What Messi Means for MLS, The Future of Performance Marketing and Nightlife’s New Drinking Problem

Each week, we sift through a ton of content and then debate it ad nauseam at FEVO HQ. And since good content, like the mind, is a terrible thing to waste, we are also sharing it here with you, our fans, in the form of this weekly blog post on e-commerce, media and life on the internet.

The Athletic: How signing Lionel Messi will impact Inter Miami, MLS and American soccer

It should come as no surprise that bringing the GOAT to MLS will have a major impact on the league and the sport writ large in America. But just how much of an impact? The boy from Rosario is so valuable that, in an unprecedented move, the likes of Apple and Adidas are reportedly chipping in financially to bring him stateside. When Messi went to Paris Saint Germain two summers ago, the club “generated €700 million in revenue over the course of one year after his arrival.” This article from The Athletic lays out what could be in store for American soccer as it looks to capitalize on the sport’s most popular player. For reference, Inter Miami’s Instagram following had grown by more than 800% at the time of this publication and all the club’s home and away games have already sold out for the upcoming season — before Messi’s signing has even officially been completed!  

Business of Fashion: The future of performance marketing

This trend piece from Business of Fashion analyzes why brands have not fled Facebook and Instagram en masse — as may be the common consensus — but rather are deploying their ad spend in more strategic ways. Yes, this is an article that we see over and over again. But as companies get more savvy about how they spend their ad dollars, these types of reports can be useful for gut-checking your own strategy against companies with a proven track record.  

Billboard: Gen Z is drinking less, and clubs aren’t thrilled

Gen Z is the self-care generation. They drink less and go out to concerts and nightclubs sober more often than their older counterparts. One manager at a small venue in Arizona says, “money spent on alcohol dropped by as much as 25% relative to shows that catered to older generations.” What that means for both sports and live entertainment brands is that marketers and organizations need to devise promotions and experiences for young adults that don’t involve drinking. Time to get creative.  

And a few more nuggets of assorted internet wisdom …

Flair AI, the new tool for generating photorealistic humans (Mickey Friedman)

The change we’ve all been waiting for: no more ‘ducking’ autocorrects (BBC)

Gucci x MLB SS23 ain’t your average ballpark merch (Highsnobiety)

Beyoncé ‘Renaissance’ tour could outearn Taylor Swift by $500 Million (Forbes)

With record-breaking season, the NBA stays primed for advertisers (Marketing Brew)

Nike’s NFTs are coming to future EA Sports games (The Verge)

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