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Diverse Revenue Streams – Catherine Carlson

@seancallanan

In this Sports Geek Throwback episode, Sean Callanan interviews Catherine Carlson, who was at the Philadelphia Eagles when episode 299 was recorded.

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Key Takeaways

The conversation revolves around the strategy behind revenue growth and the development of new revenue opportunities in the sports industry.

  • Diverse Revenue Streams: The pursuit of new revenue opportunities beyond traditional avenues, such as ticket sales and sponsorships, by exploring areas like gaming partnerships, digital media, and emerging technologies.
  • Investing in Digital Transformation: Embracing digital technologies to enhance fan engagement and create innovative experiences, leveraging social media, mobile apps, and data analytics.
  • Strategic Partnerships: Collaboration with companies outside the sports industry has helped unlock new revenue streams and create mutually beneficial relationships.
  • Adapting to Changing Market Trends: Staying agile and adjusting strategies based on emerging trends, such as esports and virtual reality, has been crucial for seizing new revenue opportunities.
  • Fan-Centric Approach: By prioritizing fan engagement and personalization, sports team aim to foster increased participation and loyalty, driving revenue growth.

This transcript has been lightly edited by AI

Sean: So, when someone has revenue and strategy in their title, is their goal to find new avenues of revenue?

How do you balance the desire to tap into the existing fan base for more work and potential revenue, while also exploring new areas?

Catherine: Yeah, my job is to uncover new revenue opportunities. One interesting example in the past 18 months has been in the legalized sports gambling category. It was new to the US, and we had to navigate it and determine the best strategy.

The NFL established a gambling policy for us, which provided guidelines. It had four key objectives: protecting the integrity of the game, maintaining the NFL and team's brand reputation, driving fan engagement, and growing commercial opportunities. This policy guided our strategy and opportunities.

If you had asked me two years ago, I would have mentioned three distinct parts of the gambling space: land-based casinos, fantasy sports, and legalized sports gambling. But now, all three have merged. Fantasy sports is now part of legalized sports gambling, and casinos have online gambling and sports betting. This consolidation made us rethink our strategy moving forward.

We have three partners in the space: Unibet, Foxbet, and DraftKings. We made a strategic decision to be non-exclusive, which has worked well. Each partner has different objectives, and we have managed the share of voice to provide value to our clients.

Navigating this space and driving revenue while delivering value to our partners is the exciting part of my job. Despite the challenges of COVID, we even built a new VIP lounge at Lincoln Financial Field called the Fox Bet Lounge. This demonstrates our commitment to this space and our belief that it will continue to grow.

I believe the NFL will continue to explore opportunities and possibly loosen restrictions in the future. There are still opportunities for growth in this space.

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