It's been a couple of weeks and a lot has happened! Here's some stuff for you to get stuck into:
✉️ Newsletter
The Guardian's, Moving the Goalposts. The newly launched newsletter brought to you by Suzy Wrack, Julia Belas Trindade and team as they look to engage, challenge and celebrate the women's game.
📄 Article / Whitepaper
SportsPro's CEO Playbook. The second edition of this brilliant whitepaper, led by Matt Rogan and featuring some huge leaders in the industry as they discuss having to pivot (a lot!) during the pandemic as well as growing as we move into a truly new era of digital change. A thought-provoking, insights led piece for anyone in the sport business world.
🏀 Game / Match
NBA Playoffs. Some of you will already know that I've been loving watching the NBA as I enjoy maternity leave in NZ. I love the NBA but it's at such unsociable times in the UK! Whilst I will be back in the UK for the majority of the playoffs and finals, I am excited to catch my team, Golden State Warriors, play Denver Nuggets this Saturday 16 April as the Playoffs officially start.
🎙 Podcast
BBC's The Sport Desk "Is it time for football to cut ties with gambling?" The name itself asks a challenging question and the podcast continues these as it delves into the world of gambling brands as sponsors, the role of the athlete and how the UK's new legislation banning sport stars from being gambling brand ambassadors looks set to change things substantially.
🎬 Documentary / Movie
Remember the Titans. We're going old skool here but bear with us. Remember the Titans, if you haven't seen it, is a classic sports film. It's raw, inspiring, gritty and tackles some of society's biggest issues including racism, homophobia, bullying and disability. Based on a true story, we follow Coach Herman Boone as he challenges discourses and looks to build the first integrated football team in Virginia. Not least helped by assistant coach Bill Yoast. You can watch the trailer or head straight over to DisneyPlus to get viewing.
📖 Book
Behind Sports "100 pieces of advice for getting started in the sports industry". I am lucky enough to have paved a unique and exciting path in sport but it's not easy and requires a lot of self-motivation, hustling and networking. Behind Sport's new ebook gives brilliant tips from insightful leaders on how to make it in the industry we all love so much.
🤝 Social channel
Flora ESPN Insights. Such a brilliant Twitter page to follow for awesome facts, data points and insights about the sports industry. Especially great at covering women's sport, Flora is always on her game.
🧢 Wear
Miss Kick's merch range. Miss Kick is a football community for females around the world. Founded by former footballer, Grace Vella, Miss Kick gives girls access to training kits and athletic wear that is truly made for them. In the four years Miss Kick has been around, the team have also built a supportive community of 50,000+. Even better, a percentage of all revenue is donated to the Miss Kick Foundation which helps get more girls into football. We particularly love their headbands!
💰 Sponsorship
OK, we're pretty excited about this one. M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment and Getty Images have come together to put on the ultimate homage to women's sport. For the month of April, you can get along to the renowned Saatchi Gallery and take in the "In-focus: Women's sport through the lens" exhibition (for free) where you'll see how women’s sport has been portrayed over time through powerful photography. We can't wait to get along. Did we mention it's free?
💁♀️ Brand move
NBA x Footlocker Europe. In an awesome new announcement, the NBA has teamed up with Footlocker Europe to open up the game of basketball across the continent by refurbishing courts (like the one you can see in Clapham Common today), host youth clinics and put on brilliant fan events. We particularly love that the NBA is approaching its brand campaigns from the grassroots up, building a fan base as opposed to only piggy-backing on existing NBA fans. As we've said before, Basketball remains heavily untapped considering the huge participation numbers in England alone. We predict a significant increase in basketball interest over the coming 12 months and beyond. #RaiseTheGame
We hope you enjoyed this week's Playback - please comment, share and do let us know if you engaged with any of our list!