Sports Pundit Podcast with Andy Marston

Today, we revisit a conversation with Em Heath, Global Brand Director at Rexona, a key player globally in Unilever’s personal care brand portfolio. Formerly a sponsor of Williams F1, the brand has taken a serious liking to women’s football - partnering with Man City and Chelsea, doing deals with players like Lauren James and Lucy Bronze, as well as playing a key role in activating around marquee properties like the Women’s World Cup and Women’s Euros, as part of Unilever’s broader partnerships with FIFA and UEFA. We explore this interest in women’s football and the nuances of activating across almost every area of the women’s game, the role that brands can play within women’s sport, and the intricacies of managing a global brand. Timestamps 2:00 - Em's Journey 4.30: - How Rexona Fits within Unilever Personal Care Portfolio 8:00 - Activating Partnerships with UEFA and FIFA 15:00 - Balancing Sports Partnerships with Other Areas of Marketing 18:00 - Leveraging Ambassadors at Club Partners - like Lucy Bronze and Lauren James 20:30 - What Attracted Rexona to Partner with Chelsea and Man City 26:00 - Chicken and Egg Problem Surrounding Women's Sport 29:00 - What is Rexona's Breaking Limits Program? 34:00 - Meeting KPIs and Measuring ROI 40:00 - Evaluating New Partners - and why Rexona Stopped Sponsoring in Formula 1 45:00 - Looking Forward Additional Links ⁠Rexona Partners with England Football Star Lucy Bronze to Inspire Girls to Move More⁠ ⁠ICC and Unilever announce groundbreaking partnership on International Women’s Day to strengthen the future of women’s cricket⁠ Connect with Emily on LinkedIn - ⁠Here⁠ Connect with Andy on LinkedIn - ⁠Here

This is the fourth episode in a series of 5 focused on #Performance and hosted by Rich Buchanan, a former Performance Director at Swansea City FC in the Premier League and Human Performance Consultant for DC United in the MLS. On today’s episode of the Sports Pundit Performance Podcast, Andy was joined by Spencer Jones of the Denver Nuggets. On a two-way contract with the Grand Rapids Gold of the NBA G League, Spencer has continually beat the odds. From being a last minute admission to Stanford to captaining the team for three seasons, and initially going undrafted, only to now find himself in the NBA.  What is most interesting about Spencer is how he continually applies himself both on and off the court. This includes actively engaging with and investing in startups, particularly in the human performance space, as well as being one of very few NBA players active on LinkedIn. Filling in on this episode for Rich, Andy does his best to address the conversation from a performance lens, however, I also took an interest in how he thinks about investing and leveraging his position as a professional athlete. Timestamps 4:00 - Spencer's Journey to the NBA 7:00 - Leveraging Access and Opportunity 14:00 - Angel Investing in Sports and Health Tech 18:00 - Applying Off-Court Investments into On-Court Performance 23:00 - Maximising Sleep and Recovery 27:00 - Future Ambitions Additional Links Connect with Spencer on LinkedIn - Here Connect with Rich on LinkedIn - Here #AdThis series is kindly supported by  award-winning sports technology and innovation company, Genius Sports.  Discover the new operating system for sport brought to you by the world leader in AI and sports data by visiting ⁠⁠⁠geniussports.com/perform/⁠⁠⁠

Today, we revisit a conversation with the CEO of Overtime, Dan Porter.  Formerly head of Digital at WME, CEO of OMGPOP, and the creator of the mobile game ‘Draw Something,’ Dan founded Overtime in 2016.  Now a digital sports media company geared towards Gen-Z sports fans and operating a series of professional sports leagues - it began focusing on posting short-form content of high school athletes captured shared to social media. This social-first identity carries through across all of the companies endeavours to this day, so I’m delighted to have Dan on to discuss the companies evolution from media platform to league operator, their recently announced partnerships with the ATP Tour and NWSL, and how they are navigating the evolving landscape around areas like NIL and social media. Timestamps:   2:00 - Dan’s Journey - From Draw Something to Overtime 5:00 - What is Overtime? A brand, a platform, a league? 8:00 - Becoming Sports League Operators  10:00 - Young athletes aren’t future stars, they’re stars NOW 13:00 - Owning IP and Being Part of Creator Economy  15:00 - Impact of Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) on Overtime 17:00 - Eli Ellis: A potential future Overtime CEO  20:00 - Overtime’s Revenue Split  25:00 – NFL, Olympics & new partnerships: Why other leagues are working with Overtime 30:00 – Future plans and Overtime’s potential bold play in chess Additional Links: ⁠Different Game: Overtime’s IP Empire Is What Every Sports Brand Wishes It Had ⁠ ⁠Overtime and NWSL Team Up For Gen-Z-Focused Content Partnership⁠ ⁠ATP Tour & Overtime announce groundbreaking content partnership to bring tennis to new audiences⁠ Connect with Dan on LinkedIn - ⁠Here⁠ Connect with Andy on LinkedIn - ⁠Here

This is the fourth episode in a series of 5 focused on #Innovation and hosted by Leanne Bats, a former All Blacks and FC Barcelona executive now leading innovation for a regional sports trust in New Zealand.  On this week's episode Leanne was joined by Rowena Samarasinhe, one of the sharpest systems thinkers in global sport to go deep into women's sport (coincidentally, right off the back of the Lionesses' history-breaking Euros success). From CMS Law, SPORTFIVE, and commercial rights giant, Dentsu, to working intimately with UEFA, World Athletics, and also athletes like Usain Bolt, Rowena has founded GENSport. In this conversation, Leanne and Rowena imagine what's possible for the future of the women's sports industry at a time when traditional models in the men's game are increasingly coming under pressure. As they discuss, the path for women's sports should not be a copy paste of the men's game, but instead demand new thinking. Timestamps 02:00 - Celebrating the Lionesses' Victory 05:00 - Rowena's Journey in Sports 09:00 The Changing Landscape of Sports 11:00 - Innovative Approaches in Women's Sports 15:00 - Challenges and Opportunities in Modern Sports 20:00 - Future of Women's Football 26:00 -  US vs. UK Women's Sports Models 31:00 - Challenges in Women's Sports Investment 35:00 - Innovative Broadcast Strategies 41:00 - Athlete-Centric Fandom 43:00 - Commercial Opportunities in Women's Sports 48:00 - Under the Radar Women's Sports Markets Additional Links Connect with Rowena on LinkedIn - Here Connect with Leanne on LinkedIn - Here Visit sportspundit.co  to find previous editions of the podcast, access the newsletter, sign up to our WhatsApp community and join us at an upcoming social event in cities all around the world.