It’s almost the end to another busy week, and a rare weekend off for most Premier League social media managers due to the international break. England take on Holland tonight in one of the final friendlies before the World Cup. Will we learn anything from them? Probably not but we’ll tune in anyway. I watched a reply of the 1996 win this morning…now that’s a memory I enjoy revisiting! But back to the business and here are today’s worthwhile reads…

How the UK’s sports marketers are preparing for a contentious Russia World Cup (thedrum.com)

As if it wasn’t going to be testing enough for anyone involved in the Russia World Cup this summer. The recent nose dive in relations between Europe (with UK at the fore) and Russia means that it’s going to be even harder to plan for and even get involved with. Add in how brands will be looking to ambush market football’s biggest event, it’s going to be interesting to see how it pans out.

Kits And Clicks: How European Football Clubs Are Using Social Media To Boost Sponsor Exposure (nielsen.com)

This could have been a useful piece of research to get into, but with names taken out and replaced with Brand A, Brand B, etc it does take something away from it. Though I’m sure we all know who A and B are (Nike and adidas) but which way round?! And how much value to do you assign to social media values based on advertising metrics? But either way there’s still areas that we can take out from it no matter our standpoint.

Derek Jeter’s Players’ Tribune expands into Europe (reuters.com)

The Players Tribune has found a great niche amongst both sports fans and athletes. Providing a unique viewpoint where they are in control of their message and provide more than the watered down sound bites we’re used to. Now they’re looking to expand into Europe with Barcelona and London earmarked as locations.

Discover the UK’s largest public esports studio in London tech hub (redbullcontentpool.com)

The drinks brand are already heavily involved in esports and have chosen London to open their second public esports studio. Great to see more people getting involved and money being spent to make it more accessible and take it mainstream. Wonder if they’re available for next week’s Digital Sport esports event. Hmmmm….