Marijn Vredendaal-Luchtman is the Global Head of Sponsorships at Just Eat Takeaway.com, one of the world's leading online food delivery marketplaces. Known for its memorable TV advertising campaigns (Did somebody say…), Just Eat Takeaway last year extended its sponsorship of UEFA’s men’s club competitions, including the Champions League and Europa League, until 2027.

Marijn faces the challenge of activating one of the most complex rights packages in world sport across 11 months of UEFA club competitions each year, culminating in the Champions League final—the most-watched game in team sport, reaching a global audience of 450 million viewers.

In an ultra-competitive industry, Just Eat needs to convert eyeballs into orders. Live sport is a natural fit for food delivery firms, but how do they make it work?

In this episode, Marijn shares her insights on making sponsorship activations speak to football fans all across the world, leveraging influencers to extend the value of media rights, and using UEFA football as a platform to help grow women’s sports.

You’ll learn:

2:21 How to truly connect with a global football fanbase

4:50 How UCL sponsorship rights allow Just Eat to align with live sport

6:14 Creating unique content with influencers

8:46 How Just Eat ensures brand visibility throughout the customer journey

13:34 2024 Champions League Final: Blending digital and physical experiences

16:40 Integrating Just Eat’s regional teams into sponsorship activities

19:17 UEFA’s women’s competitions and creating a more responsible sponsorship ecosystem

Jasmine McCrawford is Director of Brand & Strategic Initiatives at the Jacksonville Jaguars. One of the NFL's youngest teams, the Jaguars are executing a bold strategy to reach and engage fresh audiences in ways other teams haven't yet dared.

The most-travelled NFL team, with a decade of international games at Wembley Stadium in London, the Jags puts equal focus on maximising engagement on home turf, battling against powerhouse college teams and leading NFL franchises.

In this episode, Jasmine deep dives into how the Jacksonville Jaguars target demographics ranging from female fans to international audiences, with insight-driven marketing strategies. Micro-influencers and lifestyle brands all play a role in the Jags’ inventive strategy, as the NFL team continues to redefine what it means to be a Jaguars fan – from London to Jacksonville itself.

In episode 13 of The Fan Engagement Podcast, you’lll discover:

1:39 How the Jags fanbase is rapidly changing – and why

Stuart Wareman is Global SVP Experiences, Events & Sponsorship at Accor. Accor is one of the world’s largest hotel groups – made up of a global network of over 50 brands, including Ibis, Sofitel, Novotel, Orient Express and Mercure.

Accor has cultivated brand partnerships with some of the most prestigious names in sport, including the FIFA World Cup, Rugby World Cup, PSG, the America’s Cup, Tour de France, Roland Garros and Kylian Mbappe. This year, Accor took on its biggest challenge yet as a Premium Partner of the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics, which includes managing the athlete and media villages.

Exactly how does Accor measure and maximise its sports sponsorship activity? What exciting new opportunities did the Paris 2024 Olympics present? And how Accor unlocked the power of sport to grow loyalty with its customers?

In episode 12 of The Fan Engagement Podcast, you’ll learn:

• 1:35 Intro to Stuart and his role at Accor

Marcus Mellor is Head of Commercial at Burnley Football Club, who play in the English Football League (EFL) Championship.

One of England’s oldest football clubs, Burnley FC recently became the subject of U.S. investment, with a star-studded roster of investors including JJ and Kealia Watt and popular YouTube collective, Dude Perfect. Burnley FC is on a mission to leverage its partnerships to drive U.S. market growth.

But how is the club’s U.S. audience engagement strategy playing out so far? How does the club use first-party fan data to attract new sponsors? And how is its partnership with TikTok to stream live women’s matches disrupting sports viewing?

In episode 11 of The Fan Engagement Podcast, you’ll learn:

00:29 Introduction to Marcus and his role at Burnley

02:33 Who are Burnley FC?

03:30 The impact of American investment in English football

04:11 Why Burnley is focusing on expanding its fan base in the U.S.

05:46 How to engage new casual fans and avid loyal fans

07:20 JJ Watt and Dude Perfect – leveraging partnerships for U.S. growth

09:00 Communicating Burnley's core values at home and abroad

11:25 Burnley women's team’s unique streaming partnership with TikTok

14:09 How Burnley leverages fan data to engage new and existing fans

15:46 The importance of first and third-party data in Burnley’s growth

17:31 How Burnley uses data to attract new sponsors.

19:01 Burnley’s Take Me to Turf competition in the U.S.

20:25 Explaining promotion and relegation to U.S. investors

23:23 What the data says – Burnley's digital growth

Formerly CTO of MediaMath, Manny Puentes is General Manager of Advertising at Genius Sports. A leading voice in the advertising world, Manny has spearheaded the development and growth of many high-profile programmatic advertising solutions across the last 25 years.

With Google planning to phase out the third-party cookie, the advertising sector is set to undergo its biggest transformation of the last 20 years – but what does this mean for sports advertising?

In this episode, Manny discusses how sports advertisers can get ahead of the cookie phase-out, the growing importance of fan identity solutions, why it pays to be privacy-conscious with your audience engagement strategy and how sports and brands can deliver enriched, personalised fan experiences – in a world without third-party cookie data.

In episode ten of The Fan Engagement Podcast, you’ll learn:

2:13 Third-party cookie phaseout – what’s changing for brands and fans?

7:20 What does cookie depreciation mean for sports advertising?

9:36  Enhancing the fan experience through contextualised data and content

12:07 Leveraging fan identity graphs to create personalised experiences

13:02 Addressing the challenge of cross-device fan fragmentation

Shawn Bryant is a Managing Director at Deloitte Consulting LLP, leading their sports practice having held senior roles at Disney, ESPN, the NBA and the Harlem Globetrotters. 

David Jarvis is a Senior Research Leader at The Deloitte Center for Technology, Media and Telecommunications (Deloitte Services LP) and is a co-author of The 2023 Sports Fan Insights Report.

Deloitte is the largest professional services organisation in the world, their sports division advises clients in 40 countries and across more than 30 sports. The 2023 Sports Fan Insights Report is the most comprehensive analysis of its kind and answers some of the biggest questions facing sports rights holders and advertisers.

Are Gen Z fans engaging differently to previous generations – and exactly how?  How is social media and sports betting impacting the fan experience? Will immersive technologies become mainstream in how fans engage with sports?

In episode nine of The Fan Engagement Podcast, you’ll learn:

2:40 The 2023 Sports Fan Insights Report - is this the beginning of the immersive sports era?

4:06 How Gen Z fans express sports fandom differently from other demographics

5:36 Why the convergence of streaming, data and betting is changing how sports fans engage 

7:10 The fragmented sports viewing experience 

9:41 What the data says about emerging Gen Z fan engagement trends

12:57 Why fans are powering the explosive growth of women's sports 

14:40 Why female sports fans engage differently to male sports fans

16:49 What sports technology innovation is set to revolutionise the fan experience next?

Justin Papadakis is Deputy CEO and Chief Real Estate Officer at the USL (United Soccer League), the fastest-growing professional soccer organisation in North America. 

This year three million fans purchased tickets to USL games. With 50 active negotiations to launch new teams and a Division One professional women’s league on the horizon, the USL is set for even more growth in 2024. 

But what strategies are enabling the USL to capitalise on the recent wave of U.S. soccer fandom? With the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be hosted in North America, what new opportunities do the next five years hold? And how is the USL delivering new exciting fan experiences to entertain its rapidly expanding fanbase?  

In episode eight of The Fan Engagement Podcast, you’ll learn: 

1:20 The USL’s role in growing soccer in the U.S. 

03:23 How the USL is expanding into new markets and capturing new fans 

08:16 How the USL is engaging different fan segments ahead of the 2026 World Cup   

11:42 What metrics matter most when it comes to fan engagement growth? 

12:51 How the USL is building its digital properties to integrate new concepts like sports betting 

14:22 Why promotion & relegation in U.S. soccer will unlock new growth 

16:35 The women’s soccer opportunity and the USL Women’s Super League 

Dev Sethi is Meta’s former Director of Sports Partnerships, with over 15 years of experience in the world of fan engagement, also including roles at Google, YouTube and as Instagram’s Head of Sports.

Dev brings an inside view into the world of sport’s social media explosion having worked closely with major leagues, teams, brands, athletes and creators across more than a decade.

But just how has sports fan behaviour evolved on social media since its emergence? How can sports, brands, athletes and creators unlock the potential of the world’s largest digital channels? And what does the fan experience of tomorrow look like in the social media future?

In episode seven of The Fan Engagement Podcast, you’ll learn:

00:03 Introduction to Dev Sethi

01:15 How the role of sports partnerships on social platforms has evolved in the last decade

03:49 NIL (name, image, and likeness) and how Meta empowered collegiate athletes to monetise social followings

08:28 Why social media is now the front door to sports fans – and how to capitalise

11:33 Why sport is an unrivalled vehicle to engage social media audiences at scale

16:51 What are the next big trends set to hit social media in the world of sport?

Ryan Cooney is Director of Digital & Media at Hennessy, one of the world’s largest alcohol brands and an official partner of the NBA, WNBA and 13 NBA teams. 

Hennessy, part of the Moët Hennessy group, also sponsors the multiple-time world champion boxer Canelo Álvarez. 

But why does Hennessy enjoy so much success engaging sports audiences? How do Ryan and his team unlock the power of fandom in their marketing? And what value does the brand get from its major sponsorship investment? 

In episode six of The Fan Engagement Podcast, you’ll learn: 

• 00:03 Introduction to Ryan and Hennessy  

Jennifer Matthews is VP, Brand Strategy at FanDuel, America’s largest sports betting and daily fantasy sports brand.

Since online sports betting was legalized in the U.S in 2018, FanDuel has rapidly become America’s leading betting company and acquired over 17 million customers and counting.

But what have been the secrets to FanDuel’s success when it comes to converting sports fans? How does it continue to acquire and engage sports audiences at such scale? And how have league and team sponsorships supercharged the brand’s incredible growth?

In episode five of The Fan Engagement Podcast, you’ll learn:

• 00:40 - 03:15 Introduction to Jennifer and FanDuel