Elizabeth Purcell Lynch on LinkedIn: Fanatics’ Next Big Bet? A Comic-Con for Sports (2024)

If all the calls, meetings and coffee conversations I've had over the past 6 months have shown me one thing.. it's that both, sports properties and brands are beginning to see more and more value in activating with consumers by offering them a digital experience hosting gaming events. It gives organizations true ownership in the space.It provides for longer engagement periods with an audience.It captures data and attention in ways that help the mid/lower funnel move. If you're interested in learning more about this approach and or Rival's platform - give me a shout! https://lnkd.in/evaHNW5a

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TLDR: Trust your gut, embrace challenges and do cool stuff. Cosm & ESPN have partnered to bring live immersive sports into Cosm Venues. Long Version: As I come up to the 2 year anniversary of my first day at Cosm, I feel like it’s timely to share this story. Back in 2022 when I was sharing the news about taking a job at Cosm, I’ll never forget someone telling me how it’ll be near impossible for Cosm to be a successful business. They said it would be too much work to get the rights to impactful programming and leagues/broadcasters will never sign off. I appreciated the person sharing this information; they thought they were sharing this insight to protect me but instead it motivated me because I felt so passionately about what Cosm was building and all I knew was that I needed to get on the rocket ship before it took off. As I reminisce on the past 2 years, it is moments like this that make the ESPN partnership announcement that much sweeter. Not only is it ESPN but we’ve also announced league deals with the NBA and UFC, TNT and NBC Sports as a broadcast partner, and Cirque du Soleil as an entertainment partner. Via our ESPN deal, we now will feature NBA, NHL, College Football, College Basketball, College World Series, US Open Tennis and more. Maybe it’s the competitive spirit in me or just sheer luck, but I love being able to prove people wrong. When you’re passionate about your work, trust your gut and jump into the deep end with no regrets, it’s 10x easier to embrace new challenges and break barriers. At Cosm, we’re breaking barriers for how people consume content, specifically live sports. I can’t wait for our doors to open to the public so everyone else can experience the goosebumps they’ll get the first time they see Cosm. Stay tuned for more announcements and remember, do cool stuff.

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Big news in the digital world! 📣Rumble, the rising star of video platforms, just teamed up with Barstool Sports, the cool cats of sports entertainment. This isn't your average boring old partnership – it's like Batman teaming up with Superman!Rumble becomes the ultimate hangout spot, offering all of Barstool's killer content, including those must-see live streams. It's like having front-row seats to the best sports show from your couch.But here's the kicker – Barstool isn't just sharing their content; they're hyping up Rumble as the next big thing. And with Barstool's track record of massive audience growth (a jaw-dropping 194% increase) and over 1.6 billion podcast downloads, this is the duo you don't want to miss.So, to all you marketers and ad pros, this is your chance to jump on the bandwagon. Want your brand to be the talk of the town? Rumble's the place to be. Let's make some waves together! 🌊🚀

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Being able to craft a “good” and “relevant” storytelling strategy is the difference-maker for football properties.After my amazing conversation with Rayde Luis Baez on the World Football Summit podcast, I was left with several lessons that the football industry could consider to take their storytelling efforts to new heights.Among them:1⃣ Being able to “humanize” the sports athlete or executives.2⃣ Leveraging the power of rivalries to create compelling stories.We also discussed how American sports in some aspects are a prime example of “practices” that football could embrace. These include:1⃣ Tapping into the potential of your international players to create content that resonates.2⃣ Have the courage to innovate around your sports product but always keep the legacy at its core.3⃣ Reach a balance between “scarcity” and “quality” to create a true premium sports product.I wrote about this on the #WFSBlog so check it out in case you want further details or resources from some of our WFS events!https://lnkd.in/dvr48t-5

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NEWS ALERT: Professional Sports Goes FREE! Well ok that's not really new news but certainly funny. What's not funny, is most of our viewing devices today....stream. Now the sports I want, while its always free in my area, "my teams" I want to watch and support, costs a small fortune to stream from 5 different subscriptions, most poor to moderate quality. Yet using our new FreeCast HomeRun combination box I can get the Free Local Sports sent OTA (Over the Air) across my entire home's broadband network onto my streaming devices (Smart TVs, Mobile, Sticks, etc) and all my combined OTT (Over the Top) streaming services as well. However...this is all just stupid. Yes stupid, from me the guy who is bringing consumers solutions for this problem. Walled Gardens by old Movie studios who somehow got to your consumer eyeballs attention, which are trying to steal you away daily from each other in a expensive tug-o-war game have forgotten the rights are with the Broadcasters.But both of these groups (Stream Co's and Broadcasters) are being sold a major snipe hunt by young aspiring tech leaders ( w no experience?)....that somehow they are technology companies? Now that's even funnier. Loosing billions and confusing, even pissing off consumers more everyday.Broadcasters better step up! Quit playing mad scientists on old school thinking. You can't do it yourselves and expect domination over your other peers. Just ask yourselves...how's that working for the Streamers (loosing billions)?One Platform, One App, Non Competitive, Agnostic, Profitable, No Confusion, No Infrastructure Costs, No Maintenance...Big Margins. Just remember I told both (Streamers and Broadcasters) 20 years ago this day was coming. I damn sure plan on making it happen the right way for consumers who are intentionally being torn apart.Have a great sports weekend everyone!https://lnkd.in/eEhRn6Cu

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Football Season is here and sports fans are a great consumer target for companies and brands. At Audacy, we have many ways to help you leverage the sports fan's passion for content to your business objectives. Our audio platform is unmatched in sports! Let's chat about how we can drive revenue with sports. This piece shares some great info on this group. Go Buckeyes! Go Browns!

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THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU PUT WOMEN’S SPORTS ON TV. 🗣️•The WNBA had its most-watched regular season in 21 years! Viewership across its national TV partners — ABC, CBS, EPN and ESPN2 — was up 21% over the 2022 season. Attendance was also up 16% this year, averaging 6,615 fans per game, the most since 2018. In total, 1,587,488 fans attended these games — the highest total attendance in 13 years. LFG! 📈•Needless to say, it was a record-setting year for the WNBA. Across all national networks, the regular season reached over 36 million (!!!) total unique viewers, the highest since 2008 and a 27% jump from last year. The All-Star Game was the most-watched in 16 years while the Draft was the most-watched since 2004. ⭐•The 2022 WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces saw the highest increase in average attendance, more than 66 percent year over year, averaging a league-high 9,551 fans per game. The Aces also hosted the highest-attended game this season, bringing in a crowd of 17,406 against the Phoenix Mercury for their last game of the season. 🏆•Not only did the league see record viewership and attendance numbers, but it also set new highs across its digital platforms, social media engagement and sports betting. 📱

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PODCAST: greg maffei, CEO of Liberty Media, joins this week’s edition of Sports Business Radio to preview the Las Vegas Grand Prix, discuss the explosive growth of F1 and share why Liberty Media split off the Atlanta Braves. Maffei also discusses Live Nation Entertainment and the comeback of live sports and entertainment events.Liberty Media Corporation operates and owns interests in a broad range of media, communications and entertainment businesses - including SiriusXM, F1, LiveNation and the Atlanta Braves.Prior to joining Liberty in 2005, Maffei served as Co-President of Oracle, Chairman and CEO of 360networks, and CFO of Microsoft. He has also served as a Director of Barnes & Noble, Citrix, DIRECTV, Dorling Kindersley, Electronic Arts and Starbucks and was Chairman of Expedia and Starz.Maffei is one of the most powerful and influential media CEO’s in the world.LISTEN to Sports Business Radio on Apple podcasts or Spotify podcasts. Give Sports Business Radio a 5-star rating if you enjoy our podcast. Click on the plus sign on our Apple Podcasts page and follow the Sports Business Radio podcast.LISTEN to this episode: https://lnkd.in/gECGGzEzFollow Sports Business Radio on Twitter @SBRadio and on Instagram, Threads and Tik Tok @SportsBusinessRadio.This week’s edition of Sports Business Radio is presented by Boingo Wireless. Now more than ever, staying connected is what matters most. EmailSBRadio@Boingo.comto find out more about how Boingo can help your venue stay connected. Join venues that are Boingo partners such as Petco Park and State Farm arena. Visitwww.boingo.com.This week’s edition of Sports Business Radio is also presented by Morgan Stanley Global Sports & Entertainment.Morgan Stanley Global Sports & Entertainment is a division of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management dedicated to serving the unique and sophisticated needs of elite and professional athletes, entertainers, executives, creators, and other top talent and professionals in the sports and entertainment industry. The division consists of over 200 Financial Advisors with the Global Sports & Entertainment Director/Associate Director designation, several of whom are former professional and collegiate athletes who once embarked on a similar journey to that of today’s talent, leaders, executives and creators.Visitmorganstanley.com/gseto learn more.#Media #CEO #GregMaffei #LibertyMedia #F1 #LasVegasGrandPrix #SiriusXM #AtlantaBraves

In the latest INTERNATIONAL SPORTS CONVENTION podcast, our Managing Director, James Dobbs, unravels the fascinating journey of sports in the monetisation landscape and offers a glimpse into future trends.James sheds light on challenges in sports monetisation, addressing financial disparities and the struggle to align strategies with audience demands. Diving into emerging trends, he tackles concerns about illegal usage and piracy in the sports media landscape. The shifting consumer mindset, especially among younger audiences, prioritises authenticity, leading to collaborations with social platforms for genuine content. This podcast offers valuable insights into navigating challenges and trends in the dynamic sports media industry.Listen here: https://bit.ly/3Gp9hMO#SNTV #SportsMediaInsights #MonetisationStrategies #FutureOfContent#SportsPodcast #SportsBizPodcast

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🏎 'The underdog story, the comeback wins, the Cinderella moments, the historic rivalries, the regional loyalties. Sports aren’t just compelling in the midst of the game; it’s the adjacent dramathat often draws people in the most.' - same is in #karting, especially this international one like: #WSK, #FiaKartingChampionship, #FiaAcademyTrophy with the best young drivers from around the world (incl. #KlaraKowalczyk, IG: @klarasupersprint). 🙌 36 of them driving at the same time on the race track, competing hand in hand boys and girls, change of action like in a kaleidoscope, sharp overtakes, unexpected retirements and most importantly - all of the accompanying emotions! If you're keen on experiencing it by yourself, walking around, seeing the paddock life, drop by Italian race tracks still this season or plan it for the next season while nearby. 📢 Stay tuned for which races Klara is going to race still this season! 📰 And meanwhile check out this interesting article on modern ecosystem of sports and how we watch the sport has changed recently by Leah Asmelash, CNN. ❓ What about you? Are you a fan of #DrivetoSurvive by Netflix? Cody Havard * The University of Memphis * Jake Sanson * Formula 1#klarasupersprint #KlaraKowalczyk #motorsport #racing #karting #kartingworld #driver #WomenInMotorsport #F1 #entertainment #sportsmarketing

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