FootBiz newsletter #157: Bumper news edition

FootBiz is coming at you from Augusta National this week, where one of sport’s most interesting and unique tournaments is taking place.

And it truly is a masterpiece in organisation and commercialisation in terms of doing things the right way.

Now, not everyone can lean on the near century-old, pristine brand that the Masters has, but equally they have worked insanely hard to preserve and uphold it as they left their more questionable history behind.

Equally, Augusta National has worked to modernise its tournament at the right speed without taking too many risks that could puncture the reputation it has laboured so thoroughly to upkeep, and at Wednesday’s annual press conference with the ANGC president there was even a rare apology, in this case for letting YouTubers sully the course in a widely-criticised stunt in 2022.

“I've referred to the tension in the past between respecting tradition and innovating, or in our nomenclature, continuous improvement,” Fred Ridley explained.

“So I do think we need to be looking at nontraditional ways of promoting the tournament, but more so promoting golf.

“A few years ago, we had Dude Perfect playing frisbee at Amen Corner. In retrospect, I like those guys, but that may not have been the best idea. But it does point out that we try things every once in a while that are a little bit non-traditional.”

Perhaps that played a part in Augusta declining Pat McAfee’s attempts to broadcast from the course this year. Despite being ESPN’s biggest star, McAfee’s tank-tops and adderall broadcasting style was deemed unwelcome, though people have still criticised the dumbing down of the Masters merch and broadcasts this week.

Otherwise, it is business as usual, and when you are here what becomes more pronounced is the paradox of the famous restrictions — with no phones allowed, no cameras and everyone on site being fully present and engrossed in the action — while every fan outside Augusta is instead reliant on probably the best mobile app in any sport, the Masters app.

That duality of embracing technological innovation — this year adding Amazon Prime as a streaming partner for their fiercely-protected broadcast rights — while keeping everything within the towering pines of the course as old-school and respectful as possible hints at how smartly this entire enterprise is run.

“It’s the ultimate example of control of a brand,” said Steve Martin, former M&C Saatchi CEO on the Leaders podcast.

“They don’t apologise for tradition, in fact they lean into it. They’ve merged this tradition with modernity... the biggest surprise has been the digitisation of it.

“Once you start going into it, it’s almost real-time and you’re the director of your own Masters coverage, that’s how good it is. They film every shot and it’s delivered almost as live.”

What feels crisp, clean and high-end in the palm of your hand feels the same in person on the bentgrass of northern Georgia but for different reasons. You are taken by the friendliness of the service, the endless help on hand (itself implying no cost is spared to ensure attention for patrons) and the impressive organisation of everything — be that the design of food and beverage outlets to eradicate queues or people preemptively taking your rubbish when they see you looking for a bin.

What would this look like in football?

Well, it would be fun to see a club try and take everybody’s phone off them as they walked into a stadium, forcing them to watch rather than film and to focus on the match at hand. It would be even better to see a club keep food and beverage at the prices seen here ($1.50-$3.00 for a sandwich, $6 for a beer) but that doesn’t appear likely anytime soon, principally because football club owners don’t have hundreds of thousands of fans captive in their park all day long.

More than anything, though, you do come back to the power of a brand and how you both build and preserve it. Tight control of IP and rights becomes a cyclical thing with brand strength, and teams are obviously subject to many more variables (poor performance etc) than a competition itself.

There are lessons here, though.

Lessons, impeccable service and cheap sandwiches.

If you’re into golf, I’ll be contributing to The Independent’s coverage this week from the Masters. Here’s my piece on the first day you see that world-famous Augusta grass for yourself.

Of course there is a football governance angle to this week’s Masters too.

Thai amateur Fifa Laopakdee, 21, is playing for the first time at Augusta after winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Dubai late last year, and turned up to find his locker between those of Tiger Woods and Bryson DeChambeau. A pinch-me moment.

Asked about his name, he revealed:

"My dad is a huge soccer fan, and he was choosing between Fifa from FIFA World Cup and Uefa from UEFA Champions League," Laopakdee said.

"So luckily (I) ended up with Fifa."

You can fill in your own punchlines here.

Table of Contents

• Why Italian football is struggling

• Nike beat Adidas to CL ball deal

• Still no Man City verdict

• Neymar to Cinci?

• Eagle Football in market

• PL vs Govt on AI copyright

• Bay Collective add English club to portfolio

• Silva and Radrizzani cleared in court

• Spanish players’ lawsuit knocked down

• Foxes lose points deduction appeal

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