“Arsenal FC is a digital media juggernaut and a man who should take a lot of credit for building the foundations of this success is Richard Clarke. Smart, strategic and solutions orientated - he is a massive asset to any digital orientated organisation.”
Richard Glover - General Manager, Arsenal Broadband Ltd. (Later CEO, South Africa Tennis | Commercial Director, S Africa cricket)
My primary role was to devise and manage strategy in all content areas – website, international television show, social media (domestic and overseas), publications, apps, live web TV.
Lead the development of one of the major club websites in world football producing highest quality content.
Created and managed content teams in London
Appointed and manage content teams in south-east Asia, USA, South America and other parts of the world
Editorial team for written content
Production team for video content
Live team and commentary/TV team for live shows online
Overseas social media teams
I launched and devised content plans on all major social platforms. We did this:
Twitter – 3rd biggest sports team in world, biggest in EPL
Facebook – 5th biggest sports team in world
Soundcloud - biggest football team in the world
Instagram – 5th biggest football team in the world
Sina Weibo - 3rd biggest football team in the world
YouTube - fastest-growing football team in the world
In 2023, one-day cricket enjoyed its 60th birthday.
David Tossell has written a book on the evolution of the format. He describes those early days as “nicely naïve”. But, at the same time, they were the foundation for every major innovation in cricket ever since.
These days, the 50-over game is under an existential threat due to the rise of T20. Can it survive, is it worth saving and what would be its legacy?
Ricardo Fort has led the sponsorship strategy for brands at World Cup and Olympics.
After a long, successful career with the likes of Coca-cola and Visa, he has set up his own consulting firm. In this podcast, Ricardo gives straight answers to key questions in sports sponsorship and outlines how content fits in. This is a sophisticated 101 for anyone interested in working in the commercial department at a major sports organisation.
Alex Phillips does not look or sound like a revolutionary but his ideas could shake up football.
He spent 15 years at Uefa, including a couple as Head of Compliance and Governance. He was seconded to the Asian Football Confederation for three years and now leads the World Football Remission Fund, a FIFA body administrating how money "stolen from the game" should be returned for its overall benefit.
In this podcast, we discuss good governance, the ramifications of the failed Super League project, educating owners and fans, setting examples and, of course, content.
The challenges facing netball are different to other sports. While we have seen growth in women's football, tennis and boxing in recent years, it has always occurred through the lens (or maybe in the shadow) of established male forebears. Netball does not have this baggage. Its product and message can be tailored specifically toward women and girls. Claire Nelson, CEO of Netball Scotland explains
In the next 10 years, cricket will try to cross its biggest and most important new frontier - the USA. They have been awarded co-hosting rights for the 2024 T20 World Cup and a buzz is building around the chances of inclusion in the Olympics in Los Angeles four years later.
Minor League Cricket started last season and its Major League big brother begins this year. Tom Dunmore is VP of Marketing for both tournaments. In this podcast, we discuss the story so far, the challenges they face and the vision for success.
Brian Jacks was a household in the UK in the 1980s. The pinnacle of the judo player’s sporting success came when he won a bronze medal at the Munich Olympics in 1972. But a few years later he would become much more famous as the UK and European champion in Superstars, a popular television programme that saw the best athletes of the day compete in events outside their niche. The show grew throughout the world to become perhaps the first modern example of how sporting heroes could cross into mainstream media, with all its financial benefits, through light entertainment television.
Now living in Thailand, Jacks talks about his motivations, how he leveraged his Superstars fame, his rivalry with Daley Thompson and why he’d love to be a grappling coach in UFC.
Podcast partner: Sports Tech Match - Simplifying Sports Tech Procurement
Motherwell FC have lifted only one trophy in the past 30 years. However, off the pitch, they beat off competition from Manchester United, Everton and Leicester to win the Best Digital/Social Media category at the Football Business Awards this year.
Grant Russell is the club’s Head of Brand, Digital and Communications. In this episode, he talks about the thinking, discipline and creativity that have gone into building a stand-out story for an otherwise overlooked Scottish team.
This is a deep dive into content strategy and, like me, Russell believes in cutting through clutter with a strict, realistic yet progressive vision for storytelling.
After a decade as chair of UK Athletics (including the 2017 World Championships in London) and a few years in his current role with GB Wheelchair rugby, Ed Warner is well-placed to comment on the stresses and strains of running a modern sport.
In this podcast, we discuss many of the key issues required to steer a sporting ship towards success: leadership styles, funding models, changing content strategies, marketing, elite sport v participation, bringing in private equity funding and his open application for the role of ECB chair.
Given its increasingly strategic importance within sports business, it is surprising how many rights-holders produce sub-standard apps.
To try and solve this issue, I spoke to George Crabb, Managing Director at The Other Media. This well-established digital agency have a rich history in working with rights-holders to create mobile applications of the highest quality.
How do you create a story about a team that has won the league seven seasons in a row (and an eighth is expected to follow soon)? Johor Darul Ta'zim (or JDT) were re-formed in 2013 under the guidance of the Crown Prince of Johor. They won their first title a year later and the AFC Cup 12 months after that. But their tone on social media has brought them as much attention as their success. Vijhay Vick, the Head of Content, is leading their strategy. In this podcast, he discusses his approach to JDT's unique position.
International TV Show (22 broadcasters in 100 territories)
Chinese social media - launched on WeChat, Sina Weibo, Tencent Weibo
Other overseas social media - launched in territories including Indonesia, Vietnam, China, USA, Japan
Virtual Reality studio at Emirates Stadium
Bespoke apps for special events
Given this power and cricket’s struggle for relevance in the past few decades, it is staggering that it has taken so long for the sport to be welcomed back into the Olympic fold. But it is now fully expected after the game’s inclusion was recommended by the LA28 organising committee on October 9.
My dog has enriched my life and, though troublesome at times, continues to soothe the soul of my family. For its devotees, the gentle yet ultimately pointless hubbub of county cricket acts in precisely the same way
‘It is not about using the majority of your focus and resources to try and be successful on the pitch. It is about using almost all your focus and resources to the detriment of other key drivers’
The comparisons with county cricket are clear. The early tactics - neglect, underfund then marginalise - have already been enacted. Soon they will have a couple of years of data that 'proves' the success of the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named in comparison to the Blast.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Thierry Henry, Gerard Houllier and the art of the exit interview when you leave a football club. Why should you do it, why most don’t and what it says about modern football
Recently, I watched my first non-league game in 25 years. A lot of things have progressed in the last quarter of a century but the ability of a largely unnoticed local game to arouse the emotions of a couple of hundred people in a small stadium on a Saturday afternoon remains undimmed.
Depending on your viewpoint, Frank Sidebottom is one of light entertainment’s so-bad-its-good merchants, a half-decent gag stretched out into a career or complete and utter nonsense.
But there was an enchanting and obsessive creativity behind the madness of his creator, Chris Sievey, and if he had been around today maybe he would have made it pay.
The followers of ‘Wittertainment’ are so devout they speak of it as a church not just a radio show.
Every Friday afternoon for almost two decades, Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode have spent an hour or two reviewing the latest film releases; pouring praise on the Oscar-worthy, frying the turkeys and interviewing those who create magic on the silver screen.
As the “BBC’s flagship film show”, it has won a host of major awards and was the corporation’s fourth most downloaded podcast for most of the noughties.
But what are the lessons for content creators?
Content Lessons is an occasional series taking lessons in storytelling from outside sport. This time, the pool hall scene from Carilto's Way and it shows us about ‘depth vs length’
What is in a name? How have they been developed in different sports? In MLS, the introduction of St Louis City and Charlotte FC follows the trend towards traditional football names. However, the Seattle Kraken suggests NHL is taking the opposite route. Then there is the Washington Football Team, who have flipped their story by ditching the “Redskins” and are now actively looking for assistance from their fans to frame their future.