The Power of the Player
When looking at audiences across social media’s big 4 (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & YouTube), it is clear that the dynamic between athletes and the team, league and even sport they represent is changing. In many cases it is now the athlete who commands the bigger reach and with it the bigger commercial pull.
What does this shifting balance of power mean for the commercial future sport? Could we face a situation where the financial growth of different sports is dependent upon a select few individuals rather than historically strong team brands?
In this report, published March 2021, we analysed The Power of the Player to understand what the dynamic looks from sport to sport. The report looks at elite football, focusing on the teams involved in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League, before expanding the analysis to look at the world’s biggest sporting leagues, to see how football’s top competitions compare with the top US sports like NFL, NBA and MLB.
