Are You Thinking What We’re Thinking?

One of my earliest memories of watching golf was when John Daly won the 1995 Open Championship at St. Andrews. Daly didn’t fit the image of the typical professional golfer; instead he was known as the guy who would not be allowed into your local country club. Daly’s party appearance and attitude were about 25 years too early for golf, as in recent years, the Waste Management Phoenix Open (also known as WM) has become known for the party atmosphere it brings to the PGA Tour. Hit a hole-in-one on 16? Get ready for beer can showers. 

Last month, the video game company, Square Enix, announced the sequel to their Final Fantasy VII Remake, Rebirth. While most Final Fantasy fans expected an actual remake of the classic, we instead got a new telling of the story. As Final Fantasy continues into the 21st century, the series that has sold 168 million units worldwide since 1987 continues to reinvent itself, bringing in new fans with each new release. 

Netflix's Formula 1: Drive to Survive has helped propel Formula 1 back into the US sports consciousness. The push to make F1 more mainstream in the US is not a subtle one; in 2017, US media company Liberty Media purchased the championship and added two glamorous Grand Prixes to the race calendar in Miami and Las Vegas.

The cord-cutting movement is no longer just a fad, it’s a verifiable trend. A trend that will see streaming services overtake traditional services in the next four years. Leagues and teams want their content in front of growing, not shrinking audiences. And streamers need more unique and diverse content offerings to earn subscribers in an increasingly saturated space.

March Madness and Capital One ads are like peanut butter and jelly; every commercial break we see one that involves Charles Barkley, Samuel L. Jackson, and Spike Lee partaking in shenanigans. This year, basketball legend Sue Bird joined them in the fresh crop of commercials. A move that indicates that not only is the WNBA audience growing exponentially, but the league’s stars are also starting to get well-deserved partnership deals.