This is the third round-up of the latest innovations and trends impacting sports & esports, media, communications, fan experience, growth & community engagement.

As this epic summer of sport unfolds and beyond, I’ll be keeping my finger on the pulse of the stories shaping the sports we’ll be watching, competing in and engaging with in the future.

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On to this week’s round-up…

🤾‍♀️ WOMEN’S SPORT ⛹️‍♀️

🏃‍♀️ Two-thirds of UK Gen Z women are now engaging in sport according to EY’s Sports Engagement Index based on a survey of more than 4,000 UK adults.

⚽ Chelsea FC have unveiled a strategic plan to put its women’s team on equal internal footing with the men’s, instead of being just a subsidiary.

🌍 SUSTAINABILITY & CLIMATE ACTION 🌍 

🇫🇷 The Paris 2024 Olympic Village is set to be the most sustainable Olympic Village yet. Indeed, a major part of Paris’ successful bid was because 95% of events are being held using existing sports infrastructure - rather than building new facilities.

And if you’d love to attend some Olympic events in Paris this summer, there are lots of tickets available still from the official ticket resale website.

🌍 95% of women players say soccer should reduce its carbon footprint 82% of players want more training from their clubs on climate change and environmental issues.

📹 MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS 📹

⚽ Agency We Are Social have launched a new report: Braving The Backlash: How Sports Brands Can Take a Stand on Social - helping brands understand what role they can play in standing up to online hate.

⚽ Liverpool FC have become the first Premier League club to reach 10 million subscribers on YouTube

⚽ Sky Sports and ITV have agreed a deal in principle for selected EFL Cup and Championship matches to be shown on free-to-air (FTA) TV in the UK.

🤖 AI x SPORTS ⚽

⚽ The Premier League will reportedly use state-of-the-art 'force fields' next season to cut delays and increase accuracy in offside decisions.

🏟️ FAN EXPERIENCE 🏟️

⚽ US Soccer and the German Football Association (DFB) have become the first two national governing bodies to launch dedicated experiences within FIFA’s digital environment on Roblox, after the governing body invited national soccer associations to join the party. 

adidas also continues to make waves in Roblox, setting a new record by selling a 1/1 virtual key chain for 2m Robux (ca. 25K USD). The sports brand also made a branded ‘blocky shoe’ available for users to purchase and wear on their in-game avatars.

🎮 ESPORTS 🎮 

⚽ Following the acrimonious split between FIFA and EA Sports, a new FIFA video game could return as early as  ‘later this year’ through a new licensing deal with 2K Sports.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

EXTRA TIME

With Euro 2024 kicking-off in under two weeks, kudos to Belgium for launching an away kit inspired by Belgian cartoonist Herge's intrepid reporter Tintin. https://buff.ly/4e8B2bT

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See you next time,

Adam Reed
Innovation in Sport