After listening to this week’s ESA webinar on leadership in lockdown, I started thinking about how our new normal provides an opportunity for everyone to be a leader and specifically a thought leader. In the entertainment industry we’ve pressed pause for good reason on in-real-life live activity, but which button are we going to hit next? Play or fast forward? Albeit against our will, we’ve found ourselves in a moment where all bets are off and rebuilding should be an adventure not a chore.
One thing I’m enjoying about lockdown is taking time to indulge in the best case creative ‘what if’ conversations. With so many friends who love live sport pining for their favourite preoccupation, I spotted a captive audience to play out my future of sport ‘what if’ scenarios with. One such friend (who conveniently also happens to be a sports partnerships expert) recently wrote to me:
My live sport withdrawal symptoms are peaking. The last match I watched was two months ago. The rugby team I support won and things looked promising for an end-of-season push up the table. Now, there’s a sense of unfinished business – for players, fans, broadcasters and sponsors alike.
Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but that to me reads like the perfect guinea pig (sorry, typo, I meant to say collaborator) for my inquisition (or fun and friendly chat).
First things first, I wanted to understand why he was missing sport so much. I get it. I think a lot of us do. It’s a cross between that feeling you get when you know you’ve forgotten something but you can’t remember what it is and the tension that builds up when you don’t get to detox from the daily grind, but why is it sport has such a profound impact on us?
His answer: Live sport is so much more than entertainment. A friend told me that one of his toughest blows during this period was the loss of Friday night rugby on BT Sport. For him it signals the downing of tools and the commencement of escapism. He works in the NHS. Now more than ever the outlet of live sport would be a welcome relief. For me, rugby has always sat at the centre of my family dynamic. Messaging to share views on Eddie Jones’ latest squad selection means ‘Are you okay?’ or ‘I love you’.
The concept of sport providing a secret language, a shared passion and an emotional connection to the people you care about – and hordes of strangers alike – resonates universally. Without sport as we know it how do we bridge the gap?
We need to adapt. I’m lucky to be working at the centre of a sport I love which is busy filling its season suspension with exciting new content. I’m surrounded by passionate people full of ideas and get the inside scoop. It’s fulfilling and makes me feel connected, but what next? Time to reach out for some more inspiration:
There’s been a huge amount written about sport’s eagerly anticipated return. As in life, there is no simple solution. COVID-19 has already brought out the best in sport. Clubs and players are doing their bit – from salary sacrifice and NHS donations, to the #makethatcall initiative to contact vulnerable, isolated fans. Broadcasters, facing a moral obligation to freeze subscripton fees whilst losing their crown jewel fixtures, have responded magnificently, with a veritable viewing feast including watch-a-long replays with ex-player punditry, and original esports tournaments – some of them even making us feel part of the fight against COVID-19 as they raise money to counter its effects. It’s the kind of heartening, pull-together ethos that sport prides itself on.
More selflessness for the greater good will be required to bring about closure on the 19/20 season. Behind-closed-doors games at neutral venues or back-to-back fixtures that test a club’s senior and academy squad depth may not have been how we imagined trophies and promotions being decided, but sport is about adapting under pressure, and as a collective, clubs and associations will find a way to win.
What we can predict is that when sport returns, it will – and should – look and feel very different. The unsustainable surge in player salaries curbed perhaps. Organisations living within their means. A focus on nurturing and promoting young talent. An opportunity to re-establish meaningful relationships with fans.
It’s clear there’s a rare cornucopia of opportunities available to real-life live sport as it bursts back into our lives and open arms, but after that first flux of activity, what will happen next? In life as in work, many of us are for the moment focused on the day-to-day and it’s hard to think about what’s beyond that vanishing point. But let’s imagine the future is ours to decide. My next question to my well-informed sports nut (he has a name, it’s Mark Huckerby in case you feel like stalking him on LinkedIn – no shame, everyone does it) was: what happens next in a world of sport where you get to write the rules? Play or fast forward?
I should have known what was coming. You may have gleaned that his sport of choice is rugby. I have to confess I didn’t go to a rugby match until 2017 (although I was lucky enough to meet the completely charming All Blacks at Rally New Zealand in 2012). Despite being taken with the sport’s competitive good nature, I’m still a long way from being a rugby expert, so it’s fascinating to hear its national and international context from someone who is:
Clear and considered action is needed to make sure today’s uncertainty doesn’t turn ‘difficult’ into ‘untenable’ across sport. The lost revenues forecast from international rugby fixtures for instance mean that all levels of the game could feel a pinch. The Sevens pathway, the women’s game – where the Tyrell’s Premier 15s is starting to find its feet – and the second and third tiers of domestic rugby need our support.
You only have to look at the current England set-up to understand how crucial a strong second tier of domestic rugby is to the relative strength of the England Rugby brand – Joe Marler, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Harry Williams and Joe Launchbury have all spent time learning their craft below Premiership level. For more than a century, sport has been hailed for its potential to drive social mobility and inclusion. To open doors to opportunity. We need to find a way to navigate the economic impact of this crisis, to keep those doors open.
Meanwhile as fans – we might be facing a very different on-pitch spectacle to the one we’re used to. One of the greatest joys in rugby is watching a hastily assembled team of Pacific Islanders notch up a giant killing. Recent reports suggest a loss of 2020 Autumn Internationals could lead to a government bailout for English rugby. For Tier 2 nations like Fiji and Samoa there’s no such financial lifeline.
Now, as you’ll have noticed from my previous blogs, I actively eschew what might on the surface look like bad news. There’s always another way. We just have to find it. In this instance, I ardently believe that together we can make sure the hurricane is a near miss not a devastation. But how? The answer, I’m told, lies with business leaders and brands:
It might feel like some clubs, nations and even entire sports are on the ropes, but no one who works in professional sport is of a mind to give up without a fight so there remains plenty of room for optimism that the COVID-19 crisis can become a galvanising moment that future-proofs sport for generations to come.
Since turning professional, rugby has evolved at an alarming pace. This could be an opportune moment to recalibrate for more sustainable, long-term growth.
Tell me more…
It may be a few years before we see a Home Nations team tour the Pacific. But for locked down fans what could be better than a broadcaster virtually transporting you to Apia Park, Soldier Field or Estadio José María Minella for your live rugby fix? A chance for fans to broaden their horizons, for broadcasters and sponsors to innovate cost-effectively, future-proof through customer retention and reach new demographics… and for Tier 2 Unions to replenish their reserves whilst winning new fans.
Fans – season ticketholders in particular – have long felt themselves to be shareholders in their clubs. Perhaps now is the moment for rights holders to give those fans more of what they long for in mutually beneficial ways. More behind-the-scenes access to the inner workings of plays and business decisions. More flexibility – we’re already seeing ground-breaking discussions in football around free-to-air matches to end the current season. As broadcasting renewals come around, will clubs and broadcasters take a leaf out of the NFL playbook and collaborate to offer virtual season tickets and ‘access all areas’ content packages?
More than ever, sport will rely on the economic support of corporate partners to thrive. But budgets will be tighter, and every marketing investment will have to work harder, which makes sponsorship a glorious opportunity. Brands like Umbro, partnering with England Rugby, will be able to point to tangible proof points for the positive impact they’re making on their audience passions. Rights holders have the chance to define creative and flexible rights packaging and partnership solutions. The power to create more innovative, memorable, future-proofed partnerships lies with those brands prepared to invest now.
Sponsors can make a genuine impact. Imagine if your sponsorship budget could save a club. Build a talent pathway. Fund a high-performance centre for a developing national federation. Bring women’s sport further into the spotlight through powerful brand-funded content.
The resurgence of live sport will be a marker of hope, positivity, playfulness, dreams and ambitions. For brands, broadcasters and marketing leaders, there has never been a more prescient moment to reap the rewards of investing in purpose-led, long-term strategic sporting partnerships.
Optimism. Not blind optimism. Well thought out, valid optimism. That’s what I like to hear at the moment. And where better to start than in the world of sport? After all, as my companion reminded me quoting Simon Barnes’ words in The Meaning of Sport: ‘Sport brings us hope, in many different forms: and then, at fantastic speed, shows us what happens next.
Katie Traxton is an ESA Board Director and Chief Communications Officer at Formula E. She was previously Managing Partner at WeAreFearless, ESA’s Pan-Europe Sponsorship Agency of the Year.