Eve Godat

I Made 5 Bold Predictions for the Sports Industry in 2026 1. You were early to YouTube 📺 In 2017 when I started Snapback Sports, I chose Snapchat over platforms like Instagram and Twitter because I thought they were oversaturated (LOL) In 2019 when I started the Snapback Sports podcast, I thought podcasts were oversaturated (LOL) In 2026, you may be having those same exact thoughts about YouTube The organizations, businesses and content creators that go all-in on YT this year will receive this message in 24 months: “You’re so lucky you were early to YouTube” Except it won’t be luck. With 2.49B users, YT is clearly taking over TV What will happen: The best orgs will focus on YouTube like they did their social media teams 5 years ago. Read all 5: https://lnkd.in/eDZwdCGF

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Why most sponsorships underdeliver (and how to fix it) The problem isn’t the sponsorship. The problem is the activation. Too many brands sign big-ticket deals… and then post a few logos, launch a press release, and call it a day. Great sponsorships feel like stories — not stickers. The brands getting it right: ✅ Create layered campaigns ✅ Co-develop narratives with talent ✅ Focus on cultural connection, not corporate messaging The deal is the start, not the finish line.

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The most underrated golf marketing tool? Not a big ad budget. Not the latest AI tool. 👉 It’s a smart keyword + metatag strategy. Your page title and meta description might be the only thing someone sees before deciding to click. But so often, they’re an afterthought. Here’s how we approach it: 🔑 Target real search behavior. We use tools like SEMrush or even just Google Auto-Suggest to find what people are actually searching—like “best golf courses near Chicago” vs. “Illinois public golf.” ✍️ Write metatags like headlines. Your meta description should read like a compelling tweet: short, clear, and clickable. Not just “Home | [Course Name].” 🔄 Update regularly. Seasonal keywords shift—so our content and tags do too. Summer = “junior golf camps.” Fall = “golf outing venues.” 🧭 Always include location and intent. Add geography + action verbs: “Book a tee time at [course], just 30 min from [city].” It’s not rocket science. It’s just consistent, thoughtful optimization—and it works. #GolfMarketing #SEOtips #MakeGolfCool #KemperSports #MetatagStrategy

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College athletic departments have quietly built some of the most sophisticated content operations in sports. A recent Front Office Sports piece (linked here: https://lnkd.in/eNgh6ffX) highlighted programs investing seven to eight figures into in-house creative teams, staffed like Fortune 500 marketing departments, armed with analytics dashboards, and producing content at a scale most pro teams would envy. That part didn’t surprise me. What did stand out is what’s missing from the conversation: despite all that investment, very few programs are treating content as a meaningful revenue engine. For years, content spend was justified almost entirely by recruiting. And to be clear, that strategy worked. Storytelling, access, and scale became real competitive advantages. But the environment has changed. With direct athlete compensation now on the table, the programs that win won’t just create great content, they’ll build systems that allow that content to pay for itself. This isn’t a creativity problem. It’s not even an output problem. It’s a visibility and ownership problem. Most departments now have: • Elite content teams • Enormous volume across platforms • Real-time performance data Yet in many cases, digital monetization lives inside broader multimedia rights agreements, making it harder for schools to see what’s being sold, how it’s being valued, or what opportunities are being left untouched. The result? Content teams keep scaling. Expectations keep rising. But revenue strategy doesn’t evolve at the same pace because no one inside the department is fully accountable for connecting the dots. The next competitive advantage in college athletics won’t be who posts the most. It’ll be who actually understands the commercial value of what they’re already producing, and builds a model that reflects it. #sportsmarketing #sportsbusiness #sponsorship

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Clubs, institutions, and NGBs are paying millions in unnecessary payment processing fees, with little to no return. Right now, every ticket sold, membership renewed, and piece of merchandise bought is being hit with fees. Yet clubs are left with no access to data, no ownership of the customer relationship, and a poor user experience that drives friction at checkout. What more could institutions like The Football Association, Sport England and UK Sport be doing to help their members? By using Open Banking, VibePay offers a better way. ⚡ Reduce, or even eliminate, payment processing costs. 📊 Unlock real-time insights on fans, members, and customers. 💬 Engage directly with supporters via built-in messaging to increase retention and revenue. For clubs and governing bodies, this means more control, higher margins, and a seamless experience for fans. If you're responsible for commercial growth, ticketing, or membership revenue at a pro club or NGB, let’s talk. There’s a smarter way to take payments. #SportsBusiness #Payments #FanEngagement #OpenBanking #VibePay

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Some powerful stats in this US focused study: “TV marketing firm EDO found that TV advertisers spent $244M on women’s sports in 2024, a year-over-year increase of 139%” “ADWEEK’s Bill Bradley noted that EDO found women’s sports spiked to a 56% increase in ad effectiveness year over year. The report found women’s sports ads also brought 40% “more ad effectiveness/impact than the average primetime ad last year.”

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Sports Fans! You might have seen it in The New York Times and Reuters – Nielsen's really shaking things up with their new TV measurement for sports. And honestly, it's a pretty big deal for figuring out who's actually watching. Take a moment to learn WHY it matters: 1️⃣ "Big Data + Panel" National TV Measurement - We have gone way beyond the old way of doing things. Now, Nielsen is pulling in "Big Data" from millions of households (think cable, satellite, smart TVs) and even direct streaming data for live events. That's 45 million households and 75 million digital devices. The goal is to get a super accurate, comprehensive view of who's watching. 2️⃣ Expanded "Out-of-Home" (OOH) Measurement - This is huge for sports! OOH now covers 100% of the U.S. TV population, up from 66% last year. We're talking bars, restaurants, hotels, airports – all those places where sports viewership thrives but was always a bit of a blind spot. Well, no more! So, WHY is this so important for the sports industry? ✅More Accurate Viewership - Industry folks predicted a 3-8% viewership bump for sports. Early reports are showing a 4% rise in NFL viewership just from the "Big Data + Panel" alone, and a low double-digit lift when OOH is included. ✅Monetization Impact - These numbers directly impact how much ad revenue sports broadcasts bring in as well as a better understanding of the value of league, team and broadcast sponsorships. More accurate data means a clearer picture of the audience's value. ✅Football Impact Better Understood - OOH measurement, especially, has really shown a positive impact on college football viewership, filling in those historical gaps. Even for a powerhouse like the NFL, these updates are giving us a more refined understanding of its audience. Bottomline is this, at Nielsen we believe Big Data + Panel is delivering the most accurate measurement to date for sports and TV overall. These advancements are really crucial for getting a complete picture of how people are engaging with content in today's fragmented viewing world. Message me to learn more! Referenced articles below...  New York Times: https://bit.ly/4n6tJEY Reuters: https://bit.ly/47txZK4 

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Last week, Instagram dropped a massive new feature, but almost nobody in sports is using it. That means there’s a brief window where early adopters can own the space before it becomes standard. In this week's newsletter, I break down - Using reposts to elevate your content ecosystem - How to use reposts to deepen fan engagement - Examples from brands that are using reposts You can read the full breakdown in today’s edition of Sports Marketing with Kyle Whittingham: https://lnkd.in/eFkj2eaN

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Hot take on building for college athletics: If your product doesn’t help NCAA departments drive revenue, you’re going to struggle. You won’t get in. You won’t stay in. Budgets are tight, and justifying cost is harder than ever. The one possible exception? Performance and health products...but only if they lead to better athletes, more wins, and ultimately... more revenue. See the pattern? No matter what you’re building - recruiting, fan engagement, athlete support - it all comes back to revenue. If you can’t tie your product to that, you’re a nice-to-have. And nice-to-haves get cut.

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ESPN’s direct-to-consumer pivot is (finally) coming — here’s what we know so far: ⌛ The time is almost here The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger has confirmed this week it will launch ESPN’s full DTC offering in August 2025. 🔓 All ESPN, all the time The new product will give subscribers full access to ESPN’s linear channels as well as all of the rights already available on ESPN+. 💬 It has a name, but we don't know it yet. The internal project name is ���Flagship,” but an official name has yet to be announced. 📲 More than just streaming The service is being built as a feature-rich digital product and will include: - Personalised experiences using AI, including custom SportsCenter feeds - Integrated sports betting via ESPN Bet - Fantasy tools built into the experience - E-commerce features for team merch and more 📦 Flexible distribution - The service will be offered both as a standalone subscription and bundled with Disney+ and Hulu, continuing Disney’s aggregation strategy. 💵 Pricing (still) not confirmed, but many expect to be in the $25–$30/month range 📺 Device strategy ESPN is working with hardware manufacturers to embed the app into smart TVs — a signal that big-screen viewing remains a priority, alongside mobile. 🎯 Strategic importance Disney CEO Bob Iger positioned the launch as a growth initiative, not just a defensive move. The goal is to bring ESPN “into the future,” in line with changing consumption habits and declining traditional TV bundles. Expectations are sky high across the industry. 🗓️ Development is already well underway Work on the product has been ongoing for over a year, with Disney leadership happy to take their time to get the whole proposition nailed from day 1. It will be a major step for ESPN, and for the broader shift in how premium live sports are packaged and sold - both to fans and advertisers alike. The impact on MVPD relationships, affiliate revenues, and consumer pricing expectations will be closely watched by all stakeholders across the industry. So is the launch of their DTC platform a must-do or a big bet on the power of their IP and rights they own? #SportsBiz #Streaming #OTT

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Sports is not one business. I work with leagues, media companies, consumer brands, SaaS platforms, and agencies. All technically “sports.” None of them run remotely the same. How startup leagues make money is entirely different than how media companies make money. Which is also entirely different from a consumer business, which is entirely different from a SaaS business. Same industry. All key players in sports. Completely different business models, P&L's, nomenclature, opex structure, systems, you name it. That’s why being a CFO in sports is really like being a CFO for a holding company. Every client has different KPIs, different accounting setups, and different ways of making decisions. The only thing they have in common is that if you don’t know the model cold, you can’t help them win. I wrote more about this. Link in the comments.

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