March 2022
A big-league match-up: sports and marketing
Following last month’s Beijing Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl, March sees the final games of World Cup qualifying for Canada’s men’s soccer team. Will they achieve an exciting first appearance in the finals since 1986? Back then, one of Canada’s games was a 1-0 defeat to France. Football fans at Camden’s Toronto, Montreal and Lyon offices will be hoping for a rematch in Qatar…
MUST-READS
Commanding branding
The NFL’s Washington Football Team used to have a name that was at best inappropriate and at worst racially offensive. So in July 2020 they decided to retire the name and the Washington Commanders were officially revealed last month. Get the inside scoop on the naming process, legal hurdles and secrecy issues at the link below. And for more NFL-themed ad insights, check out Camden CCO John Dutton’s article on this year's most effective Super Bowl ad, in strategy online.
Broken token
The sponsorship of professional soccer team jerseys, training kits and stadiums has been a big business since the 1970s. These deals are usually win-win for both parties. But the liquidation in January of cryptocurrency fan token firm Iqoniq left clubs such as France’s Olympique Marseille, Spain’s Real Sociedad, and England’s Crystal Palace in the financial lurch. Old-school marketing pros will need to tread carefully in the blockchain biz.
Could the esports Olympic breakthrough come with a social cost?
China’s esports market was estimated to be worth 173.6 billion yuan (US$27.2 billion) in 2021. Now the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has announced that the Asian Games 2022 will feature medals being awarded in eight esports games. But as the industry finally takes centre stage and Chinese esports fans celebrate a world championship, there are concerns that a legal loophole will fuel internet addiction among young men.
SNAPSHOT
Slam dunk
Camden shot video portraits to announce PUMA Group basketball’s signing of Ayayi siblings Valériane (Olympic silver-medallist), Joël (NBA's Washington Wizards) and Gérald (French league's Elan Béarnais) in Washington, DC and Pau, France. These pro athletes have found inspiration and strength from their shared family ties.
BY THE NUMBERS
Megan Rapinoe playing for OL in 2013.
Photo credit
22,000,000
$22 million dollars is the settlement that the United States women’s national soccer team (USWNT) will receive in their gender discrimination dispute with the U.S. Soccer Federation, plus ongoing equal pay to the men’s national team. Despite being far more successful than their male counterparts, players on the women’s team have always been paid less.
Star player Megan Rapinoe (who also plays for Seattle’s OL Reign, sister club to Camden client Olympique Lyonnais) commented, “We can't go back and undo the injustices that we've faced. The only justice coming out of this is that we know that something like this is never going to happen again.” Fitting timing, with March 8 marking International Women’s Day.
Source
EYEWORTHY
Sports NFTs explained
This month we’re sharing a short video instead of a podcast. The Financial Times has produced a quick explainer entitled Sports NFTs: collectors, players and leagues cash in on the action.
