Ian Mallon: Did Chloe Mustaki save the value of women's brand?
MEDIA DUTIES: Chloe Mustaki speaks to Sky Sports News during a Republic of Ireland Women media event at the Hilton Hotel. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
IN THE world of sports commercial asset management Sky Ireland has been through the reputational ringer in recent days, after the most unique set of sponsorship circumstances.
The joys of October 11 at Hampden Park – where a peak TV audience of 593k watched – as the Irish WNT celebrated a first ever FIFA World Cup qualification, complete with Sky logos on the shirts, was platinum sports branding.
What followed was not, as the damaging high jinks of the ‘Up the ‘Ra’ singalong presented the British-owned business with both extremities of the sponsorship risk spectrum.
In the middle of the tsunami that followed, the first signs of a gentle recovery were sown, through the candid expressions of Vera Pauw, who offered no excuses and only absolute contrition.
And so Sky Ireland’s brand recovery was on the rise, but was it just a ‘dead cat bounce’ – a temporary stock recovery of no long-term value?
So it seemed when the Sky mothership crashed into proceedings and all-but-devoured its young, with Sky Sports News goading and poking from the front.
The sports news service’s hostage video tactics, with a captive Chloe Mustaki, backfired, as the young defender presented a highly dignified, contrite but ‘no need for the history lesson, thanks’ position and stood her ground despite subjective interrogation.
The interview has been identified by all FAI sponsors, who were interviewed by The Pitch this week, as the standout moment that turned a scandal into an outstanding save.
Sky Ireland was not impressed by the proceedings which unfolded on its own channel, but is correctly bound by editorial principles not to interfere and so continued to analyse as its overall brand reputation took a pummelling.
As the owner and seller of Sky Sports News and other sporting platforms to Irish audiences, Sky Ireland CEO JD Buckley will now analyse if the positivity engendered by the WNT team – dressing room antics aside – has all but been wiped out by Rob Wotton's SSN tackle.
Buckley will weigh up the sentiments towards the team versus feelings for Sky Sports News and will analyse any fresh indicators in churn rates on the Irish market – the number of customers who leave its service versus the number of new subscriptions it achieves.
Brand sentiment reports with insights and findings will assess the mood and affection for the brand, but the true reflection will be felt on the bottom line.
Of the 16 strong suite of FAI associates and partners the feeling amongst a strong representative number – who all spoke off the record - was that the Hampden Park incident had not affected their own brand value.
One commercial director, from outside the association, described the issue as “a poor reflection on the team, who in fairness recovered well through their genuine contrition, but ultimately were saved by the behaviour of Sky Sports News – that interview changed everything."
What is certain is that the future of the FAI’s digital communications strategy will experience change as a major review of safeguards and protections are examined to prevent such incendiary content being presented to the public.
It will focus on its approach to the social media awareness and responsibility discussions which will take place at future international camps between players and FAI staff.
The other question that the market or current FAI partners are unable to answer: What effect such controversy has on the ongoing attempts to get a bluechip association sponsor over the line?
THE brand new levy for recreational runners to compete in races and weekend runs looks like a participation tax in all but name.
Although hardly punitive, the €2 extra charge will be levied on competitors in Athletics Ireland-sanctioned events from January 1, 2023.
Every entrant who is not a member of an athletics club will pay the per-race fee, which will see the granting of a One Day Licence (ODL), permitting the runner to take part in that single event.
To put some numbers on who will have to pay - more than 70% of the estimated 400k participants in sanctioned runs each year are not club members.
In total Athletics Ireland approves 650 events, 80% of those are runs of less than 1,000 competitors (Avg 400), with the remaining 130 events attracting much larger entry lists, including the Dublin and Cork Marathons, and the Dublin Women’s Mini Marathon.
€1.62 of the €2 add-on will go directly to Athletics Ireland and could result in revenues as high as €700k, with the remainder being mopped up in VAT and registration fees.
AI says that money will then go to elite performance programmes to support the talent coming through, which the organisation believes has rich potential.
The ODL initiative, CEO of Athletics Ireland Hamish Adams told The Pitch, is a part of a push to help a more creative approach to growing revenue streams in a pursuit which he says still offers the “best value for money of any sport”.
Adams was eager to eliminate any notion that this was a sudden idea to make a fast buck from a quick opportunity.
“The ODL was several years in the making,” he explained.
“It has been two-and-a-half years or more, and it’s not something that has just been thrust on people overnight - there has been lots of discussion.”
The beginning of that discussion coincided with Covid, a time which, like for all NGBs, had a dramatic impact on revenue and income for Athletics Ireland.
“60% of our income came from self-generated revenue pre-Covid, with that figure at 35% now,” he added.
“Certainly we’re more reliant on Government funding, and every grant comes with terms and conditions in that you can’t spend the money on everything you want to.
“We’ve got a really talented group of youngsters coming through, so we want to support them further, and not just the athletes, but the coaches, and also working closely with Sport Ireland.”
The additional fee was agreed by the Board of Athletics Ireland and passed in recent weeks, but some raised questions about the constitutionality of such an approval process, which it has been claimed requires congress correction.
“We have taken legal advice and we’re quite confident that it’s constitutional, and that there are no areas of concern,” stated Adams.
Another area of keen interest is the obligation on participants to sign up to the EventMaster registration system, favoured by Athletics Ireland.
Adams says that the company was selected in the normal manner, through a tendering process, after AI “went to the market in 2019 and several partners were considered”.
An added value is the delivery of marketing and commercial opportunities with its new audience of hundreds of thousands, on top of its 60,000 members.
More “creative revenue streams” will be introduced next month when a new headline sponsor will be named as replacement for the Dublin Marathon-bound Irish Life.
What a difference a Sunday Game exit makes in the world of statements and tributes.
Just three months after Pat Spillane was announced as a major departure, RTÉ’s GAA highlights platform has now lost presenter Des Cahill in probably less surprising circumstances.
Cahill has cut a frustrated and fed-up anchor this year, announcing in a summer interview his displeasure at the sheer weight of matches being crammed into the show.
Unlike Pat Spillane’s departure announcement from the Sunday Game in which he was thanked him for his “loyalty, service, passion and friendship”, such tributes were missing from Cahill’s exit statement.
