Weekly Newsletter 7/26
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INNOVATION IN ACTION
CONNECTING COMMERCE AND COLLEGIATE ATHLETES
Fanatics and the University of Alabama have expanded their partnership to become the most dynamic and comprehensive partnership in collegiate athletics. Fanatics will retain its exclusive e-commerce rights to the Crimson Tide, while adding additional rights across fan apparel, trading cards, NFTs, and collectibles. Michael Rubin’s company will also open the first team store inside Alabama’s football stadium. The store will sell Crimson apparel and allow Alabama athletes to leverage their new NIL rights by selling custom lines of merchandise. Players will have a designated location for paid signing events and fans will be able to rep their favorite collegiate athletes in Fanatics jerseys. One of the biggest names in college sports is innovating alongside one of the most flashy and influential merch brands, resulting in a partnership that is certain to change the game.
Sports Innovation Lab Events
TARGETING FAN BASES PRIMED FOR GROWTH
In our report, The Growth of the Women's Sports Community, we introduced the Community Growth Score to the sports industry. This Growth Score measures the strength of a group by establishing a monthly growth metric that accounts for a community's ability to add new members as well as retain existing ones. Women’s sports have a high Community Growth Score because they have a strong foundation of loyal fans but also have reached an inflection point that points towards exponential growth. The brands and businesses that invest in entities with high Community Growth Scores will have the potential to see massive increases in enterprise value and will benefit greatly in the years to come.
The Fan Project Spotlight
FINALLY CROSSING THE FINISH LINE
Just a day after the men's Tour de France was completed in Paris, a new race began down the Champs-Élysées. The inaugural Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift will be an 8-day stage competition kicking off in Paris, marking the first time in 33 years that there will be an official women’s Tour de France stage race. The women will ride 1,033.6 km total (about 642.2 miles) over the eight diverse stages, ending on the climb to La Planche des Belles Filles on July 31. The prize purse is the highest in the history of women’s cycling (€250,000 or about $256,108), and Zwift - the cycling video game platform - is on board as a title sponsor. The epic race will be broadcast in over 170 countries and has gained a lot of traction globally.