Curious about family offices and how they invest in sports?
We have Brian Kopp, a Partner at Ryan Sports Ventures, coming to speak with Profluence members on August 28th.
Now for today’s deep dive👇
Sports Are Eating Entertainment
Something really interesting is happening in sports right now.
And it actually has very little to do with what happens on the field.
A few recent examples:
Kim Kardashian is executive producing Team Moms, a reality show following families around an elite youth baseball program.
The NFL is increasingly promoting its players' lives and relationships off the field, with Justin Herbert and Madison Beer as the latest example.
Netflix has built an entire content ecosystem around sports, from live NFL games to Quarterback, America’s Sweethearts, Running Point, Untold, and more.
Athletes are increasingly showing up at fashion shows, concerts, celebrity events, and other cultural events.
Sports documentaries and reality shows have become mainstream entertainment (even for people who barely watch the actual games).
Put all of this together, and I think something much bigger is happening.
For most of modern history, sports were a category of entertainment, but now sports are increasingly becoming the place where all of those things collide.
Let’s Dive In👇
Taylor Swift Was The Perfect Case Study
You really can’t talk about this without starting here.
Taylor Swift didn’t actually do that much for football itself…
She simply gave millions of people who previously didn’t care about the NFL a completely different reason to care about it.
The goal was for the flow to be:
Someone could enter through Taylor Swift.
Then become interested in Travis Kelce.
Then start watching the Chiefs.
Then learn the other players.
Then watch more NFL games.
And suddenly...
You created a football fan without ever selling them football.
This was an inflection point in history because sports organizations have historically marketed themselves primarily around the sport.
Want more NFL fans? Market football. But now Taylor Swift.
Want more Formula 1 fans? Market racing. But now Drive to Survive.
Want more soccer fans? Market soccer. But now Welcome to Wrexham.
The strategy is to identify the other things someone already cares about (and connect them back to sports).
The NFL Clearly Learned From This
Look at what is happening around the NFL right now.
Justin Herbert is engaged to pop star Madison Beer.
Joe Burrow’s relationship with influencer Olivia Ponton has generated enormous attention.
Jaxson Dart is dating creator Marissa Ayers.
The NFL is leaning more into the “celebrity stuff” as it looks to reach younger and female audiences.
And it makes perfect sense as the players have huge audiences, and so do their girlfriends. Put them together and suddenly both are being introduced to people who may have never cared about the other.
Audience Arbitrage! S/O to the NFL marketing teams for figuring this out (and riding the wave).
I’ve said this before and will continue to say it…
Sports have become far less about the actual games, and way more about entertainment.
Sports Is Eating Reality TV
Kim Kardashian’s Team Moms is another fascinating example.
The premise of the show is that it’s centered on youth baseball, but we all know the actual entertainment won’t be primarily focused on baseball.
It’s going to be about drama, probably between the moms and coaches…aka reality TV (sports just happens to provide the setting).
And we’re seeing this everywhere:
Welcome to Wrexham isn’t just about soccer.
Quarterback isn’t just about throwing footballs.
Drive to Survive isn’t just about cars going around a track.
Sports are one of the best reality-TV factories ever created because the drama is typically not manufactured (it’s authentic).
A sports team is basically an entertainment franchise where nobody has to write the script (and unlike a movie franchise, the story never really ends).
Fashion & Music Figured This Out Too
Sports and fashion used to be relatively separate worlds.
That’s basically impossible to argue anymore (just look at the tunnel walk before an NBA game).
For some “fans,” like one of my college buddies, what players wear walking into the arena is more interesting to them than what happens during the game.
Look at what has happened:
Jerseys are now streetwear.
Teams are lifestyle brands (ex. Yankees caps).
Luxury brands increasingly work with athletes.
Sneakers became an enormous cultural category.
And sports merchandise is increasingly designed to be worn by people who may not even watch every game.
The team logo itself has become a piece of culture (you’re now monetizing identity, not just fandom).
What we’ve seen in fashion has also happened with music…
NBA All-Star Weekend, Super Bowl, Formula 1 races, major boxing fights, and other sporting events increasingly feel more like week-long entertainment festivals than individual games.
The actual competition is just the centerpiece (but everything else gets built around it).
Sports Has Something Everyone Else Wants
This is where I think the shift gets really important.