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Intro Notes, Plugs & Amendments 🔌🔧

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I’ve been writing this newsletter since September 2021 and I think the last two weeks have been the most enjoyable.

This newsletter has basically given me the ability to spar with myself. I’ve constantly been building my own theses over the past 9 months and it is really awesome to keep learning.

This newsletter is a first in which I discuss and build on a topic I’ve already explored.

If you’re interested in reading that particular edition — you can do so here: 

The newsletter is since 300+ people bigger.

Make no mistake about it, this isn’t recycling of content. This is building *on* content and exploring some deeper ideas that I’ve been thinking about and talking about over the last few months. 🔌 If you would like me to come to an event and speak about Sports & Crypto / NFTs, please reach out on the above platforms.

This Week’s Deep Dive: To License or Not to License - Part 2

In my previous piece on licensing I wrote:

And I’m still looking for that ‘full stop’.

Whilst that piece focused a lot more on the confusion from a legality perspective and just how sports rights holders should be thinking about ‘partitioning’ their rights.

Many have signed up to exclusive long term deals.

Some of these, I think these rights holders will regret.

In this piece however, I talk more about Rights holders from a strategic perspective and where they’re going wrong

So you hold or represent valuable rights

I was on a panel last week where someone said something so insightful, we may as well have ended the panel on that exclamation panel.

When discussing the parallel between gaming, movies and sports they said:

In retrospect, that’s really obvious. 

Having a good Harry Potter game (that I loved playing on my gameboy advanced aged 9) or having a good Star Wars game is definitely better for the brand and the movie or franchise, than having a poor one. The returns are indirectly higher. 

And realistically the rights holders who have sold the rights to make one of the first Indiana Jones games did it for one thing and one thing only; revenue.

I truly believe we’re at that point for Sport Rights holders right now and am in total agreement with the thinking of my fellow panelist above. The parallels ring true.

And some of the rebuttal to this has been quite interesting.

I wrote this post about Liverpool Football Club on LinkedIn last week which got a fair bit of attention. It was critical of the clubs approach and how they used their rights and image rights of their players and manager with their NFT drop.

One of the comments on my post was the following: 

I’m sure David is a great guy and I am in no way throwing him under the bus by posting this comment.

I’m sure that if we had a conversation on the phone or via email beyond the medium that is LinkedIn, we’d agree on a lot more.

And please don’t let this deter you from posting on my LinkedIn articles in the future, because I really do love the discourse, debate and conversation it sparks. I really liked the debate that David sparked here. In fact, he sparked an entire newsletter — so I thank him very much.

In this case, I don't think we need hindsight in order to criticise, and I also don’t think we need to congratulate anyone doing anything *new*.

I think this is especially true when that *new* thing, in crypto, Web3 — however you want to dress it up — is so intrinsically attached to the transference and storage of value. And therefore, well, money.

Now you could say this is the same for physical merchandise and I definitely see that argument. Fans are taking money from their pocket and giving it to you for a good that leverages the IP that is so sacred from a sports team or brand.

But when talk about anything to do with crypto, that crosses anything to do with sports, we’re in a position where every thing has to be done incredibly carefully.

There is this idea that crypto or Web3 is the ‘financialization of everything’ which I think is nonsense. But nonetheless, we have to be sensitive to the perception of sports fans, crypto critics and the wider public, because perception is reality. And the perception is that sports fans hate anything to do with this nascent space. So that is the reality.

So when you are looking at partnering with a studio or an agency who are trying to buy or win those rights — think carefully. If you’re thinking about pure revenue, and you have valuable rights, that’s fine. But be prepared for the backlash.

Realistically, some of these rights holders don’t care that much. They don’t know how long they will be at that specific agency, franchise or club. They have pressure from above to meet revenue targets.

Somehow, someway, these two things need to ring true in the future:

• Rights holders create innovative, exciting and attractive ‘Web3’ native propositions that their fans love

• Rights holders drive revenue to protect meet revenue targets

…Or so you’d think, after reading the above.

There is an alternative and where I think there’ll be more value short term for rights holders.  

Social media and content are what to most sports franchises: cost centres. 

Sports teams spend a lot of money on social money and content. They spend a lot of money on influecer content and marketing as well.

They do this for various reasons; brand equity, global fan engagement, to tell stories etc.

But the return on investment here indirectly is incredible.

I think NFTs especially are a marketers dream. I’ve said that several times in this newsletter.

There will be a few propositions in the future that make a lot of money and are great for fans.

But by and large I think a marketing approach is the way to go.

This isn’t to say everything has to be free. Nor this is to say everything has to be something purchasable.

It’s that if your primary intention is to create revenue, I’m 99% sure you’ll fail when first venturing into Web3 if you’re coming from Sports.

More sports crypto stories & things to put your radar

• Sorare sign Napoli to a multi-year exclusive partnership. 

• The NFL’s Chief Media & Business Officer says Digital is the future.

• Houbi, the crypto exchange, and Chiliz have launched a ‘Fan Token Zone’ where many fan tokens will be listed. 

• WhaleFin, who partnered with Chealsea, have signed a 5 year deal with Atletico Madrid.

• Socios venture into Rugby, with Leicester Tigers, Saracens and Harlequins creating their own fan tokens. 

• Nike will not regret their purchase of RTFKT, ever, I don’t think…

• Skate’s up in Sandbox! Tony Hawk, Autograph and Sandbox have partnered.

• Sorare revealed their MLB cards. They do look, awesome.

• After parntering with the current best French footballer in the world, Sorare have also partnered with the best to ever do it in Zinedine Zidane. 

• Sorare have signed the Argentinina National Team on a multi-year partnership. 

Great reads, great tweeting and more general ‘stuff’ that could impact you

• Gaming and Web3. Seems as though they’re intrinsically linked. But VCs could take huge losses on some of the bets they’re making…

• ‘In defence of Crypto’

• GameStop, that was a meme stock about 18 months ago, now have a relatively successful NFT marketplace. Who would have thunk it?

• I think Loopify might be right, here…

Thanks!

Thanks for reading the latest edition of the Sporting Crypto newsletter. I’m really happy to see so many people enjoying it and sharing it with their networks. If you enjoyed this, please tell your friends who might be interested - and share it on social :)This newsletter is for informational purposes only and is not financial or business advice. These are my thoughts & opinions and do not represent the opinions of any other business or entity.