Sports Ticker #120: €100m milestone, NASCAR Channel and first female F1 race engineer – a speed read of commercial updates from the sports world

In a fortnight which saw ESPN and the World Surf League announce an expanded rights agreement and the Australian Open amass an unprecedented 1.1 million attendees, we bring you updates on the €100m milestone in women's football, NASCAR's new channel with Tubi and the settlement of a dispute between Superdry and Manchester City.

As always, if there are any issues on which you'd like more information (or if you have any questions or feedback), please do let us know or get in touch with your usual contact at RPC.

The sky's the limit for women's football

Deloitte's 28th edition of its Football Money League Report was recently published, which featured 15 women's teams within its highest revenue-generating football clubs across the 2023/24 season – collectively surpassing €100m in revenue for the first time. F.C. Barcelona Femení and Arsenal W.F.C. took the top two spots in the leaderboard, each generating €17.9m in revenue, closely followed by Chelsea F.C. Women (€13.4m), Manchester United W.F.C. (€10.7m) and Real Madrid Femenino (€10.5m). 8 of the top 15 women's clubs were from the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) and it is expected that the recent high profile deals for the BWSL will keep English clubs at the top end of European football going forwards. Matchday revenues were boosted by growing attendance in many leagues, demonstrated by the combined total attendance of over 1 million for the BWSL and Women's Championship. Accordingly, it is no wonder that "[c]ommercial partners and broadcasters are now recognising the growing profile of the women’s game and increasing their investment, in turn attracting greater and more diverse audiences in new addressable markets."

BBC Sports and World Snooker Tour pot extension to agreement

BBC Sports and World Snooker Tour have recently announced that they are adding a further five years to their partnership, extending their broadcast agreement until 2032. As a result, snooker fans across the UK will be able to experience free live coverage of the Triple Crown which is comprised of the World Championship, UK Championship and the Masters. In 2024 alone, coverage of these three prestigious tournaments amassed 33.9 million streams on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sports whilst also recording over 16 million on TV. This year, the Masters is currently taking place at Alexandra Palace to be followed by the World Championship in Sheffield in April and the UK Championship in York in November. Given that snooker has been "a cornerstone of BBC Sport programming since 1969", the extended partnership will "ensure the drama, intensity and excitement of the Triple Crown events remains free-to-air and we look forward to many more years of iconic sporting moments."

NASCAR races ahead with Tubi

 NASCARis launching the NASCAR Channel which is set to go live with Tubi on 29 January 2025, allowing fans to watch content for free without requiring a subscription or registration. The 24/7 channel will feature classic races, re-airs of events, documentaries, NASCAR Studios original content and video podcasts, representing a one-stop shop for fans. Upcoming highlights following the launch include live coverage of the Cook Out Madhouse Classic from Bowman Gray Stadium on 1st February and the NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on 7th February. NASCAR note that many fans already use Tubi but that they hope to entice more to the platform as the Channel develops. Samuel Harowitz, SVP of Content Acquisitions and Partnerships at Tubi, stated "NASCAR is the perfect addition to our vast content offering and we believe this channel’s programming will complement NASCAR’s live events, which kick off the 2025 season with The Clash and Daytona 500 on FOX.”  The excitement was similarly echoed by John Dahl, NASCAR SVP, Content, who emphasises the focus on fans having an easily accessible destination to watch archived content fused with the latest news and storytelling. 

Superdry and Manchester City find a common thread

 UK-based fashion brand Superdry has been in a year-long dispute with the current Premier League Champions, Manchester City, over its sponsorship tie with Japanese company, Asahi. The key issue revolved around the phrase "Super Dry Asahi 0.0%" which was prominently featured on the Premiership club's 2023/24 training kit. Superdry's lawyers claimed City's use of Asahi's 0.0% beer brand "Super Dry" on its training kit was a misrepresentation to the public and that "the differences between 'Super Dry' and 'Superdry' are so insignificant they may go unnoticed by the average consumer". City Football Group's lawyers denied infringing Superdry's trade marks and the dispute was due to be heard in the High Court of London on 14 January 2025, but the parties reached an undisclosed settlement and discontinued the matter. Whether this will mark the end of the 20-year long dispute between Superdry and Asahi remains to be seen. 

F1 Hass its first female race engineer

In recent years, F1's commitment to gender diversity has been evident through the introduction of the F1 Academy series for female drivers.  However, the trend continues with Haas Formula LLC (the American-licensed racing team) restructuring their race operations team and appointing Laura Muller as the first female race engineer in F1. She is set to work with French racing driver, Esteban Ocon, alongside Ronan O'Hare who was also recently appointed as part of the changes to work with Oliver Bearman. Team principal Ayao Komatsu stated that Laura was "the best choice" for the role and hopes her appointment will strengthen Haas' trackside team, following analysis that it was the weakest area in their fight for the constructors' championship last year. On a similar note, Haas have also recruited Carine Cridelich from Red Bull's Racing Bulls team to be their new head of strategy. Along with changes to other senior roles, Haas hopes the recent overhaul to the team will add robustness and experience to its operations and enhance its competitiveness. 

Extra time...

…and finally, the Danish Data Protection Authority (DPA) has granted F.C. Copenhagen permission to use facial recognition technology at football matches in an attempt to tackle fans' poor behaviour. Video surveillance will capture attendees' faces and compare them with images of individuals stored in internal and police suspension record systems to maintain order during events. F.C. Copenhagen requested permission under the Danish Data Protection Act as facial recognition technology constitutes biometric data, which is category data under the EU GDPR – meaning that there are limited circumstances in which it can be processed (including substantial public interest scenarios). Whilst F.C. Copenhagen also initially requested permission to use this technology for other stadium events, such as concerts held in Parken Stadium, the DPA concluded that facial recognition was disproportionate and not justified outside the realm of football. The permission granted currently covers home and domestic away games for F.C. Copenhagen, although the DPA is considering whether to extend this to encompass international games.