The Digital Sport Insider

Digital Sport editor James Bayliss welcomes ELEVEN SPORTS' Global Head of Digital Projects, Chris Tyas, to discuss the company and OTT ahead of #DSLondon's event on the 9th March 2020.

Executive Creative Director at Sky Creative Agency, Ceri Sampson, sits with James Bayliss and Rupert Pratt to discuss the great work of Sky Graphics and the future of broadcast.

Digital Sport's Editor James Bayliss discusses Snack Media with Tom Jones before expanding on certain points made during the event with a few of the panellists on the night.

This episode welcome Raf Keustermanns, the CEO of Sportlight Ltd, who are looking to make a huge impact in the world of football and sport technology.

Who's responsibility is it to look after grassroots sport? Is sporting analysis and player development improving with digital or is it being hindered? All this and more with Playfinder's CEO, Jamie Foale and Total Football Analysis' Founder, Chris Darwen.

We had a great time listening to our wonderful panellists discuss the future of cricket at the home of the sport itself, Lord's. If you want a recap on the event, or hear some of the main topics that were discussed, listen here to our post-event interviews where our panellists continued to give some wonderful insight into the summer we've just enjoyed and what's more to come.

This week we talk the future of digital publishing with Snack Media's Niall Coen. From advertising and sponsorhsip through to branded content and influencers, we discuss the creation and distribution of sports content in a world that's becoming increasingly hostile to publishers.

It's that time of the year: awards ceremonies and events galore are taking place. Digital Sport's Chris McMullan and Rupert Pratt sit down to chat about the variety of sports industry events that have taken place over the last few weeks, what we learned from them - and the importance of partnerships and collaboration.

Back in February we brought together a panel of rights holders and a brand sponsor for a chat about the future of rugby. This could be a key 15 months or so for a sport that has a golden opportunity to grow in key areas around the world. With a World Cup on the horizon in Japan ahead of an Olympic Games in Tokyo - which will see the second ever Olympic Sevens tournament - this is a chance to really stamp home the game in all its forms. We ask what some of the game's biggest rights holders are doing to grow the sport, and how a brand sponsor can actively help rugby to grow, and not just support it with a cheque. Panelists were: Martyn Hindley, EPCR; Sven Gloor, HSBC; Shane Whelan, Six Nations; James Abraham, World Rugby. The moderator was by Rupert Pratt, Digital Sport.

Anyone with a phone and an internet connection can be a publisher these days. But being a content creator means putting your head above the parapet and putting your own creations out there into the world. We chat about the creators, some of whom have garnered huge online followings, but we also talk about those who are doing it for the love of their clubs - often underserved lower league teams. There's also time for talk about the role social media plays in everyday life, how football clubs are navigating the minefield, and why the future of sports broadcasting could be in this social space.

We bring you the recording of March's Digital Sport London event "What Now for Sports Marketing".  With Georgina Lewis, Head of Marketing, The FA; Gideon Reeves, International Commercial Director, Bleacher Report; Steve Madincea, CEO, Fantastec; and Niall Coen, CEO Snack Media. New technology, new ideas and new partnerships: what are some of the biggest names in the sports industry doing to innovate on digital media?  We chat about Bleacher Report's growth from blog to Champions League broadcaster, the England football team's digital rebirth, and emerging technologies that will revolutionise sports marketing. Twitter: @DigitalSportUK LinkedIn: Digital Sport

After a brief hiatus the Digital Sport Insider podcast is back, with Digitalsport.co editor Chris McMullan in the hotseat for an interview with Sportradar's Jonathan Earle. Talking all things sports media, the discussion veers into trust and fake news, future trends and consolidation in digital publishing and Jonathan's son - a publisher himself, though he doesn't know it! Follow us on Twitter @DigitalSportUK and on LinkedIn at Digital Sport.

November's Digital Sport London event, presented by Sportradar, was around the very timely topic of OTT and live streaming - including what is the difference between the two - under the heading of 'the changing face of sport on TV'. Eleven Sports have made a big splash with their La Liga coverage in the UK as they test out different approaches to the ones we have been brought up with. Eleven's Global Head of Digital, Tom Middleditch, was joined by Trevor Evans (Founder, Stream Time) and Patrick Mostboeck (Digital Platforms, Sportradar). With the evening was brought together with expert moderator Raj Mannick, Head of Sport at Yahoo. Next week we'll be back with the more traditional 1-2-1 interviews, so make sure you don't miss them! Thanks to our hosts, Pinsent Masons, and our presenting partner Sportradar. #DSLondon

Recently I was lucky to host a panel on esports - looking at the live event and fan engagement side of the industry, and what this meant to the sports audience we were sat in front of.  It's a fascinating discussion that addressed a number of points that have come up when esports is talked about in sports circles. Especially on how football teams and sports leagues have entered the industry and what they should be doing.  For more events, keep an eye on DigitalSport.co for what is coming up each month. The London series is presented by Sportradar.

From October's Digital Sport London event, this is the full panel conversation as we looked at what US and UK sports could learn from each other.  Jason Brisbane, Head of Community at NFL UK, Rob Calder, Commercial Director at the ECB, and Jamie King, Social and Digital Content Manager at NFL UK spoke at length to the audience on the panel moderated by Moritz Gloeckler Licensing Director at Sportradar. The Digital Sport London event series is brought to you by Sportradar and hosted by Pinsent Mason. The November event takes place on 14th November, ticket info on DigitalSport.co

Gail is one the UK's most celebrated and successful badminton players of all time. An Olympic Silver Medallist in Athens 2004, World Champion, European Champion, All England Badminton Champion... the list goes on.  We talk about two life changing moments in Gail's career. The 1st being that Olympic dream and the opportunities that opened up as she became a sports celebrity. And the 2nd last year when she wrote about her struggles in finding a post-sports career and the low point she had hit.  There's so much to cover and Gail is as open and honest as ever. I really enjoyed this chat and I hope you do to. You can find out more about LAPS at http://laps.career and you can find Gail on social media at @GailEmms

Robin has one of the most exciting new roles in marketing, as he heads up Endeavors offering to clients. A business that brings together disparate properties including the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Miss Universe, IMG Live and much much more.  In this we speak about the company, the recent acquisition of London based sports & entertainment PR firm Clifford French, influencer marketing, the recent Premier League esports announcement and the future of broadcast/OTT. Lots to get through and an intriguing conversation with one of the best in the industry.

Doug has been at Bleacher Report for over 7 years and not only central to the social media strategy of the publisher, from being VP for Social since 2015\. But during that time he discovered an Instragram account called House of Highlights with around 500k followers. Not only did he love the content but managed to persuade his colleagues at Bleacher to buy up the fledgling 'business' and make it a huge part of the social presence that Bleacher was looking to build.  In this we cover the story behind HoH, how it has become much more than an Instagram account, what you and me can learn from their approach to the platform (great hints and tips here) and much more. You can get involved with HoH by heading over to https://www.instagram.com/houseofhighlights

Russell heads up the digital team at PSG and brings with him a wealth of experience that includes spells at FC Barcelona, Manchester City and Perform Group. In our chat we talk in-depth about the recent PSG/Jumpman collaboration for the new Champions League kit that launched in early September and was months in the planning. With deliberate leaks that included Justin Timberlake wearing a PSG Jumpman jacket on stage. It's been a project that goes far beyond football. We also talk about Artificial Intelligence - something Russell studied after the finished his degree and is now making good use of - PSG's move into blockchain and how he's settling into life in Paris.

This week Dan catches up with Shareablee's Ryan Gallace to talk social media analytics and 'big data'.  We talk about the use of data a lot in the sports industry, both from a business and a performance perspective. And when it comes to social media we see a lot of numbers but without the right planning and knowledge they can mean very little. So what does it mean to be a data driven organisation? What numbers are the ones we should be concentrating on? And why? Lots of questions and many answers to them.  During our chat I also mention a book by Fiona Green called 'Winning with Data'. You can find it on https://www.amazon.co.uk/Winning-Data-Analytics-Business-Sports/dp/1138090638 And details for the upcoming SportsPro Brand Conference can be found on http://www.sportsprotbc.com/ Until next week...