The Fan Engagement Podcast

#13 Jasmine McCrawford, Jacksonville Jaguars — “We've lowered average season ticket member age by 10 years"

Jasmine McCrawford is Director of Brand & Strategic Initiatives at the Jacksonville Jaguars. One of the NFL's youngest teams, the Jaguars are executing a bold strategy to reach and engage fresh audiences in ways other teams haven't yet dared.
The most-travelled NFL team, with a decade of international games at Wembley Stadium in London, the Jags puts equal focus on maximising engagement on home turf, battling against powerhouse college teams and leading NFL franchises.
In this episode, Jasmine deep dives into how the Jacksonville Jaguars target demographics ranging from female fans to international audiences, with insight-driven marketing strategies. Micro-influencers and lifestyle brands all play a role in the Jags’ inventive strategy, as the NFL team continues to redefine what it means to be a Jaguars fan – from London to Jacksonville itself.
In episode 13 of The Fan Engagement Podcast, you’lll discover:
1:39 How the Jags fanbase is rapidly changing – and why4:22 How the NFL team is tapping in to the growth of female fandom6:57 How the Jags are luring fans away from the NFL’s most-followed teams9:32 The power of brand and how the Jags partners with brands to strengthen affinity11:08 How the Jags tailor fan experiences for the UK market13:24 How the Jags builds lasting fan connections all around the world14:51 How the Jags' exclusive merch drop is converting loyal fans into buyers16:26 How the Jags uses social listening to discover micro-influencers19:56 How on-field activations fuel digital engagement & sponsor activation22:45 The key KPIs driving the Jags’ marketing strategy this NFL season

#12 Stuart Wareman, Accor – Paris 2024, FIFA World Cup & PSG: Maximising global sponsorships

Stuart Wareman is Global SVP Experiences, Events & Sponsorship at Accor. Accor is one of the world’s largest hotel groups – made up of a global network of over 50 brands, including Ibis, Sofitel, Novotel, Orient Express and Mercure.
Accor has cultivated brand partnerships with some of the most prestigious names in sport, including the FIFA World Cup, Rugby World Cup, PSG, the America’s Cup, Tour de France, Roland Garros and Kylian Mbappe. This year, Accor took on its biggest challenge yet as a Premium Partner of the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics, which includes managing the athlete and media villages.
Exactly how does Accor measure and maximise its sports sponsorship activity? What exciting new opportunities did the Paris 2024 Olympics present? And how Accor unlocked the power of sport to grow loyalty with its customers?
In episode 12 of The Fan Engagement Podcast, you’ll learn:
1:35 Intro to Stuart and his role at Accor
3:32 How sports sponsorship has supercharged Accor’s business growth
4:50 How Accor’s sponsorship of PSG grew global brand awareness by 2/3rds in 18 months
7:07 Utilising access to sporting events as part of Accor’s loyalty programme
9:38 Messi, Mbappe, Neymar and VIP tickets: Leveraging PSG’s IP to engage sports fans
13:15 The Olympics, FIFA World Cup, Rugby World Cup… why sponsor the world’s biggest events?
16:17 The first sponsor to manage athlete and media villages at the Olympics
22:28 How Accor measures the value of their Paris 2024 Olympics sponsorship activations

#11 Marcus Mellor, Burnley FC – How one of England’s oldest football clubs is engaging U.S. fans

Marcus Mellor is Head of Commercial at Burnley Football Club, who play in the English Football League (EFL) Championship.
One of England’s oldest football clubs, Burnley FC recently became the subject of U.S. investment, with a star-studded roster of investors including JJ and Kealia Watt and popular YouTube collective, Dude Perfect. Burnley FC is on a mission to leverage its partnerships to drive U.S. market growth.
But how is the club’s U.S. audience engagement strategy playing out so far? How does the club use first-party fan data to attract new sponsors? And how is its partnership with TikTok to stream live women’s matches disrupting sports viewing?
In episode 11 of The Fan Engagement Podcast, you’ll learn:
00:29 Introduction to Marcus and his role at Burnley
02:33 Who are Burnley FC?
03:30 The impact of American investment in English football
04:11 Why Burnley is focusing on expanding its fan base in the U.S.
05:46 How to engage new casual fans and avid loyal fans
07:20 JJ Watt and Dude Perfect – leveraging partnerships for U.S. growth
09:00 Communicating Burnley's core values at home and abroad
11:25 Burnley women's team’s unique streaming partnership with TikTok
14:09 How Burnley leverages fan data to engage new and existing fans
15:46 The importance of first and third-party data in Burnley’s growth
17:31 How Burnley uses data to attract new sponsors.
19:01 Burnley’s Take Me to Turf competition in the U.S.
20:25 Explaining promotion and relegation to U.S. investors
23:23 What the data says – Burnley's digital growth

#10 Manny Puentes, Genius Sports – The cookie is crumbling… what’s next for sports advertisers?

Formerly CTO of MediaMath, Manny Puentes is General Manager of Advertising at Genius Sports. A leading voice in the advertising world, Manny has spearheaded the development and growth of many high-profile programmatic advertising solutions across the last 25 years.
With Google planning to phase out the third-party cookie, the advertising sector is set to undergo its biggest transformation of the last 20 years – but what does this mean for sports advertising?
In this episode, Manny discusses how sports advertisers can get ahead of the cookie phase-out, the growing importance of fan identity solutions, why it pays to be privacy-conscious with your audience engagement strategy and how sports and brands can deliver enriched, personalised fan experiences – in a world without third-party cookie data.
In episode ten of The Fan Engagement Podcast, you’ll learn:
2:13 Third-party cookie phaseout – what’s changing for brands and fans?
7:20 What does cookie depreciation mean for sports advertising?
9:36  Enhancing the fan experience through contextualised data and content
12:07 Leveraging fan identity graphs to create personalised experiences
13:02 Addressing the challenge of cross-device fan fragmentation

#9 Shawn Bryant & David Jarvis, Deloitte - The surprising truth about Gen Z sports fans

Shawn Bryant is a Managing Director at Deloitte Consulting LLP, leading their sports practice having held senior roles at Disney, ESPN, the NBA and the Harlem Globetrotters. 
David Jarvis is a Senior Research Leader at The Deloitte Center for Technology, Media and Telecommunications (Deloitte Services LP) and is a co-author of The 2023 Sports Fan Insights Report.
Deloitte is the largest professional services organisation in the world, their sports division advises clients in 40 countries and across more than 30 sports. The 2023 Sports Fan Insights Report is the most comprehensive analysis of its kind and answers some of the biggest questions facing sports rights holders and advertisers.
Are Gen Z fans engaging differently to previous generations – and exactly how?  How is social media and sports betting impacting the fan experience? Will immersive technologies become mainstream in how fans engage with sports?
In episode nine of The Fan Engagement Podcast, you’ll learn:
2:40 The 2023 Sports Fan Insights Report - is this the beginning of the immersive sports era?
4:06 How Gen Z fans express sports fandom differently from other demographics
5:36 Why the convergence of streaming, data and betting is changing how sports fans engage 
7:10 The fragmented sports viewing experience 
9:41 What the data says about emerging Gen Z fan engagement trends
12:57 Why fans are powering the explosive growth of women's sports 
14:40 Why female sports fans engage differently to male sports fans
16:49 What sports technology innovation is set to revolutionise the fan experience next?

#8 Justin Papadakis, USL – Countdown to 2026... preparing U.S. soccer fans for the FIFA World Cup

Justin Papadakis is Deputy CEO and Chief Real Estate Officer at the USL (United Soccer League), the fastest-growing professional soccer organisation in North America. 
 
This year three million fans purchased tickets to USL games. With 50 active negotiations to launch new teams and a Division One professional women’s league on the horizon, the USL is set for even more growth in 2024. 
 
But what strategies are enabling the USL to capitalise on the recent wave of U.S. soccer fandom? With the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be hosted in North America, what new opportunities do the next five years hold? And how is the USL delivering new exciting fan experiences to entertain its rapidly expanding fanbase?  
 
In episode eight of The Fan Engagement Podcast, you’ll learn: 
 
1:20 The USL’s role in growing soccer in the U.S. 
 
03:23 How the USL is expanding into new markets and capturing new fans 
 
08:16 How the USL is engaging different fan segments ahead of the 2026 World Cup   
 
11:42 What metrics matter most when it comes to fan engagement growth? 
 
12:51 How the USL is building its digital properties to integrate new concepts like sports betting 
 
14:22 Why promotion & relegation in U.S. soccer will unlock new growth 
 
16:35 The women’s soccer opportunity and the USL Women’s Super League 

#7 Dev Sethi, ex-Meta and YouTube – What’s next for sports, brands and athletes on social media?

Dev Sethi is Meta’s former Director of Sports Partnerships, with over 15 years of experience in the world of fan engagement, also including roles at Google, YouTube and as Instagram’s Head of Sports.
Dev brings an inside view into the world of sport’s social media explosion having worked closely with major leagues, teams, brands, athletes and creators across more than a decade.
But just how has sports fan behaviour evolved on social media since its emergence? How can sports, brands, athletes and creators unlock the potential of the world’s largest digital channels? And what does the fan experience of tomorrow look like in the social media future?
In episode seven of The Fan Engagement Podcast, you’ll learn:
00:03 Introduction to Dev Sethi
01:15 How the role of sports partnerships on social platforms has evolved in the last decade
03:49 NIL (name, image, and likeness) and how Meta empowered collegiate athletes to monetise social followings
08:28 Why social media is now the front door to sports fans – and how to capitalise
11:33 Why sport is an unrivalled vehicle to engage social media audiences at scale
16:51 What are the next big trends set to hit social media in the world of sport?

#6 Ryan Cooney, Hennessy – Unlocking the power of fandom as a sports sponsor

Ryan Cooney is Director of Digital & Media at Hennessy, one of the world’s largest alcohol brands and an official partner of the NBA, WNBA and 13 NBA teams. 
Hennessy, part of the Moët Hennessy group, also sponsors the multiple-time world champion boxer Canelo Álvarez. 
But why does Hennessy enjoy so much success engaging sports audiences? How do Ryan and his team unlock the power of fandom in their marketing? And what value does the brand get from its major sponsorship investment? 
In episode six of The Fan Engagement Podcast, you’ll learn: 
00:03 Introduction to Ryan and Hennessy  
01:47 Why the passion of sports makes sports fans unique 
3:08 How boxing creates powerful moments to connect with fans 
4:10 Why Hennessy sponsors the NBA and 13 NBA teams 
9:06 The differences between team and league-level sponsorships
10:32 How to engage fans on digital and measure campaign effectiveness  
14:10 Why authentic storytelling is the key to brand awareness and relevance
15:47 What KPIs Hennessey uses to measure sponsorship value 

#5 Jen Matthews, FanDuel – Building America’s largest sports betting brand

Jennifer Matthews is VP, Brand Strategy at FanDuel, America’s largest sports betting and daily fantasy sports brand.
Since online sports betting was legalized in the U.S in 2018, FanDuel has rapidly become America’s leading betting company and acquired over 17 million customers and counting.
But what have been the secrets to FanDuel’s success when it comes to converting sports fans? How does it continue to acquire and engage sports audiences at such scale? And how have league and team sponsorships supercharged the brand’s incredible growth?
In episode five of The Fan Engagement Podcast, you’ll learn:
00:40 - 03:15 Introduction to Jennifer and FanDuel
03:16 - 07:37 How FanDuel engages sports audiences when new states legalize sports betting
07:38 - 09:31 How FanDuel educates fans that are new to DFS and online sports betting
09:32 - 10:52 The power of sports sponsorships for marketing reach and scale
10:53 - 12:16 How product innovation keeps Fan Duel ahead of its competition
12:17 - 17:24 Kick of Destiny campaign: Capturing NFL fans at Super Bowl LVIII
17:25 - 18:30 Superbowl LVIII commercial: Reinventing half-time TV ads
18:31 - 20:32 Think Like a Player campaign: Using ‘deep fake’ technology to engage NBA fans

#4 Rob Johnson, The Hundred: A disruptive engagement strategy to attract new audiences to watch cricket

Rob Johnson is Head of Digital and Content at The Hundred, a professional 100-ball franchise tournament run by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
The Hundred launched in 2021, with a revitalised format and disruptive strategy to attract new audiences to watch cricket, including female fans and Gen Z’ers – and it’s been a mega success.
But how, in just two seasons, did the league attract 4.9 million fans to watch women's cricket, achieve record-breaking TV viewing fixtures and in 2022 draw 500k fans into stadiums across the UK?
In episode four of The Fan Engagement Podcast, you’ll learn:
01:12-03:40: Why the ECB needed to launch a new, disruptive product
03:41-05:26: How The Hundred attracted over 500k fans into stadiums last year
07:14-08:47: What The Hundred has learned about its audience since 2021
09:05-12:41: How The Hundred achieved record-breaking viewing figures
12:42-15:23: Why the new 100-ball format is the biggest innovation in cricket this decade
15:24-17:30: How The Hundred has attracted new FMCG sponsors like KP Snacks and Robinson’s
17:31-18:48: How The Hundred is building on ownable database of fans