Given its increasingly strategic importance within sports business, it is surprising how many rights-holders produce sub-standard apps.To try and solve this issue, I spoke to George Crabb, Managing Director at The Other Media. This well-established digital agency have a rich history in working with rights-holders to create mobile applications of the highest quality. We collaborated to refashion the Arsenal app a decade ago but usage, connectivity, monetisation and the art-of-the-possible have moved forward rapidly since then.In this extensive podcast, we delve into the most basic questions in the field, explore how rights-holder should approach the development of their offering and what could be coming in the future Why do you need a specific app? "The answer lies with the growth of mobile use and functionality." For the clubs, it is about fan engagement and revenueThe benefit of keeping fans in your ecosystem and the data playWhy the app is the centre of the ecosystem now"Yes clients still come demanding a replication of the website"The key tool of push notifications Has ticketing via an app made a big leap made in lockdown and will it persist?What strategic issues does an organisation need to have in mind when starting the app process The problem of connectivity in stadia Bugbears - linking social media with your app, apps as a set of webpages - and ways around them Free, data and sign-up models Personalisation and segmentation of content - what is the state of the art?Integration with CRM systems The importance of contentPrice George's examples of best practice Creating community

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

George Crabb: How to create the perfect sports app

It is the content strategy problem we would all like to have. How do you create a story about a team that has won the league seven seasons in a row (and an eighth is expected to follow soon)? Johor Darul Ta'zim (or JDT) are a team on a mission. They were re-formed in 2013 with a new nickname, the Southern Tigers, under the guidance of the Crown Prince of Johor. They won their first title a year later and the AFC Cup (the Asian version of the Europa League) 12 months after that. They have gone on to dominate Malaysian football. But their tone on social media has brought them as much attention as their success. Now they are looking to internationalise their brand and grow their partnership portfolio with the likes of Aston Martin and Unicef. Vijhay Vick, the Head of Content, is leading their strategy. In this podcast, he discusses his approach to JDT's unique position.TOPICSThe recent history of JDTHow they have grown on social mediaCapitalising on the huge Indonesian marketBeing brazen about their successWhy they are "the most hated team in Malaysia"What would signing a world-renowned player like Radamel Falcao do for the league and the club?Having a partnership with the likes of Aston Martin The Malaysian League in general - crowds, TV audience, etcThe football audience is very split - some love foreign football, some love Malaysian football. They are very different groups. How JDT's PR strategy has started to bridge the gapJDT's social media strategy - "It's 80 per cent Facebook. The Twitter space is toxic." Dealing with that toxicity on social media The role of CSR in JDT’s strategyThe link with UnicefHis content and communications team at JDTThe kit reveal video that received a million views in two daysThe crucial buy-in from the topBeing realistic about what JDT can achieve

Vijhay Vick: Content strategy for teams who win the league every year

Alison Kervin is a pioneer in women's sports journalism. She was the first female editor of Rugby World and the first female sports editor of a UK national newspaper. Kervin's eight-year spell at the Mail on Sunday has just come to a close so he has started up a media agency for athletes. Oh, and she is a successful novelist too.If she was editing this piece, undoubtedly 'the line' would centre on her gender-based breakthroughs. After all, that is why she was awarded an OBE. But Kervin's spell at the Mail has coincided with huge disruption in the newspaper industry, sparked by digital transformation. She reveals the skills and knowledge she has had to acquire for the 'new' media age and the core abilities every storyteller still requires.Writing a sports reporting book back in the 1990sWhat has changed and not changed in sport reportingThe skill of a sports writer. Does it garner respect?The feature writer's evolution. What worked and what did not for her.Coping with the management of athletes in modern sportWhat qualities meant it was she who made the key breakthroughs as a female sports journalistDid the door slam behind her?Is the lack of female sports journalists down to confidence?The growth of digital in newspapers since she took over at the Mail on Sunday sports editor in 2013Concerns of speed being much more important than quality in the digital ageThe problem of SEO-based 'churnalism' driven by clicksThe shortening of feedback loopsThe difficulty of shareabilityHow does Alison measure the success of female sports journalism these days?Writing novels under the pen name of Bernice Bloom - mimicking the box-set mentalityStarting a media agency - knowing what a journalist would want

Alison Kervin: Sports Writing, the Mail and the female pioneer

The use of data in the analysis of sporting performance is well-known but not yet universally employed.Many teams say they are going all ‘Moneyball’ but few truly follow it through. Often, decision-making is still emotional, made without evidence and based on the eye rather than the numbers.Poker has become viewed as a Petri-dish for strategic thinking based on probability which, if applied correctly, can provide long-term success.Dan Weston is a former professional gambler and poker player. He was also one of the UK’s top slot-machine players in his young days.Now, he is applying his shrewd statistical knowledge to cricket as recruitment analyst of Leicestershire CC and the Birmingham Phoenix. In this podcast, he discusses his career, his current work and the move towards game theory. TOPICSHis role at Leicestershire Dan’s Table of JusticeUsing poker as a ‘thinking process’The trend for ex-pro gamblers to run Premier League football clubs… and run them well“Poker is a long-term skill game but short-term luck game.’Proving the case for giving him a role at a cricket clubHow his content helped this processTaking the emotion out of decision-making The importance of accountability The myth of ‘the eye’How to build a squadDealing with DraftsWhy fans and the media need to fully understand an evidence-based strategyLINKS

Dan Weston: Poker, data analysis and decision-making in cricket

Sarim Akhtar's face has become synonymous with anger but he is actually a very happy chap.However, when the television cameras momentarily caught his expression at a cricket match two years ago, the Pakistan fan was furious after his team had dropped a catch. Within hours, the anonymous meme-makers had pounced on the picture and spread it around social media. He has been 'Insta-famous' ever since. How should you react in this situation? Ignore it, embrace it or just make as much cash as you can? Then there is your family and work colleagues. And what about those occasions when you become the face of something you know nothing about.Then there is the real question at the heart of the matter - as the subject of a sports meme does Sarim have any idea why his one happened to capture the world's imagination. TopicsHow the meme happenedWhy he was actually suppressing angerWhen the meme really took off Getting thousands of Facebook requests overnight and why he got scared at first"My meme is not an awkward moment so perhaps I can embrace it more than some."He has never made a meme and was not a social media personThe versions of the meme he has enjoyed the mostWhat people say when they contact himThe person who wanted permission to put his face on their credit cardMaking money - a Coca-cola ad in Pakistan and why he has got more advertisements The promo for the Pakistan Cricket BoardHis family's reactionWhat happened on the two-year anniversary of the memeDid it sum up the moment for Pakistan cricketWill he ever get tired of it?Has he ever thought why it happened to him? Is he happy it happened?

Sarim Akhtar: Life as a sports meme

[Click out all the content from MrRichardClarke here]Contrary to popular belief, the New York Cosmos are still alive.Gone are the glitter-strewn days of the late 1970s when Pele played on the pitch, Mick Jagger watched from the packed stands and then, afterwards, they partied together at Studio 54. The old North American Soccer League soon crumbled under the weight of its own excess. However, its leading team gained an enduring legend.I spoke to official club historian David Kilpatrick about the incredible origin story of the Cosmos, its brief spell in the limelight, its troublesome rebirth and how, just maybe, there may be a route back to centre stage.TOPICSThe genesis of the Cosmos - Atlantic Records, two Turkish brothers, Gotham Soccer Club and the New York GeneralsThe impact of the 1966 and 1970 World CupsCosmos is short for Cosmopolitan like NY Mets is short for MetropolitanChasing Pele - "George Best did not turn up and Henry Kissinger helped"Adding Carlos Alberto, Giorgio Chinaglia New York in the late 1970s - financial problems, the 'Son of Sam' murders and the need for glamourThe power of Chinaglia at the CosmosThe retirement of PeleThe global tour - Indonesia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Australia, Malaysia London - and the tax dodge that helpedWhy the Cosmos became the first US soccer brandWarner's problems, a failed video game for ET - Extra-terrestrial and the sale of the club"I'm with the Cosmos" - the phrase that got you into Studio 54The reboot for the NY Cosmos after the documentary "Once in a Lifetime" Why they did not join MLS"The most successful franchises in MLS are those who have embraced their NASL history."Did the Cosmos win battles for the ‘soccer family’ in the US?The influence of the Cosmos in the early American World Cup squadsSteve Hunt - seven games for Villa, sold to the Cosmos, played with Pele, went back to the English top flight. Does this prove the standard of the NASL?The problem of TV ratings in NASL back then and MLS nowThe pro/rel issue and the CosmosCan global leagues create a route back for the Cosmos?Why the introduction of New York City FC hurt the new version of the CosmosWhat is the future of the club? The legal case to try and align North American soccer with global football Is there still a fanbase out there for the New York Cosmos?

David Kilpatrick: What's the future of the New York Cosmos

Rob Moody runs a YouTube channel with over 900,000 subscribers and holds an important influence over the agenda in his sport but he has never made a penny.If you are a cricket fan with access to the internet, it is highly likely you have seen one of his videos. Robelinda2 is the ‘go to’ channel for the rare, unusual or controversial moments in the game. His archive has received over a billion views in its 10-year existence by curating niche cricketing content that is appetising to fans and acceptable to rights-holders.His one-man mission has been so successful that, these days, major players and executives offer their support whenever he suffers a copyright strike.Moody will say there is no strategy behind his channel, I disagree. His ideas are perfect for his niche, he looks at metrics and experiments constantly. One recent change saw a 10-year-old video move from 170 views to 80,000 in just 48 hours. However, the Australian expects his channel to be shut down soon. This is an unusual digisport success story. Yet, there are many lessons to be learned.TOPICSHis unhappiness at conventional cricket highlight edits Curation – why produce a 32-minute video of all Glenn McGrath’s boundariesThe long list of requests and how he handles themHis stats since lockdown - 200k increase in subscribers, 249m views in 12 monthsThe Steve Waugh run-out video and how Shane Warne got involvedThe value of heritage content and why it is not considered by many channelsIgnoring all good practice in YouTube channel-building - apart from the headlines How changing the title of a 10-year video saw it go from 170 views to 80,000 in two days  “I have pushed the envelope and been as offensive as I can possibly be just to see what would happen” Does the flak affect him?  Catering for older cricket fansWhy his channel is living on borrowed timeHis process for dealing with takedown notices Have the broadcasters tried to learn from Robelinda2? (The answer is only once and only briefly)Pushing against the norms of YouTube

Rob Moody: Why YouTube’s best cricket channel makes no money and has no future

Content strategy, the cookie apocalypse and other disastersLike a great drummer, a sports content strategy should be tight and consistent but happy to improvise when required.Many content leaders have been caught out by changes in Facebook's algorithms over the years and, in recent months, Google and Apple have introduced fundamental alterations that will have knock-on effects for almost everyone in the digital space, not just the sports industry.Recently, a blog by Johan Junker entitled the Cookie Apocalypse caught my eye. He is a deep thinker on content, sports business and the future. His company, Antourage are trying to solve some of the issues. But there are plenty more to discuss.This is a long theoretical discussion and we don't have all the answers. In fact, we are just trying to see if our questions are in the right areas.TOPICSThe main weakness in sports content strategy right nowWhy OTT platforms only worry about dwell timeOur brains are not built to have more than 200 relationships in real life so how can we have a relationship with 10,000 brands?The 'Cookie Apocalypse' blogLosing the obsession with big numbersWhy the sports industry is old-fashioned in harnessing the power of personality The advantage of a robot posting content - because it is talking to a robot initially. This allows you to reallocate 75 per cent of your content staff to jobs that matterGet the human content team to craft emotional storiesWhy sports marketing will change fundamentally in 2022Why credibility will be crucial for personalities and influencers going forwardAre sports rights-holders REALLY struggling for compelling contentDefinitions of ambassadors and the role they can performQuality v speed (and what is quality anyway)? Share value vs pushing your productThe opportunity created by the pandemic - where are you going to invest your time? Being the mayor of your villageJohan's recommended products

Johan Junker: Content Strategy, the cookie apocalypse and other dist

TOPICSWhat has changed in the last three years?The first book coincided with the introduction of GDPR? Looking back how has that rolled out?The differing approaches of sports organisations to GDPR, particularly Manchester UnitedWhy you should never take anyone out of your database? The importance of the win-back planWhat has developed over the last 10 years?The move against personalisation, and why Fiona disagreesAdding in psychological info and the problems with Net Promoter Score The concept of “Jobs To Be Done” Talking about the R in CRMThe importance of marketing to young fans and the restrictions around the worldMarketing in different countries  The inclusion of social media in your CRM ecosystem. The problem of scraping dataThe ambitions of big and small clubs. The difference in framing“Technology is not a silver bullet” - The 80:20 split. Spending 80 per cent of your resources on the peopleThe next three years in CRM

Fiona Green: CRM in sport

TOPICSWhy digital is the second industrial revolution Why control of the customer relationship is crucialThe battleground that has been lost to the social media companies by sportsPutting 'goodwill on the balance sheet'The role content plays in your strategyThe current sports commercial model - ad-hoc and unstrategic"Sponsorship will become cashless. Partnerships will be partnerships"Comparing the average of season ticket holders in different sports around the worldThe importance of reengaging with communities post-CovidThe purpose-driven approach behind brand The reaction to Covid and how it will be led by price or qualityWhat specifically is being pushed forward because of Covid The importance of a clear communications strategyWhy the future belongs to "marketers and value creators not salesmen"The widening split between rich sports and poor sports

Ben Wells: Sport, digital and the re-emergence after Covid-19

The development of "football groups" is a relatively recent and controversial phenomenon. The pioneer has been City Football Group, which started with the acquisition of Manchester City and has since bought significant stakes in clubs in the United States, Australia, India, Japan, Spain, Uruguay, China, Belgium and France.The Red Bull group has been constructed a different way, with the energy drink company taking over teams in Salzburg, New York, Brazil, Ghana and, most controversially, Leipzig between 2005 and 2010 after earlier forays into F1 and extreme sports.Both groups have been criticised for throwing money at footballing success but the Red Bull clubs are often dismissed as a marketing exercise and labelled with one of the most damning words in the supporters’ lexicon - plastic.Last year, Karan Tejwani published Wings of Change: How the World’s Biggest Energy Drink Manufacturer Made a Mark in Football. In this podcast, we discuss the business the meaning and the lessons behind Red Bull’s football story.TOPICSWhy did they get into football? After going with his local club Salzburg, why did Dietrich Mateschitz expand to New York, Brazil, Ghana and Leipzig?The marketing link in India and GoaIs it just about selling drinks?Why are they so criticised? The particular criticism of RB Leipzig - the name and the ownership structure Why the German fans have maintained a special intensity around RB Leipzig How have RB Leipzig grown off the pitch and are they popular in Saxony? Are the East German roots of RB Leipzig are a factor too?The importance of Ralf Rangnick to the RB Leipzig story?His three Cs - Capital, Concept and Competence Getting success in taking players out of Africa The common philosophy across all the clubs on the pitchAre RB Leipzig the No1 and the others just feeder clubs?Their reaction to the criticismThe comparisons to Man City and City Football GroupIs there a difference with other brands backing clubs? Fiat and Juventus, Phillips and PSV, VW and Wolfsburg etc?Does their lack of history allow a culture of speedy innovation?Would and should RB Leipzig get into a remodelled European Super League if it were to be introduced? Why have they not moved into SE Asia?Are the Red Bull group inspired others? Have all these football acquisitions actually grown the Red Bull brand? What would the reaction be in German football if RB Leipzig won the Champions League?

Karan Tejwani: How Red Bull created a football group

How he ended up in the J.League and Vissel KobeThe international development role at FC Koln  The difference in communications requirements between Germany and JapanThe need to actively pitch stories in the J.LeagueThe dominance of newspapers in the sports media market in JapanThe media requirements in the J.League and the organisation of the communications/media department at VisselHow Vissel Kobe handled the signing of Andreas Iniesta The strategy that links with parent company Rakuten Their relative strengths on social media - most-followed J.League club on Instagram and previously top on YouTubeThe international players’ influence on the club’s social media growth How they use Viber internally and externallyThe J.League’s plan to become the leading league in AsiaThe influence of the DAZN deal on J.League clubsVissel Kobe’s first foray in the AFC Champions League - starting well, Covid, one team pulling out of the group, pandemic protection Covid’s effects on the J.League as a wholeLukas Podolski - Poldi’s Noise and how he turned it into a media brand, being “Farmer Smart”, using humour to help the team and charitable causesWhy the respectful approach of the media comes from the culture in the country Where does the J.League need to strengthen in the next five years?

Ken Lambert: Vissel Kobe communications, stars and digital

The two golden eras of British speedway - immediately post-war and 60/70sHow Wembley drew more than 1m speedway spectators in 1956The downward spiral since the 1980s - from over 90,000 watching Bruce Penhall at Wembley in 1982 to just over 1,000 at top-flight meetsThe origin story of speedway. High Beech in 1928The World of Sport days and the significance of its loss. Being late to "live sports"The comparison to snooker and darts in the UKThe importance of an entrepreneurial influence The dislocation of speedway teams because promoters do not own their tracks The working-class nature of speedway. The crossover with greyhound racing"It's a £10 sport" and does that work anymore? Is it possible to monetise it in the way of modern sports businessThe new speedway venue in ManchesterWhy successful speedway teams like Workington went under as well as less successful clubsAttracting sponsors, especially when you are outside big citiesThe ageing demographics of modern speedwayThe movement of club and riders 'doubling up' affecting the identity in the fanbase The famous stat that speedway was the second most popular spectator sport in the UKThe demise in the number of teamsThe TV deals in the UK - Sky, BT, Eurosport Newspaper coverage. Only the Daily Star is still flying the flagThe European Grand Prix How the Cardiff event manages to cut-through with an attendance of 40,000The growth of the sport in Europe, especially Poland Should UK speedway become a polish feeder league?What would Roddy do to carve a future for UK speedway?

Roddy McDougall: Is there life left in British speedway?

Trends of 2020 - "clubs have 'thought beyond the norm' and I don't think it will go back"The 'two extremes' from Covid - the need for fans to support them v the need for money from sponsorsWhat activities created by the Covid crisis will persist after the virus is beaten Getting by giving - the authenticity of the Marcus Rashford storyThe way clubs talk to their fans - the problem of 'closing the reality gap' The psychological move of sports social media after Covid-19 hitThe movement of the social media platforms over the last year - why Mario got it wrong on Instagram and TikTok is "an ocean of content"Facebook's problems, its legal issues and the effects on sports clubsThe political dimension to curbing the social media platformsThe problem with fake social media advertising metrics. The lack of transparancy The one country trying to license valid social media metricsHow Mario has investigated the problemThe problem of the Nielsen approach and CPM as an estimateWhy a European Super League will happen and World Cups will be staged every two yearsThe importance of CSR and being fancentricThe risk of clubs going all-out for promotionThe assumption that fans will come back automaticallyRich Luker's '2% solution' Marketers letting go of big numbers of engagement and concentrating on real numbers Mario's tips for running club accounts in 2021

Mario Leo: Sportsbiz, digital, the need of New Year resolution

TOPICS"In 1988 there was absolutely no systematic research on sports fans in the US"Why sport fandom was linked with the economy and wealth until 2010"If you go to your first baseball game before you are five you go to 58% more games per year than if you go to your first game at 14."The problems of seasonality, looking only at one sport, studying it 'all the way' Starting ESPN Sports Poll and then buying it outMeasuring free time and the effects of Covid-19The drastic challenges facing the sports industry before the pandemicStudying two paradigm shifts in his researchthe changing nature of sports media consumption the invention of the smartphone taking the internet 'off the desk'Why 2026 was set to be THE critical year as every new adult would now grow up with smartphonesWhy these fans will not 'come back' at 35 because they were never there in the first placeThe growth of post-war PE in the US and how 'making it fun' created sports "That was the only real investment in sports fans"The importance of the bonding experience with your parents (mainly Dad) Why tattoos are a 'canary in the coalmine' for sports storiesWhy no-one is paying attention to community in sports but the lack of it is the biggest threat?CRM in sports is just 'transactional and transitional'The lack of research into young children's preferences "The biggest change is change itself... everything is fluid. Being a human being is the only thing that is constant" Asking the sports team owners "what they sell?" Comparing esports with the poker phenomenon The Luker plan for sports post Covid - community, young fans, revolutionising the gamecast and bringing sports to the fansWho is the instigator of community?Signs of hope and worry - finding sports' Anthony Fauci.

Rich Luker: How to foresee the future of sports fans

An exploration of sports content, storytelling, digital and social media. Speaking to players, executives, coaches, creators, journalist and specialist about their sporting passions.

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Sports Content Strategy with MrRichardClarke: Exploring spor...

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