The Death of the Middle in Sports (And Who Wins Next)
This trend is already having a MASSIVE impact on sports and will continue into the foreseeable future.
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Now to today’s featured deep dive 👇
We go deep on an interesting trend that will impact everyone building across the sports industry.
The Death of the Middle in Sports (And Who Wins Next)
Over the last decade, we’ve seen that people like content that caters to their specific interests and tastes.
That’s YouTube Shorts, IG reels, and TikTok.
But what people really want… is a shared cultural experience.
This segment is thriving:
Something to bond over with friends & family. Example: Hollywood movies are increasingly high-budget and focused on stories and characters everyone already knows.
Paris hosted the highest-rated Olympics ever. The NFL had 83 of the top 100 broadcasts last year.
Some people want to feel smart, intellectually stimulated, and high status. Example: Prestige TV (Succession, The White Lotus) pushes the boundaries of production quality and subject matter to meet that need.
Now we’re really starting to see this trend take hold in the sports industry.
Particularly in the IP sector.
Sports Properties
UFC won on violence.
Formula 1 won on storytelling.
College football won on tradition.
Newer leagues like DLL (drone racing), PLL (lacrosse), and DGPT (disc golf) are winning by being optimized for a single variable.
And slowly but surely, they’ve siphoned attention, capital, and talent away from traditional “generalist” leagues.
Why Is This Happening?
Some like to call this the “barbell effect”…
Which is the idea that massive incumbents (like the NFL) and micro-niches (like Spikeball tournaments) will thrive, and everything in the middle dies.
But that doesn’t tell the full story.
To succeed, a sports organization needs three main things: