Well that was a Rollercoaster of a ride...

It transcended sports, entertainment and its pure visceral nature captivated the audience.

Sports can do this like NOTHING else. Fact.

Hollywood has nothing to compare, music the same. Both can provide extreme drama but would fail to capture the human essence of despair, failure, success and joy like that Masters victory.

But sport cannot stand still. It never has. The importance of accepting growth and change is what led Rory to victory, what crated ancient sports and what has led us to the professional era.

Stand Still...and the game is over.

Everywhere I look the obsession today is YouTube and Sports...followed quickly by Roblox. And every time I see it I get more and more concerned.

It's like we want a magic bullet to solve our issues. The next big thing is the way forward...until it isn't.

Remember, Facebook was the solution. Except it wasn't. All it did was prove how popular sport was. Pay TV solved everything with money...but the paywall hid sport from view.

The new Stadium was the solution until it was deemed to lack atmosphere etc.

It should never be about the magic bullet but about understanding the changing world, where we sit and how to use technology to build an ecosystem around sport that truly delivers for the fans - because that is how you end up with a virtuous cycle.

We are inundated with headlines, punchlines, fads, crazes and point solutions.

Many are good, some are great and there are also the bad and the ugly out there.

Whilst you need to look at each individual element, before you launch headlong into the next big thing that will solve your problems my recommendation is to take a step back.

Sport lives within a living, breathing eco-system. It doesn't begin or end with the match or contest, that is solely one element in how it impacts our fans lives.

As such as you look to add Roblox or Social content to your quiver think about the eco-system you are building, where it works, how it works and where you can both reduce friction for the fans and generate new funds into the sport to begin the virtuous cycle.

I've not been this excited about an F1 season for a while.

Having led efforts to invest in the space since 2020 I have become reengaged with the sport after a decade of focusing elsewhere.

As a fan and someone who watches the commercial paradigm equally closely I think this year is super exciting for everyone.

2025 is the end of the current tech cycle and teams will be closer to each other than ever before, new line-ups, stories and subtext, another year of boom in the US with 3 races and Drive to Survive and the excitement of Cadillac joining is all a sign of excitement.

Belt up, set the alarm clock and off we go.

Who could have imagined it?

An amazing name synonymous with Sports...the literal home of sports with a brand that is strong, instantly recognizable and trusted.

The rise of betting in the USA with the federal deregulation and the market now worth over $6bn, with a gross revenue of over $40bn annually, growing at 12% CAGR.

Surely the combination of these two things is a no-brainer.

Yet many, including myself, didn't believe it would work. It's not that the concept isn't entirely logical and persuasive, it's just that we have seen it before and seen how hard it is to make work.

Time isn't up for ESPN Bet on the Penn platform but its entirely unsurprising commentators are now openly stating it in the media.

History doesn't repeat - but it's re-runs are very similar!

Let's see if ESPN thinks that bringing it in house as part of their new product launch this year becomes a thing.

Loved the Evan Shapiro report this past week, but why is everyone so surprised that YouTube is so successful? That's the biggest confusion i have this year.

I'm also interested in understanding what are the future implications of Streamers (who are primarily PayTV in a digital world), increasingly becoming advertising focused...given historically the importance of Sports in attracting audiences and advertising revenues...

It's not a straight line the next 5 years in the media world - and anyone who claims to know the future is BS'ing you! But i doe believe Sports will still be central to the changes that come.

LIV has lost $5bn if you believe the reports, and have a long way to go if a merger doesn't happen back with the PGA.

Can a new Basketball League - that doesn't apparently compete with the NBA - really take off, given it couldn't play long in the USA, couldn't take their stars on that basis...and could it provide a return to investors?

There are some great examples of new upstart leagues that can do well, which have a clear market strategy and community that they can target and connect with. So new leagues from Baller to Crossfit and Hyrox to a potential emerging Rugby league to me have promise.

$5bn for a new Basketball League? Doesn't sound like enough...

It's a cliche, I know. Yet, it's often repeated because its accurate.

I love the Deloitte Money League. I read it every year and have fun with it...but if it gives a cause for concern its because we judge clubs by their revenue.

The biggest concern I have with Women's Football? That they copy the economic model of the Men's game. Why?

You don't need to look further than the profit line in football for that answer. And if Profit is Sanity... where are we today?

As i point out in here there are some conundrums to solve, to collective bargaining to be done but if you can tap into what Formula 1 has done (not what you think) then perhaps the future is brighter than even I think.

PS - If Cash is King, listen to the end...because the current solution to cash is there.

I love the hot-take. We live in a world of it, and the headlines are great. Yet to take serious action you need to look beyond the surface.

We have become obsessed in sports with metrics that give us either a false sense of security or are portents of doom.

Today I discuss TV Ratings, the NFL and the lack of Digital understanding.

I am not a believer in Zero Sum, but in a changing world. TV numbers are important...and were once the only metric to judge on.

BUT when we look at the modern world, using this old world metric in isolation - which is done a lot - we are missing the real picture, and that's a mistake.