunities in sponsorship. In 2019, sports sponsorship investments topped 1.2 Billion USD with cricket owning the maximum share. It was followed by Kabaddi and Football. The key investors who put the money are from the Fintech, Automobile, Steel, Real Estate, FMCG industries. Recently, Ed-tech and Fantasy Gaming companies have invested as well. Apart from the IPL, most leagues operate on a lean financial model with a core focus put on developing the game and increasing reach. THE GAMING AND ESPORTS OPPORTUNITY ​ India over the years witnessed phenomenal growth in technology, and telecom has become cheaper. It has led to the rapid rise in fantasy gaming and E-Sports activities in the sub- continent. One of the Indian gaming companies, Nazara Technologies, filed its Initial Public Offering (IPO) document with the Indian market regulators on January 15, 2021. Recently, another Indian fantasy gaming giant, Dream Sports, is seeking to list their company via a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) listing in the US markets by early 2022. Even though sports betting is illegal in India, there are certain loopholes within the law. Fantasy gaming companies have leveraged it to mint money. Companies such as Dream Sports grew phenomenally amid the pandemic with a 5 Billion USD valuation. In the last few years, not only has fantasy gaming and e-sports grown significantly, it is regarded as the future of maximum investments alongside cricket. ROLE OF GOVERNMENT ​ A country can only do well in sports when it receives support from its government. The Indian government has started to perceive sports as a powerful tool for sustainability. The Narendra Modi led office launched the Fit India Movement in 2019. It is a nationwide initiative in India encouraging people to remain healthy and fit. Fit India’s motive is to encourage physical activities and sports, and make it an integral part of daily living. Alongside it, the Khelo India initiative, a grassroots school and university sports program launched in 2018, has grown year on year in participation and investments. The support from the government has led Sports Management organisations like Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools, KiteTalks, SportiFan and other companies to find their way into the market, and create scalable business opportunities. TURMOILS IMPOSED BY PANDEMIC ​ The raging pandemic, which in its second wave devastated innumerable Indian lives, has impacted the sports industry direly. The Tokyo Olympic bound athletes are having a hard time completing their final preparations. Most of the athletes failed to get adequate training sessions, and work in a structured manner considering the changing trends of the virus and the ever-evolving quarantine norms. The Tokyo Olympic bound athletes are having a hard time completing their final preparations. Most of the athletes failed to get adequate training sessions, and work in a structured manner considering the changing trends of the virus and the ever-evolving quarantine norms. The lockdowns have forced various businesses related to sports to discontinue operations. Sectors such as Sports Retail and Sports Tourism have been massively impacted. As per reports from GroupM ESP, the entertainment, esports and sports division of GroupM India, sports sponsorships dropped 35% in 2020 due to Coronavirus. The IPL 2021 season stands cancelled as of May 9th, after completing 29 out of the 60 matches in total. The resumption of the league remains highly unlikely due to COVID-19 and the cricket calendar of 2021. Apart from the IPL, India is slated to host the ICC T20 World Cup in October alongside Sri Lanka and New Zealand in between. They are also scheduled to tour England for a Test Series. THE WAY AHEAD The rapid rise of investments within 20+ years has put India’s sports industry on the global map. Despite the raging pandemic and huge losses, India’s sports industry is expected to grow in the near future. IPL continues to dominate the Indian sports landscape alongside esports and fantasy gaming picking pace. In the future, initiatives from the government will have a significant role. It will determine whether India can truly harness its potential in sports. However, for a country of 1.3 Billion people, where estimates state only 5.56% of the population actively engage in sports, the possibilities remain manifold.

By James Geaves Esports have seen booming growth in recent years and show no sign of letting up. In terms of audience growth, they have seemingly cruised through the turbulence of the pandemic, a time when the majority of traditional sports have struggled. According to Newzoo, the esports industry will be valued at $1.7 billion by the end of 2021, and is estimated to generate more revenue than Rugby Union. The growth of esport is attracting an increasing number of lucrative sponsorship and media rights deals looking to appeal to younger audiences and open up to new emerging markets. But which games really are the most popular amongst fans? There are several metrics to measure the success of eSports, including prize pool, peak viewership and average viewership. Here is a breakdown of the Top 10 professional esports games by hours watched in 2020: 1. League of Legends – 440 million hours League of Legends (LoL) tops the list with a huge 440 million hours watched in 2020. LoL tournaments had a total prize pool of $405 million in 2020 helping maintain its dominance in the esports world. The World Championship, held in September, was won by DAMWON Gaming and attracted 3.8 million viewers. The recent success of LoL has sparked commercial partnerships with RedBull and Kia Motors. 2. Counter Strike: Global Offensive – 215 million hours First released in 2012, CS:GO has evolved dramatically. Developers Valve Corporation switched to a free-to-play model in 2018 to boost engagement. The esport now has 51 sponsored professional teams, with Danish team Astralis winning the Major Championships in 2020. 3. Dota 2 – 155 million hours The multiplayer battle arena game has grown considerably as an eSport, now with 24 professional teams, boasting a total prize pool of $157million. The game has become prominent for making strides in AI and machine learning. 4. PUBG Mobile – 105 million hours PUBG Mobile, a realistic and contemporary war style shooter, published by Tencent for IOS and Android, attracted large viewership in 2020, with 48 professional tournaments. Chinese team, NOVA XQF won the 2020 Global Finals. 5. Arena of Valor – 54 million hours The fantasy multiplayer battleground game, first released on IOS in 2017 has seen continued success, with nine sponsored professional teams and a total prize pool of $6million in 2020. 6. Garena Free Fire – 47.5 million hours Garena Free Fire, the Battle Royale style game is exclusive to mobile devices and was hugely popular in 2020. Developers Garena have since recently agreed four blockbuster tournaments across the two pro circuits for 2021. 7. Rocket League - 41.4 million hours The multi-award winning “car soccer” game has been adopted by the professional eSport ranks, with ESL and Major League Gaming running the Rocket League Championship Series, which now hosts 23 sponsored teams. 8. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege 6 - 32.9 million hours After initial release in 2016, Ubisoft have since partnered with ESL to take the tactical shooter to the esports market. It has seen huge growth amongst both casual players and aspiring competitors. 9. Overwatch - 23.6 million hours Released in 2016, Overwatch is a multiplayer first person shooter by Blizzard Entertainment. It has seen continued esport success in 2020, with the highlight of the year being San Francisco Shock’s win of the Overwatch League 2020. 10. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare/ Warzone - 15.7 million hours Published by Activision in September 2019, the hugely popular first-person shooter attracted a large viewership in 2020. Dallas Empire defeated Atlanta FaZe to win the 2020 League Championship. There is no doubting the growth potential of the eSports industry. It is an exciting market, with huge commercial potential. It will be interesting to see how it develops over the coming months, especially in emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil. Sources: Newzoo: Global Market Report 2020 Viewership Figures https://platform.newzoo.com/games/viewership/overview James Geaves is an intern at Unofficial Partner

They were the future once

Podcasting is becoming a very attractive medium for former sports stars. Creating a podcast around a strong sporting personality lays the groundwork for a future media-based post-sports career, but also the freedom of the medium is an alluring prospect for those who have had to previously perhaps bite their tongues. In a world where sports stars are often discouraged from expressing an opinion for fear of upsetting sponsors or the chairman, podcasting offers a space where big voices and controversial personalities can shine, build audiences and establish themselves as something beyond what they achieved in the field of play. Here, Jim Salveson, head of the Sport Social Podcast Network looks at ten former sporting stars who are establishing themselves in the podcast space. 1. 'That Peter Crouch Show' Peter Crouch is the OG when it comes to athletes (certainly in the UK) using podcasting as a springboard to help carve out a successful media career. However, from what I know of this show, there was no big plan in terms of it providing a route for Crouch into the wider media space nor was the show's success expected to reach the heights it did. The show hit upon something that, at the time, was rarely seen in sport; a glimpse into the real world of a current footballer. The unfiltered dressing room stories and behind-the- scenes access it offered became a real USP and set the bar for many shows that followed. Given the show's success (regularly the most listened to podcast on BBC Sounds) I'm sure there are a fair few disappointed faces at the BBC with regards to the recent defection to Acast. Listen here. 2. 'The Joe Marler Show' What I like about The Crowd Network's The Joe Marler Show is that it's not just based on Joe's great personality or his career in sport but it also has a strong concept behind its success too. For each show, Joe sits down with a different guest to discuss their jobs and lives. Guests range from estate agents to theme park designers to prison guards to refugees. Whilst Joe is great value as a host and undoubtedly a big personality, its variety of topics and guests give the podcast depth. The funny moments are still there but they are paired with thought-provoking and heart warming moments too. This creates content far richer than you would normally expect ​from the usual sports podcast trope of four blokes sitting around a microphone talking about what has happened and what is going to happen. Listen here. 3. 'The Old Man and the Three' with JJ Redick NBA Star JJ Redick has gone from a giant on the court to a giant behind the mic. One of the early stars of US Sport to see the value in establishing himself in the podcasting space, he has moved from creating podcasts for US Network The Ringer into launching his very own Podcast Production Company "Three Four Two Productions" specialising in sports content. JJ isn't just a big name either, he clearly has an ear for content. His show "The Old Man and the Three" is fairly standard in format but demonstrates a great understanding of the medium and the role that former sports stars can play within it. He is a thoughtful host who treats topics in a measured way and in doing so has become a bridge between the sport and its fans. His status allows him to attract big name NBA guests who are also comfortable with his calm and considered line of questioning. His knowledge and time in the game also add great value when he talks to younger players where he can draw from his own experiences for comparison. His knows which threads to pull, whoever the guest in the chair is. JJ Redick is not only a great example of strong content-making but also of how, for former sports stars, podcasting isn't just an 'extra' - it can become a second career. Listen here. 4. 'The Analyst: Inside Cricket' with Simon Hughes Simon Hughes, the host of The Analyst, is arguably now better known for his media work than his career as a fast/medium bowler in county cricket. His podcast is a great example of using the medium to build and deliver a personal brand. Simon has taken a Ronseal approach to his podcast brand. This is a show that gives you detail and depth. Be it a former player interview or coverage of the news agenda, you know what you are going to get: super-informed opinion and quality analysis... and what else would you expect from The Analyst? Listen here. 5. 'The Dugout' on Football Social Daily At Sport Social we wanted to do something a little different with some of the shows on our daily own-brand football podcast Football Social Daily so came up with a plan to switch up our weekly preview show. ​ Football Social Daily is, for the main part, football journalists and fans discussing the current news agenda around the Premier League. It's a fairly simple concept which we didn't want to depart from too much for fear of disrupting our established listener base. Instead, we opted to create a new "flagship show" within the seven-day schedule featuring some bigger name personalities. To do this we approached a number of former Premier League stars (such as Dean Hammond, Matt Jarvis and Paul Dickov) to offer their knowledge and experience within a weekend preview show. The results added another layer of content to our daily offering without disrupting the current product and offered the featured guests a platform on which to build their media experience without a huge long-term commitment. Listen here. 6. 'Believe You Me' with Michael Bisping Michael Bisping has nailed the idea of using podcasting as an extension of your personal brand. In his days in the UFC ring, Bisping was known for being an outspoken character with a big personality and that has extended into his podcast product. His show feeds his follower's hunger for no-holds-barred comments and opinions on the sport (he is also great at storytelling with a bucket full of stories to tell). Those opinions not only engage the current fanbase but help attract new ones with regular comments from the pod being published (either found or fed) in mainstream media news outlets. Now, having just published episode 385 (and despite blatantly ignoring Apple Podcasts' guidance on not adding episode numbers to show titles) 'Believe You Me' is comfortably one of the biggest fight sports podcasts coming out of the UK. Listen here. 7. 'Talk Is Jericho' with Chris Jericho Let's not get into a conversation as to whether or not WWE is a "real" sport or not, but I guess it should come as no surprise that a character as big as Chris Jericho would be able to hold court effectively in his own podcast (and add a bit of showbiz sparkle too). Jericho's CV is one that lends itself well to podcasting. As well as a world champion wrestler he can also lay claim to the job titles of actor, singer and author. He was also one of the early "celebrity" podcasters spotting the opportunity before many of his contemporaries by launching "Talk Is Jericho" back in 2013. Again, as far as format is concerned there isn't anything remarkable at play here. It's a straight-up interview podcast with some pretty seismic guests (Bruce Dickinson, Lemmy, Paul Stanley as well as a host of wrestling stars have all appeared) but make no mistake this universe revolves around Jericho. He's a big man with a big personality and (in a similar way ​to Joe Rogan) his passionate, enthusiastic and often brisk interview style makes the show tick. Listen here. 8. Fozcast - Ben Foster Ben Foster is a great example of a current sports pro using his status during his playing days to lay the groundwork for a future in media/podcasting. The Watford keeper is laying the foundation of a mini-media empire with multiple podcasts titles, a YouTube channel and even his matchday experience in the net for the Hornets captured on a Go-Pro in the corner of the goal (and there is plenty to capture at the moment). He's clearly a man with a plan for when he hangs up his gloves and will have witnessed first- hand the success of Peter Crouch in this space... and he's well equipped to be successful. The Fozcast is already a regular in the upper reaches of the Apple Sports charts and a recent partnership with Spotify has allowed Ben and his team to up their already decent production values by using the platforms production space. The podcast itself is very solid but it doesn't deliver anything hugely different or better than many other shows on the market. Ben is a strong personality with an inquisitive interview style and the show tackles some interesting topics and guests. What is interesting about this show is the 360 approach to publication, using Foster's status to gain an audience (and attract great guests) at this early stage and making sure good quality video and social media clips are part of their production process to increase awareness of the show. Listen here. 9. Tailenders (Jimmy Anderson) I'd be amazed if Tailenders didn't come about from a couple of BBC Execs in a meeting saying "We need another Peter Crouch podcast... but for cricket". Certainly, there are a few shared characteristics between the two shows that have contributed to the success. It should be easy for an organisation like the BBC to create a hit podcast given their channels for promotion and access to talent. Tailenders is a great example of how those things can be leveraged. Not only did they secure a big cricketing name in Jimmy Anderson to pull in the cricket fans but also identifying Radio One Breakfast's Greg James as a host - giving them potential access to a whole new Radio One audience who otherwise would be unlikely to be engaged in a cricket podcast. ​ Even with these factors in play, however, the content needs to be good... and it is. The show's hosts are warm, funny and informed. The content is energetic and there are enough "in-jokes" to make regulars feel like a member of a special club without excluding new audience members. From Jimmy Anderson's perspective, it's a smart move. Appearing on a podcast with relevance to a Radio One audience establishes him as a cricketing personality with a different group than those who would consider the TMS mainstays as their cricketing voices. As this audience matures, Anderson can move through the appropriate channels with them. Listen here. 10. Seaman Says with David Seaman Seaman Says have GREAT access to guests and that has been instrumental in the success of this podcast. In the year it has been running (launching in the run-up to Euro 2020) the former England goalkeeper has spoken to many significant names in the footballing world from Paul Gasgcoine to Stuart Pearce to Jurgen Klinsmann. Whilst the contacts book is important to this podcast title the show has also been smart with its content. The interviews, guests and topics give the podcast a timeless quality and a long listening tail, this is combined with more topical content broaching big news stories or major events helping cement the show into the audience listening routine. Pairing (the very affable) Seaman with an established broadcaster such as Lyndsey Hooper helps provide a guiding hand ensuring content remains on track and creating a more polished/slick end production. Listen here. ------- If you want help launching your own sports podcast or establishing your audio brand you can talk to Jim and the team via Voiceworks Sports Plus find your next favourite sports podcast via the Sport Social Podcast Network

BY CHRISTIAN COLLINSON .....Everyone knows the digital age has turned traditional sponsorship models on their head but there are still revenue-generating opportunities that many clubs and organisations are missing. Take commercial segmentation, for instance. In the world of top-flight sports, brand share is the mainstay of any model – that’s why shirt sponsorship and ‘visible’, almost above-the-line style of promotion is still the pinnacle consideration (think shirt sponsors) – and segmentation of data is rarely considered in the endless quest for more valuable commercial opportunities. As a result, performance is the biggest factor in driving commercial growth. It’s simple – teams that win command more value. Only, it’s not simple. At least, not anymore. Winning teams will always command a premium but there’s huge commercial value left on the table when audience segmentation is not a driving factor in revenue generation. Potential revenue is being ignored by sports clubs and organisations Digital allows us to break down and target our audiences almost to the individual and enables round-the-clock analytics – meaning we can show true ROI, which at Nifty we measure in terms of reach, recognition and return. This ROI is famously difficult to track in more traditional media forms but it’s almost a bonus when we talk about the real power of digital. The true benefits are now much simpler to understand. Do you remember the dawn of social media, when everyone jumped on the latest channels and spent hours scrolling, digesting what they were all about? Well, that period ended at least 10 years ago. What are the benefits of audience segmentation? TikTok aside, we’ve all had time to settle into the platforms that suit us best and as a result, there are now clear social groups in terms of engagement across platforms – and across our client’s audience sets these demographics are clear to see. It’s not always as succinct as this but for the interests of simplicity, and your attention span, we’ll break these down as generically as possible: Boomers are on Facebook, Millennials engage on Instagram and Gen-Z love TikTok. Now think about it commercially. Any marquee commercial partner who is after a front-of-shirt deal might be looking to establish brand awareness across all these demographics but there will also be brands out there who aren’t. Home Insurance, for instance, isn’t likely to resonate with a TikTok audience... but for Facebook? That’s one of the possibilities we mean when we talk about segmenting commercial opportunities. These are only suggestions but consider a services company as your ‘Official Facebook Partner’ or an apparel and/or aspirational partner as your ‘Official Instagram Partner’. This opens new avenues in content through collaborative, hands-on relationships with your commercial partners. Whether that’s through partner-led, value-added content or more wide-reaching themes, the possibilities are almost endless. There are also more opportunities to turn your audience into direct costumers for your partners, and vice versa, meaning increased ROI and long-lasting relationships. Consider your demographic’s unique behaviours Now, I’m not saying that 24-year-olds aren’t on Facebook, it’s just that they use it differently from their primary channel – which is most likely TikTok or Instagram – just as the over 40s will use Facebook differently to how they use TikTok. While we’re on TikTok, it’s worth noting we don’t often consider TikTok partners early on in a new client relationship. Instead, we focus on CSR content among news and follow the principled purchase ethos that helps pull Gen-Z in over the long term. To summarise, there’s huge commercial value in your digital audiences and it’s never been easier to unlock that value. All it needs is a new approach to commercials and the desire to build long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships between clubs and partners. Before I go, let me leave you with a stat we work to. Nifty aims to convert between 1-2% of an audience into paid subscriptions on either Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, for instance. That means, a club with 100,000 Facebook followers is leaving around £24,000 in the platform each month – nearly £300,000 a year through Facebook subscriptions alone. That’s before we run subscription-driving campaigns too. How does it work? There are essentially two strands to what we do – content and commercials. First, we drive subscription-focused content strategies to unlock immediate revenue. These subscribers often break down into niche audience segments which we can then create further commercial opportunities around, meaning income growth from subscriptions but also bespoke commercial offerings that resonate with our niche audience segments. From there we encourage long-term commercial relationships with brands that want to speak to these specific audience segments. This increases commercial opportunities and opens up the possibility of title partners across social channels, without the need to sell. After that, we generate audience-tailored content in collaboration with our new, niche partners. Content that not only resonates with the target audience but pulls in new eyeballs; eyeballs that likely sit within the existing audience segment. It’s not as simple as it sounds but the principles are there. By doing this we achieve increased revenue from subscriptions and the additional commercial relationships to grow the audience and achieve the all-important reach, recognition and return. This collaborative approach between commercials, marketing, communications and partners means compelling content that addresses fans’ needs while establishing mutually-beneficial commercial relationships. This is what we at Nifty see as the future of sports revenue, particularly across digital. In fact, we believe this approach could rewrite the traditional commercial model altogether. We have already seen teams building robust, sustainable digital plans that increase revenue and engagement. This isn’t something new but the longer clubs ignore the potential, the more revenue will be left on the table. By Christian Collison, CEO of sports marketing agency, Nifty Communications

By Eddie May and David Orman Over the last couple of years, Web3 has become a huge subject in the sports industry. If you’re still in the camp of people not quite sure what Web3 actually means, it’s a bit of a catch-all for a vision of a new interaction of the internet, built on concepts such as the blockchain, immersive experiences (AR & VR), decentralisation and token-based economics. In sport, Web3 and its applications are often viewed simultaneously as a paradigm-shifting opportunity to entertain fans in a totally new way, and also as creating new ways to generate (much-needed) short-term revenue. But with the crash in cryptocurrency and NFT values we’ve seen during 2022, rights-holders have rightly become increasingly sceptical and cautious about diving too hastily into this new domain. It’s time for sport to start thinking beyond crypto sponsorship deals, NFT drops or fan token sales. We both went along to the recent UP Web3 event at The Emirates and found it strange that so much of the conversation was still focused on NFTs and tokens. There is so much more potential in Web3 that just isn’t being talked about properly. Further knowledge about all the opportunities innovation presents across the whole Web3 ecosystem is essential before strategies can be developed. Sport needs to understand how best to create long-term, sustainable and lucrative partnerships that also deliver genuine value, entertainment and utility to their fans. That last point is crucial, and a lot of what we’ve seen so far in sport seems to have left the mainstream fan behind. Many of the early examples of crypto and NFT partnerships have left the majority of fans confused, unimpressed or even hostile to certain aspects of it. Success in launching any new product starts with understanding what your audience thinks and how they behave. To make a start on that, Overdog and Hatch-House have teamed up to uncover some insights (using data from GWI and GWI Sports) on how sports fans around the world currently engage with the different aspects of Web3. We’ve shared a few of the key insights below, and a more detailed report is also available to download here. ​ All of the data here refers to ‘global sports fans’, defined as people aged 16-64 within GWI with an interest in watching sport, from 48 of the biggest global markets. Younger sports fans are increasingly drawn to online worlds When asked if they prefer spending time online or in the real world, 53% of sports fans prefer online, compared with 47% of all people. But when we break that down by age group, it’s clear that younger fans are more likely to prefer spending time online, and this is a trend likely to continue. Sports fans see the metaverse primarily as a place for entertainment This age-based difference is repeated when we look at general interest in taking part in a metaverse. Almost 87% of 16-24 fans are interested, compared with just 40% of 55-64s. And when asked what activities they’d be most interested in doing in a metaverse, it’s things like entertainment, gaming and meeting with friends that top the charts for sports fans, much more than making investments or buying stuff. By the way, don’t make the mistake of thinking that “the” metaverse is a futuristic virtual world that Mark Zuckerberg is trying to sell us. Online worlds are already here, in the form of Decentraland and The Sandbox. Even Second Life seems still to be alive according to this data.... But, it’s actually gaming worlds such as Minecraft and Fortnite where you’ll find significant numbers of sports fans spending time. ​Gaming is massive among younger sports fans This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, but most young people who like sport also like gaming. 62% of 16-24 fans also have an interest in gaming, dropping to under 25% of 55-64s. Gaming will be, and already is, one of the main routes into adoption of Web3 applications like the metaverse, VR, tokens and NFTs. Bearing in mind that sports fans across all age groups are significantly more interested in gaming than the overall population, this feels like a fertile area for sport to get even more involved in. VR adoption is still very low Everyone wearing VR headsets while fully immersed in a virtual world is the default sci-fi (and Meta) vision of the future, but right now VR headset ownership is still very low. Only 6.2% of sports fans globally own one, although that is slightly ahead of the wider population. That number is, by all accounts, set to grow, and there are quite big differences by market (the US leads the way at 9% and Germany has one of the lowest rates at 3.9%). Again, gaming applications are most likely to drive greater VR adoption, with sport having an opportunity to capitalise on that. The potential is clearly there for VR to open up live and immersive sports experiences to the global audience who will never set foot in an actual stadium. Not many sports fans own cryptocurrency Cryptocurrency ownership is a long way from mainstream adoption. Only 15.5% of sports fans globally own any crypto. That is higher than the global average of 11.3% and it’s higher among younger fans, but we might have expected to see a bigger bump, given the levels of crypto sponsorship in sport over the last two years. Among people who do own crypto, 44% are interested in sport (vs. 32% of all 16-64s) so there is a rationale for sport in targeting this community, but it is, for the time being, a pretty small audience. ​ NFTs have a serious image problem Sport has been pretty quick to dive into the world of NFTs. A few projects have worked well, but many haven’t, and the net result has been to leave many sports fans pretty cynical at best. By the way, only 36% of sports fans understand what an NFT is, so there’s a long way to go in just explaining what these things are really all about, in ways that make sense to the non-crypto owning, mainstream fan. Some fans do see positives in NFTs, but things like taking part in a community (16%) and getting access to real-works perks (18%) have low levels of recognition. These are arguably the kind of features that could provide real utility for fans, which suggests there is also plenty of work to be done in communicating the benefits of future projects. So what next? There is undoubtedly huge potential for sport to harness Web3 technologies but the majority of projects so far have not been embraced by mainstream fans, and the data shows the challenge that exists in engaging them around things like crypto and NFTs. These are important parts of the picture, but the reality is that there are many other Web3 technologies that we believe will form the bridge between the real and digital worlds - enabling everyone to have access to better, more exciting digital experiences in sport. Hatch-House is already working across new formats for e-commerce, virtual reality, immersive advertising and new blockchain streaming technologies. This is where the real value will be for sport. All a little bit more exciting than just another NFT launch.... ​ ... Eddie May (Overdog Marketing) and David Orman (Hatch-House) are collaborating to help rights-holders and brands in sport to develop successful, sustainable Web3 and innovation strategies. If you’d like to have a conversation, email eddie@overdog-marketing.co.uk or dorman@hatch-house.com.

Expedited by disruptions to in-person teaching as a result of the pandemic, the world of golf instruction has had to adapt to the times and utilise advancements in technology to reach new audiences. Are the days of booking an hour-long session with a PGA Pro at your local driving range behind us? In this article, I’ll be unpacking three approaches to golf instruction in the twenty-first century, highlighting the growing popularity of short-form content, the hundreds of hours of swing tips available on YouTube and the increasing prevalence of online lesson memberships. Short Form Instruction - TikTok and Instagram With just a smartphone, PGA Pros and golfers can now post and interact with instruction-oriented content through their favourite social media platforms from anywhere in the world. In alignment with viewing habits and driven by the algorithm, one-minute-and-under instruction tidbits continue to show up on golf-mad users’ feeds, combining education and entertainment. Whilst @jakehuttgolf (126k Instagram Followers and 103k on TikTok) uses the medium of music to deliver tips which help his audience “suck less at golf”, @manoloteachesgolf (826k Instagram Followers and 1m on TikTok) creates engaging skits full of personality and useful pointers for his followers to enjoy. In terms of growth, in 2022 alone, @manoloteachesgolf saw an increase of 400k followers on TikTok, achieving a total of over 6 million likes across just over 100 videos. It was in the previous year that @jakehuttgolf’s Instagram really took off. Between March and October 2021, his overall Instagram following doubled, with several of his posts achieving over 400k views in this timeframe. Free To View YouTube Back Catalogues Over on YouTube, where longer-form content dominates, the back catalogue of creators such as Me and My Golf (who have posted over 1,400 videos to the platform), can help any golfer diagnose and correct almost any problem in their game. With a total of over 870k dedicated subscribers on YouTube, it is no surprise that Me and My Golf have seen significant growth since the start of the pandemic, having gained nearly 300k subscribers and over 50 million views between March 2020 and December 2022. When golfers were permitted to return to courses across the UK in the summer of 2020, the channel’s weekly video views skyrocketed from around 300k to an average of 500k weekly video views almost every week between June to September 2020. Such a jump in the statistics may well be viewed as a signal of golfers’ desire for easily accessible instructional content during this time. Additionally, with the evolution of YouTube Shorts (a rival to TikTok and Instagram), traditionally longer-form creators have started to repurpose their content to work alongside viewers’ demands for short and snappy swing tips. Posted earlier this year in February, before YouTube Shorts had really taken off, a clip featuring a driver tip from Sergio Garcia and shared by Me and My Golf broke the 1m view mark. Overall, it is apparent that after typing in only a handful of key search terms, it has never been easier for golfers to locate a wide selection of swing tips across the platform to help them correct weaknesses in their game. Online Instruction Packages/Membership Recognising the need to capitalise on a growing demand for online tuition, it is no surprise that creators such as Me and My Golf have developed their own online membership packages, which provide access to a variety of member-only perks and instructional tips beyond a paywall. Platforms such as Skillest have also become increasingly popular, offering “world-class golf instructors at an affordable price” for a flat monthly fee. Golfers can enjoy 1-on-1 online lessons by sending and receiving personalised video clips targeted explicitly toward improving their swing, an evolution of the “one size fits all” approach of videos found on YouTube. During an interview in July 2021 with the New York Times, Skillest Co-Founder Baden Schaff mentioned that the platform had tripled in size during the previous 12 months. With the popularity of the platform only going from strength to strength throughout 2022, it would not be a stretch to suggest that the speed of this growth has likely continued since that interview. Final thoughts Whilst the demand for a more accessible, affordable and entertaining approach to golf tuition is there for all to see, the question remains as to whether these developments are an altogether foolproof replacement for in-person lessons. Regardless, the opportunity to grow the sport by leveraging social trends and technological advances to encourage golfers to work on their game, wherever they are in the world, may well prove vital to maintaining the sport’s post-pandemic momentum. Robert Barrow is a Golf Digital Marketing Executive at Albatross.