September 15 – FIFPRO and FIFPRO Europe have demanded an overhaul of FIFA’s governance so that “no single office can act unilaterally again a repeat.” The players’ unions highlighted FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s attempt to sell off the world governing body’s commercial rights into the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) newco without…
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Yes, more thoughts on what it means, or doesn’t, that Publicis walked away from competing for Coca-Cola’s media dollars to grab PepsiCo’s instead. But in my defense, it felt right to wait until the hot takes, livestreams and articles on the fallout died down a bit. If you’ve…
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September 11 – Moroccan FA president Fouzi Lekjaa has repeated his assertion that the 2030 World Cup final will be played at the new Hassan II Stadium outside Casablanca, despite FIFA saying that no decision has yet been made. Lekjaa made the claim at a political event in…
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Forget AI-generated creators. There’s an army of people making content based solely on briefs. These “ghost creators,” or creators-as-a-service, are suddenly under the spotlight, but some marketers have actually been using them for years. A September 2 Semafor article detailed how ghost creators are being used to rack…
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September 7 – UEFA will hold tributes for victims of the devastating flash floods in Nepal ahead of every Champions League match this week. Players and officials will observe a moment of silence before kick-off, while a banner carrying the message “You are not alone Nepal” will be…
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Two things drive creator spending now. Whether they move audiences and whether they move algorithms inside AI platforms. The second piece is moving fast enough that marketers are already building it into briefs, even though it hasn’t touched pricing yet. Right now, the focus is narrower. Understanding how…
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September 3 – Starbucks will put its logo on a football shirt for the first time after signing a partnership with Ligue 1 club Toulouse for the 2026/27 season. The US coffee chain became an Official Partner of Toulouse this morning, with its Siren logo taking the sleeve…
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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 22 state attorneys generals are suing Amazon alleging the company secretly overcharged advertisers in its search ad auctions for more than seven years. The suit was filed in the Western District of Washington. What did Amazon allegedly do? Amazon told advertisers it…
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August 28 – UEFA has taken the first legal steps of bringing a criminal complaint against FIFA president Gianni Infantino, and potentially other FIFA executives, over its plan to sell off World Cup commercial rights. An application for an order to obtain discovery of information from FIFA (Americas)…
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Some 128 million viewers tuned into Fox’s FIFA World Cup coverage this summer, a coup that boosted the broadcaster’s revenue 28% to $4.2 billion in its latest quarterly earnings. And yet, the tournament’s draw hasn’t prompted a headlong rush to funnel ad spend toward streaming and broadcast coverage…
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