Though our written content is front-and-centre, the Insider Sport team like to keep things varied and are regular guests on SBC’s podcast, iGaming Daily, offering listeners our views on the latest major developments in sport business.
With 2024 coming to a close, we’ve taken a look back in the IGD archives to single out some of the most interesting topics from across men’s and women’s football, US sports and boxing, among others.
A flurry of betting sponsors in English football
Earlier this year, English football saw a plethora of betting sponsorship deals, many of which were signed with Asia-focused firms largely unknown to the UK public. This has led to some fan backlash on social media, but in the context of rising financial pressures, there are reasons for clubs to pursue these deals.
These deals also come in the context of changing rules around UK betting sponsorship. From 2026/27, Premier League clubs will impose a voluntary ban on front-of-shirt deals, and are trying to maximise revenue while they still can.
Callum Williams, Insider Sport’s Senior Journalist, said: “It’s kind of no surprise that [operators are] coming in just about two years before this ban comes into effect because the Premier League is the biggest platform in world football, so they’re looking to then get as much visibility and much brand exposure as they can before this ban comes into effect.”
Are operators sitting on a women’s sports goldmine?
Shortly after interviewing Queenie Porter, Vice President of West Ham United FC women’s team, Insider Sport Business Journalist, Kieran O’Connor, discussed the key talking points with the rest of the team.
Women’s football’s growth, and that of women’s sports in general, has been unprecedented in recent years. This has presented a significant marketing opportunity for prospective sponsors and advertisers, the team concluded.
“When you talk about these big tournaments like the women’s Euros, they do generate a different demographic from the week-in week-out games,” said Kieran.
“You’ve got a lot of male viewers who will be interested in betting on the sports. So I think that does open up a lot of opportunities for operators to take advantage of the different demographics.”
Netflix’s boxing breakthrough – the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson aftermath
OTT video platforms have become increasingly interested in the sports media world, and this year saw a major newcomer in Netflix. The on-demand platform entered the scene via a deal with the WWE and later made headlines – for better or worse – as the broadcaster of the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson boxing bout.
Callum, who wrote an op-ed about Netflix’s rising role shortly before the fight, hosted a post-fight podcast with boxing fans Joe Streeter, Editor of CasinoBeats, and Kieran O’Connor, to discuss where Netflix could head next.
Joe remarked: “This was Netflix’s opportunity to dip their toes into the water of sports streaming and the water must have felt pretty good even though there were problems. It showed that there is an appetite for this type of content.
“I think that has really got the taste buds tingling but there’s only so many times you can miss. As much as so many people did view this kind of non-event fight, there are only so many times you can get it wrong before audiences don’t buy into the hype so much.”
FanDuel’s bet on women’s hockey and the future of media and sports betting
The Insider Sport team don’t just talk to ourselves, however, we also like to hear some input from SBC’s other specialist journalists from across the SBC News, SBC Americas and CasinoBeats teams.
In one of our latest episodes this year, Insider Sport Editor Ted Orme-Claye spoke with Charlie Horner, SBC’s Media Manager, about the increasing combination of media and betting propositions, as seen by FanDuel TV in the US as one big example.
“I reckon in terms of what we see FanDuel and DraftKings doing, I can’t really see that particularly going wrong unless they come up against maybe some compliance issues or backlash against the visibility of betting in sports and public life,” Charlie remarked.
“I think the other side of things, the media companies getting involved in sports betting, that’s something that’s got a bit more of a rocky track record, certainly in the UK. We’ve got more of a historical example of Sun Bets, which was an attempted joint venture between the Sun and TabCorp, the Australian betting operator. That did not find very much success at all.
“These examples show that nothing’s a guaranteed formula for success. You’ve really got to tailor everything to your own individual approach and your own market conditions.”
Premier League and EFL tensions intensify over data dispute reports
In another cross-over, Insider Sport’s Editor spoke with the Editor of SBC News, Ted Menmuir, and SBC’s Senior Media Manager, Martyn Elliot, about reports of a looming dispute between the Premier League and English Football League (EFL) over the share of data rights revenue.
“The reason data has come to the forefront is because of two main reasons,” said Ted Orme-Claye. “The Premier League and Europe has become the best bet on sport globally. We know that in the UK according to BGC data it has been the most bet on sport since 2019, taking over from horse racing.
“It has become such a huge revenue generator for these clubs through betting data rights, which are sold not just domestically – which is a significant sector in its own right – but also internationally.
“The other side of it is media rights, media companies are increasingly big consumers of data as well. They use it to inform storytelling, punditry and analysis.”
