Pop! Marketing Communications

Open to new projects! Influencer collaborations, media relations, social media strategy, social media content, social media community management, media experiences

Recent Work

Sazerac Company Employer Brand Social Media - January 2023 - October 2024

Hotel Northampton	Feb 2016 - present
Social Media/PR Consultant

Oversee social media management and media/influencer relations

HB Real Estate	Feb 2021 - November 2023
Social Media Consultant

Spearhead all aspects of social media community management, including content calendar and paid social media for busy real estate brokerage

Sonesta International Hotels Corporation	Feb 2016 - April 2022
Corporate Social Media & Blog Content Lead

Provided support and created training for social media content strategy/content for close to 300 US hotels

Led corporate social media brand accounts for up to 4 brands for growing hotel company

Created and managed blog content calendar, wrote content for blog.sonesta.com

Worked with marketing team on content for newsletter and corporate campaigns, supported by blog and social media

Represented the company on social media for customer service issues, liaised with customer care for resolution

Partnered with influencers and field marketing teams on collaborations

Created and revised corporate social standards, worked with legal team to maintain adherence to laws and regulations


Self Employed	June 2015 - present
Marketing Communications/PR Consultant

Full service social media management for Sonesta Hotels

Media relations, media tours, social media content, and destination marketing for Hampshire County Regional Tourism Council

Social media community management, web + email content for Olive Connection 

Social media strategy, content, community management for Nautical Gin

Social media strategy and content for Wines of Alentejo US

Social media strategy, content, and PR for Sonoma Wine Country Weekend

Social strategy, content, and influencer relations for Nova Star Cruises

Marketing Communications Consultant

Hotel Northampton

Since 2016 I have worked with Hotel Northampton on social media strategy, community management, content creation and curation, media relations, influencer campaigns, social sweepstakes, and other related activities.

Social Media Marketing Consultant

Sazerac Company

Collaborate with Talent Acquisition, University Relations, and Marketing teams on social strategy

Develop, maintain, and own the content strategy and calendar for all Sazerac Employer Brand platforms 

Plan, schedule and publish organic social content 

Write paid and organic copy for all major social media platforms

Monitor and moderate all social mentions across social channels to maintain engagement with followers (team members and future team members) 

Support Talent Acquisition with recruitment marketing and media requests related to sourcing candidates and overall recruitment advertising needs 

Work as a liaison between Talent Acquisition and Marketing teams to understand recruitment goals, design appropriate materials/content and place asset requests when necessary

Create and conduct training for Talent Acquisition and HR teams to support social distribution of open roles

Cultivate relationships with various departments to create opportunities for people and culture content and engagement

Employer Brand Social Media Manager - Contract

Sonesta Hotels

Corporate Social Media & Blog Content Lead

Provided support for social media content strategy/content for close to 300 US hotels

Led corporate social media brand accounts for up to 4 brands for a growing hotel company

Created and managed blog content calendar and wrote blog content for blog.sonesta.com

Published a monthly newsletter and corporate campaigns, supported by blog and social media

Represented the company on social media channels for guest/customer service issues and liaised with customer care for issue resolution

Partnered with influencers and property field marketing teams on collaborations

Created and revised corporate social standards, including working with a legal team to maintain adherence to laws and regulations

Travel, Wine, Dine

My blog, Travel, Wine, and Dine, which I  maintained as a creative and networking outlet for over nine years, expanded my knowledge of the food and beverage and hospitality industries. 
In addition, it has immersed me in Social Media, becoming a great asset to my career in the field. As my own social reach grows so does that of clients I am working with. 

My writing has been featured in a variety of places, most recently on Stay.com, a guide for Boston wine lovers: http://www.stay.com/boston/guides/555460-baac37b9/boston-for-wine-lovers/


http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/blogs/thenextgreatgeneration/2012/05/bostons_top_7_young_pinterest.html

It was also recognized as an account to follow and a must-read local food blog by BostInno: 

http://bostinno.com/2012/08/21/10-drool-worthy-local-foodie-accounts-to-follow-on-pinterest/

http://bostinno.com/2012/08/08/boston-food-bloggers/#ss__198643_1_0__ss

I am a Stay.com local expert.

Blogging has provided me with countless opportunities for writing, creating content strategy and editorial calendars, and networking with other bloggers and media outlets. The experience I have as a result of my blog has been an asset to my Marketing, Social Media, and PR work and the clients that I work with.

Travel and Food Blogger, Content Creator

Hampshire County Regional Tourism Council

In  this consulting role, I supported domestic and international public relations for a Massachusetts-based tourism office. I created pitches and press releases, conducted media and influencer outreach, planned media tours and itineraries, and followed up on coverage. 

In this role I worked closely with team members to support marketing and social media efforts and to develop ideas to drive tourism to the region.

Public Relations Communications Consultant

Developed content strategy, write copy, and managed engagement on all social media channels for hotel and restaurant

Developed media lists and relationships with relevant media to secure ongoing coverage of hotel renovation re-launch, special events, packages, and promotions

Wrote all communications, including press releases and email pitches 

Managed agency relationships, including search, creative, and media

Managed Marketing initiatives including website, emails, and collateral, as well as internal hotel guest and employee communications, signage, coupons, etc. 

Planned and promoted press and public events to drive traffic to and awareness about the hotel and restaurant

Worked closely with Director of Sales & Marketing and Director of Revenue to develop robust packages and event ideas 

Coordinated and hosted media opportunities including television and photo shoots

Managed online reputation and reported results weekly to the executive team

Developed and managed community relationships, secured opportunities for participation in culinary and charity events

Communications and Media Relations Manager, Royal Sonesta Hotel Boston

Connelly Partners

Coordinated and facilitated international and domestic media and trade familiarization tours to promote Massachusetts as a premier travel destination on behalf of the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism

Drafted press releases, press leads, and various other communications

Developed media lists and worked closely with key journalists to develop story ideas

Actively sought out opportunities to secure press coverage for clients

Tracked, clipped, and reported on press coverage on a monthly basis

Developed social media strategy and content recommendations

Planned and executed media events

Public Relations and Social Media Manager

Zipcar

Worked with Creative team on social media strategy

Developed social media content calendars

Provided direction for the social media efforts of City Marketing Managers around the US and UK

Worked on special projects such as contests and promotions

I was hired by Zipcar specifically on a contract basis, and though they hired a full time Social Media Manager, I continued to work with them as-needed to write content and work on special projects.

Social Media and Marketing Manager - Contract

Vista Higher Learning

Wrote and edited print and Web content, including press releases, brochures, sales collateral, and email campaigns

Developed and implemented early social media strategy for customer engagement 

Launched special promotions and contests to engage potential customers and education-related media 

Worked with the sales team to solicit feedback and ensure consistency and effectiveness of messages

Managed external vendors on the design and production of Marketing projects

Solicited product feedback by commissioning competitive Marketing reviews and surveys

Managed purchase requisitions and tracked invoices to budget

Managed advertising campaigns

Marketing Communications Manager

Marketing Communications Consultant and Advisor with experience in PR | Organic Social Media | Influencer Campaigns | Copywriting | Paid Social Media

I have over 15 years of communications experience, with a background that encompasses a variety of areas of work and industries, in-house, agency-side, and as an independent consultant. The following roles are just a few that I have held over the years. 

- Managed employer brand social media at Sazerac Company for almost two years
- Led public relations efforts for Hampshire County Regional Tourism Council for five years
- Worked with Sonesta Hotels for eight years, two years on-property as Communications and Media Relations Manager and six years as a consultant, leading corporate social media and blog efforts


My core competencies include social media strategy, content, and community management, influencer and media relations, copywriting projects, and paid social media campaigns. I have worked with clients across various industries, such as hospitality, real estate, education, and wine and spirits. I am passionate about creating engaging and authentic content, building strong and lasting relationships, and delivering results that exceed expectations.

Meghan Malloy

The Commercial Table

Building a high-trust newsletter for commercial leaders in sport and entertainment.

Each week, I answer one tactical question CCOs and commercial teams face. Across revenue, sponsorships, partner strategy, growth and internal alignment.

The newsletter delivers tangible tools like onboarding checklists, messaging frameworks, internal pitch templates, and comms teardowns. Based on real conversations with CCOs, brand leads, and operators in the field.

This is built for the people doing the work behind the deals.

Founder

Track Limits

Creative Director

Creative Consultant

Mac Clark Racing 

Orbit Echelon Inc

At Orbit Echelon Inc., we specialise in co-writing for sponsors and sports companies.

EarthOne

Head of Content

Photographer

Sport Signage

Digital Marketing Manager

Racing Edge

Marketing Manager

Pfaff Automotive Partners

Brand Marketing Specialist

Link Media KW

I ghostwrite Educational Email Courses for motorsport brands so they can turn fans into fanatics | Creative Director & photographer

I am the founder of The Commercial Table, where I talk about the commercial world of sports and entertainment. 

We also help commercial executives turn partnerships into revenue through the newsletter and consulting practice.
​
My career is far from traditional, almost paying catch-up at times - I spent 10 years as a photographer before transitioning to writing, lived across three countries (with more airport mishaps than I care to count), and somehow found my way into the niche world of motorsport marketing without ever fully stepping into the corporate world.
​
My approach to LinkedIn mirrors largely my personality - more listening than speaking, trying to be more authentic than polished. My theory is If you treat LinkedIn like Twitter in 2021, you'll win. I am obsessed with how comedians and TV shows write, have dreams of working on a screenplay someday, and can talk your ear off about tennis.

I have coached 30+ clients globally, earned LinkedIn Top Voice recognition, and built my business by following curiosity and scratching my own itches - and putting ideas into action.

Nirupam Singh

Williams just brought back their 1990s logo for 2026.

The new design is a reimagining of Frank Williams' "Forward W" from 1977, honouring Sir Frank Williams and connecting back to when they dominated F1 with nine Constructors' Championships and seven Drivers' titles.

This feels a lot like what McLaren did when they were rebuilding. 

They talked a lot about looking at their roots and bringing up their legacy as a way to push forward. 

McLaren and Williams are two of the teams in F1 history that did really well, and Williams is taking that McLaren approach now.

New fans only know them as kind of in the back of the field, so they're trying to bring some of that heritage and legacy back.

The logo plays a role in that. You can see the comparison between their old logo and the new one and how they're bringing that back.

The timing feels right, too. 

They're using the momentum they have now, and they've invested a lot of time and money with the drivers and the right sponsors, and 2026 brings new regulations. 

It just feels like the right timing.

Teams like McLaren and Williams have the heritage and legacy to lean on, so they can use that to their advantage.

Teams like Haas, Sauber, or Cadillac don't have that within the sport.

Not every team can use that approach. It's just looking at what you have in your brand and what you can play on in your history.

Cadillac will probably lean a lot more on the Americanness and its American values within the sport.

What do you think about the logo change?

Helping people master the commercial playbooks in motorsport | Founder @ The Commercial Table

Heineken just renewed their F1 partnership and gave the first-ever F1 season ticket to Brandon Burgess.

The guy is attending every single race this year on a 20K budget while working full-time in London.

I first heard about it on Twitter. I remembered his story from earlier this year, and it was a unique concept, something he had to take a real risk on.

Now, Heineken has made him part of their renewal announcement.

They did a collab post with him, which was fantastic. It's so much better when people do it with people. The activation was perfect, and it wasn't over the top.

Just him speaking directly to the camera with Heineken involved. It made it feel real, like he was talking to his community, and Heineken was glad to be part of that.

Heineken understands their leverage and power. I'm sure for the 2026 season, they're going to create even more content with him.

What brands miss is that they make partnership announcements about themselves. How great the partnership is, how aligned everyone is, all the jargon. The key piece they forget is the fans and viewers watching daily.

If you're trying to get access to an audience, how are you bringing value to that audience?

F1 has brought value through years of building a product people care about.

You've come in as a brand. What are you providing? Key listening is super important.

This applies beyond B2C. 

So much of B2B partnership activation is about themselves and their jargon when they could do so much more by listening to who they're serving. 

Maybe it doesn't capture the big attention Heineken gets, but it captures the right people.

I wish B2B partners spent more time understanding who they're helping. 

Make sure partnership activations still feel human and real. Like you're speaking to friends.

Because when you're building big customer relationships, you're speaking to them like friends anyway. That seems more logical.

Someone from the Heineken team or agency was listening to this storyline develop with Brandon and used it to bring the idea to life. That's the part that matters.

P.S. Why does Max look photoshopped in this pic

Right-holders ask the wrong question about sponsorship.

Most ask: "Who should sponsor us?"

Better question: "What makes us sponsorable in the first place?"

I was speaking with someone at a sponsorship agency, and they confirmed this is the exact problem they see. 

Right-holders spend all their energy chasing sponsors instead of building something worth sponsoring.

The 1st question is outward-facing. 

→ You're looking at brands and trying to figure out who fits. 

The 2nd question is inward-facing. 

→ You're looking at yourself and asking what you actually control.

Entertainment industries think like this. Disney think this way. They focus on what makes their properties valuable before they think about who pays for it. Build and control the experience first, then monetise around proven demand.

For sports right-holders, this comes down to the three experiences that determine commercial viability: in-person fans, talent and teams, and broadcast viewers.

→ Are you serving your fans properly?
→ Is the in-person experience worth talking about?
→ Are you giving talent what they need to perform and promote the property?
→ Is the broadcast experience keeping viewers engaged for the entire event?

If you can't answer those questions with confidence, adding more sponsors won't fix the underlying problem. You're just putting logos on something that doesn't work yet.

The inward question forces you to focus on what you actually control, which is how you serve your fans, how you treat your talent, and how engaging your broadcast experience is.

You can improve all of those things before a single sponsor signs on. 

What you can't control is which brands decide to sponsor you, but if you build those three experiences right, the sponsors become easier to attract because you've de-risked their investment.

Build those three experiences right, prove they work with retention data, then sell partnerships around that foundation. 

Right-holders who skip the proof phase spend years trying to convince sponsors that the product is good while simultaneously trying to fix it.

What makes us sponsorable? That's the question that changes everything.

What would your answer be if someone asked you that question about your property?

P.S. I also wrote a piece on SLICKS for Issue 1; Issue 2 comes out soon. 
Until then, go and subscribe to The Commercial Table newsletter. 

I write about more stuff like this for rights-holders and brands.

Mercedes F1 just hit a $6 billion valuation.

That's a 7x increase since 2020.

So screw it... I'm gonna break down the entire growth strategy behind it.
Toto Wolff sold 15% of his stake to CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz. The deal valued Mercedes F1 at $6bn - a record for any F1 team.

McLaren was valued at £3.5bn in September for comparison.

What made Mercedes grow 7x in 5 years? Here are my 6 pillars of commercial success:

BUILD: Mercedes built a technology business that happens to race cars. Gearbox supply business, IP licensing, marketing platform for Mercedes-AMG, and championship operation. Value beyond prize money.

GROW: Netflix Drive to Survive, three US races, F1 movie ($630m box office). Kurtz cited US market growth as his investment thesis.

DISTRIBUTE: Multiple revenue streams: sponsorship, licensing, F1 prize money, technology sales (gearboxes). Predictable cash flow drives higher valuations.

MONETIZE: The 2021 cost cap changed everything. Predictable expenses + growing revenue = profit. Mercedes is valued at 7x revenue ($636m = $6bn). 

That multiple works when investors see stable costs, growing revenue, and long-term contracts.

OPERATE: Championship performance, technology IP, diversified revenue, talent attraction. Kurtz is investing in operational infrastructure that generates returns.

STRATEGY: Positioned as a technology company, marketing platform, investable asset, and growth play on F1's global expansion. Kurtz compared F1 to NBA/NFL valuations.

The result: $6bn valuation. More than Liverpool FC. Approaching US sports franchise territory.

I don't usually break down property valuations like this publicly. If you found this valuable, I do more in my newsletter.

Subscribe to The Commercial Table news for commercial breakdowns on how motorsport and sports properties actually grow.

Next week's newsletter: The 6 Pillars of commercial success

Bombay Sapphire made their first sports partnership ever earlier this year.

They chose E1 Series and Team Brady.

The partnership was announced back in May, making Bombay Sapphire E1's official gin partner and partnering with Team Brady. 

I was at the Team Brady event in Miami this past week where they were activating the sponsorship.

What stands out to me is that, for a brand entering sports partnerships for the first time, they opted for an emerging property rather than an established one. 

E1 is still building, but it's not amateur hour. Tom Brady, Didier Drogba, Will Smith, and other high-profile people are involved as team owners. 

Finishing 2 seasons and going into Season 3 brings some credibility to the property. It's still brand new,  and it's also not crowded or expensive like F1 yet. 

From what I saw at the event, E1 attracts a lot of B2B partners and customers rather than massive fan crowds right now. 

The Ocean Club hospitality experience was about $1,000, so you're getting Bombay Sapphire into the hands of people who will spend money on premium gin. 

As E1 grows its fan base with a younger demographic, the hope is that Bombay Sapphire stays top of mind for these customers. 

That's the play I see here.

They also get to learn how to partner with sports properties early, before it gets more expensive or competitive. They can improve their activations year over year if they decide to continue long-term. 

This is a good example for brands thinking about using sponsorship as a marketing channel. 

The questions you should be asking are:

Is the space crowded?
Does it have brand fit? 
Is there brand relevance for us in this property?

Companies like Luscid help brands think through exactly these questions when entering sports sponsorship. 

This type of strategic thinking matters, when you're dipping your toe into sports sponsorships for the first time. 

I wrote more about E1's and Team Brady's approach and how these properties grow and monetise in the early stages. 

Subscribe in the comments below:

Red Bull collaborating with Star Wars in 2005 might be the greatest F1 promo ever.

It's up there with the 2013 Monaco Lotus and Daft Punk collaboration.

This gives you a sense of why Red Bull were so popular as the new team on the back of the grid. They did a great job but they fun had while doing it. 

The visual aspect worked perfectly. Stormtroopers as pit crew during an actual race weekend. No photoshoot or renders, they executed it at the track.

Red Bull was the new brand in F1 at that time. They took a risk partnering with one of the biggest IPs in the world and made it fit their personality. Playful, bold, unexpected.

Rights-holders should take more creative risks like this if it's on brand for them. 

Approach partnerships with fun and play built in because we're watching cars drive around at 200mph for 24 weekends around the world. 

It's meant to be fun.

Red Bull have always understood the assignment. 

That standing out meant doing things differently even before they started winning championships. 

They created moments people remember years later through activations that went beyond logos.

What's the best activation you've seen in motorsport?

I'm definitely not forgetting the brand name Perk going into the final race of the season.

Seems like every single person at their company posted about their Audi F1 Project partnership on LinkedIn.

The CEO posted. The leadership team posted. The marketing team posted. 

I'm pretty sure the guy who refills the coffee machine posted. My feed looked like Perk had taken over LinkedIn for a solid 48 hours.

Now, you might think this is overkill. You might think this is the corporate equivalent of your aunt sharing the same vacation photo seventeen times on Facebook. It's actually smart.

This is exactly what I tell brands and sponsors to do when they announce partnerships. 

Most of them do one corporate post that gets buried within an hour, maybe a press release that three journalists skim while eating lunch, and then everyone forgets about it by Tuesday.

Perk said, "No. We're going to make sure you remember us." And it worked. I cannot forget the name Perk even if I wanted to at this point.

When 10, 20, 30 people from your organization share the news individually, you're creating a distribution strategy that actually makes people remember who you are. 

Each person's network sees it. The algorithm loves it. It signals that your entire team is genuinely excited about this instead of just fulfilling a contractual obligation because legal said you had to.

Most F1 partnership announcements get one post from the brand, one post from the team, and then vanish into the void. 

Six months later when testing starts, nobody remembers who sponsored what. 

Perk coordinating their entire company to amplify the announcement means people will actually remember their name when the 2026 season kicks off.

How you launch a partnership matters as much as signing it. Who talks about it, and whether anyone will remember you exist by the time the cars hit the track.

My LinkedIn feed looked like a Perk advertisement yesterday. Fair play to them. That's how you do it.

How many other brands announcing F1 partnerships this season will you actually remember by Melbourne?

I saw this photo on Reddit comparing the 2005 McLaren to the 2025 Red Bull car.

The size difference is massive. The 2005 cars looked like angry wasps attacking a corner. Fast, vicious, darting. The 2025 cars look like hippopotamuses on ice skates. Still quick, mind you. But they lumber through corners like a barge navigating the Thames.

When I first started watching F1 in 2005, that difference in size changed the viewing experience completely. The instant visual appeal you got from those smaller cars caught your eye right away and kept you hooked. It made the racing more visually engaging.

This connects directly to the third experience that determines commercial viability for sports properties: the broadcast viewer experience.

The car size is determined by FIA regulations, not F1's format choices. But those regulations affect how viewers perceive the sport. 

It's not that the bigger cars don't keep people engaged, but the smaller cars had an instant visual appeal that was easier to understand and more compelling to watch.

Properties and governing bodies need to constantly evaluate how regulatory and format changes affect the viewing experience.

→ Is it easy to explain visually?
→ Does it translate well through broadcast?
→ Does it keep people engaged over a long period of time?

F1 and the FIA made trade-offs for safety and aero and other priorities with the bigger cars. But understanding that these decisions impact commercial viability matters for anyone building or running a sports property.

Every regulation and format decision shapes whether people want to keep watching.

What format or regulation changes have you noticed in your sport that changed the viewing experience?

I'm in Miami for the E1 Series race with Team Brady, one of the teams owned by Tom Brady. 

About 200 people showed up at their sponsor and media event before the race activities on Friday and Saturday. 

These were mostly sponsors like Bombay Sapphire and CMT and their teams, plus industry people, media, and E1 staff. 

What surprised me was that the chief scientist was there. 

An actual professor is working with E1 to help build these boats. 

I don't know how many other properties have a chief scientist on their team, but bringing the science aspect into it feels unique. 

F1 and IndyCar have engineers and tech teams, but this approach is different. Will share more about this on The Commercial Table (subscribe below)

The other thing that stood out was how many people had already bought into this concept. 

E1 is only 2 years in, and 200 people showing up for an industry event tells you the education piece is starting to build. 

The celebrity influence obviously helps. Tom Brady's relationships can fast-forward a lot of the early-stage partnership work. 

That makes things easier in terms of getting sponsors in the door. 

It's a smart play when you're still at the startup stage and have the capital.

This feels similar to what Baller League is doing with how much control they have over their operations. 

E1 seems to have that same level of control, which matters when you're trying to establish something new. 

The question that's yet to be seen is fan engagement. 

This was an industry event, so naturally it was heavy on sponsors and partners. 

But how they bring in natural fans will be the real test as they grow. 

What other properties do you think are taking a similar approach in their early stages?

I spent the week looking into an F1 driver who built an app he co-owns with 10,000+ downloads.

Adobe, Beats by Dre, SurveyMonkey, and DOMO all partner through his owned channels, not through Williams

Here's why I think this matters:

If you're an athlete:

You're building followers on platforms you don't control. Algorithm changes, reach disappears. So what do you actually own when the career ends

If you're a brand:

Driver partnerships give you direct audience access, year-round activation, and lower price points than team deals. And if the driver changes teams? The relationship stays with you.

Tomorrow's newsletter breaks down:
→ The rent vs. own framework for athlete content 
→ What brands get from driver deals vs. team deals 
→ The minimum viable version without his infrastructure

P.S. I'm in Abu Dhabi for the F1 season finale, if you’re there, I would love to say hi!

The newsletter drops tomorrow.

Join 2,000+ others at https://lnkd.in/gCqNhzqU

Photo from Alex Albon Instagram

Team Brady won its second championship in a row at the E1 Series yesterday.

Two years in, two championships. I interviewed Ben King, co-Team Principal, after the win to understand how they built a startup racing team in a startup series.

He walked me through the step-by-step process of what they prioritised when Tom Brady called to start this racing team. 

How do you build a brand-new team in a brand-new series from the ground up?

I asked their PR team and Ben afterwards if they felt like they had it in the bag. 

They said no, "We always feel like the underdogs." That tension was real, even with back-to-back wins.

I was surprised by the number of people who attended the first event this year in Miami. 

Will Smith, as another team owner, showed up to watch and celebrate, and the entire team jumped into the Miami water to celebrate.

My newsletter drops this week, breaking down how Ben and Team Brady are building this sustainably. 

How they're growing fans, building a brand, and getting off the ground in a completely new sport.

Subscribe to the newsletter in the comment below!

Photos by Team Brady social

Great commentary connects millions of viewers to F1. This is how.

It's the third experience that determines commercial viability for sports properties is the broadcast viewer experience.

I saw Crofty's race notes on Twitter this morning. The level of detail is incredible.

Handwritten notes covering every driver, every storyline, track limits, pit windows, and historical context. Pages and pages for a single race weekend.

Look at what he's tracking: 

→ Driver championship positions
→ Previous race results
→ Penalty points
→ Lap records
→ Team radio quotes
→ Historical stats going back decades
→ Track evolution notes
→ Weather patterns
→ Tire strategy windows

What gets me is how he manages to use all of this across practice, qualifying, and race day. Different narratives are developing in real time. He's got to know where to find the right detail at the right moment while calling live action at 200mph.

Most fans watch F1 on TV, not at the track. The commentator is how they connect to what's happening. Crofty's preparation means that when something happens on lap 47, he can give you the context that makes it matter. 

When a driver makes a move, you understand why it's significant. When there's a gap in the action, he's filling it with storylines that keep you engaged instead of checking your phone.

That preparation is what keeps people watching. It's what makes casual fans understand the sport. It's what turns a race into a story people actually care about. Without this level of work, you're just watching cars go around in circles.

Properties need to understand the broadcast talent at this level. Not just someone who can call the action, but someone who prepares like this. Someone who treats every session like it matters because for the viewers at home, it does. 

The broadcast experience can make or break whether new fans stick around.

Crofty's been doing this for years. Every single race weekend. Building these notes, using them live, making the sport accessible to millions of people who will never attend a Grand Prix in person.

The broadcast experience is part cameras and graphics, but also the voice that connects everything together. It's the preparation that makes live sports feel like you're watching with someone who knows everything and can explain it without making you feel stupid.

Credit to @63grussell63 for sharing these. This is the kind of work that goes unseen but makes the entire viewing experience work.

What broadcast talent in your sport does this level of preparation?

I've been building my own property for the last few months.

It's not a sports series; it's a newsletter called The Commercial Table with 2,000+ subscribers. But the fundamentals are the same as any property, whether it's F1, a YouTube channel, or The Sidemen.

Sports properties have what I call the 6 pillars of commercial success: Build, Grow, Distribute, Monetise, Operate, and Strategy (more on this later). 

Creators might have slightly different pillars depending on their medium. 

With a newsletter, it's simpler: Write, Grow, Sell.

The pillars may look different, but the core goal remains the same: attracting audiences.

I also have a media partnership with Grand Prix Instagram, which has 1.7M followers. 

Here's what I've learned building this so far:

→ Do IRL stuff with your ICP. Reader meetups and in-person conversations change how you understand what people actually want versus what you think they want.

→ You can create your own lane if you're targeted enough. I focused on motorsport commercial intelligence instead of general sports business. That specificity made it easier to stand out.

→ Spend more time learning from outside your industry. Most of my best insights come from studying newsletter operators, SaaS companies, and media businesses outside motorsport.

→ You don't need to spend years in a role to understand something. Being deeply curious and speaking to a lot of people teaches you faster than waiting for the perfect job title.

→ The perception shift matters. When I went from "Niru writes on LinkedIn" to "Niru writes a newsletter called The Commercial Table," I got more opportunities. Giving it a name and treating it like a property changed how people saw it.

→ I'm incredibly bullish on email. Email gives you a direct relationship with your audience that you own. No algorithm changes or platform risk.

The hardest part has been understanding what people actually need versus what they say they need. 

Reading between the lines and figuring out what will be valuable. 

Sometimes people don't know what they want until you offer it.

Whether you're building a sports property, a creator brand, or a newsletter, you're attracting audiences, building trust, and finding ways to monetise that relationship sustainably.

What are you building right now?

I got back from Miami, where I interviewed the Managing Director of Baller League US.

They signed Nike as a global partner before playing a single match in America. 

That doesn't happen by accident.

Ged Tarpey walked me through their three-experience framework and why they spent six months proving retention before monetising anything.

Join 2,000+ readers getting it in 1 hour. 

Subscribe in the comments

Three experiences determine whether a sports property is commercially viable.

1. In-person fans
2. Talent and teams
3. Broadcast viewers

I was in Miami last week speaking with Ged Tarpey, Managing Director of Baller League US. He walked me through this framework and how they use it to evaluate everything they build.


Every decision they make has to improve at least one of these experiences. 

This framework is why Nike signed Baller League US as their global kit partner before the league played a single match in the US.

Baller League spent six months in Germany and the UK proving people would actually come back week after week before they sold anything in the US. 

They built the experiences first, measured retention, then monetized around proven demand.

Here's how they built each experience before monetizing:

They made showing up stupid easy. £15 tickets in the UK, cheaper than lunch. 

Free streaming on YouTube and Twitch with no paywall. 

Intimate venues where you can see players' faces and hear the game. They removed every barrier keeping their target audience away.

They gave creators genuine ownership instead of paid endorsements. 

KSI is President of the UK League, Speed is President of the US League. 

When Nike came on as kit partner, all team managers participated in the design process. 

That doesn't happen in standard sponsor relationships.

They proved retention in two markets before selling the third. 

Germany ran a full season measuring whether people came back weekly. 

The UK replicated the same format in a different market. By the time they approached the US, they had two countries worth of data showing the model worked.

When Nike evaluated the partnership, they weren't betting on projections. 

They were backing operational reality proven across two countries. Plus they got access to Speed, xQc, KSI, and all the creators in one deal.

Baller League only has 6-8 partnerships total across the entire global property. Each one improves at least one of the three experiences.

The sequence matters. Germany proved it. UK replicated it. US sold it.

This only works with patient capital. Felix Starck, the founder, is willing to build over multiple seasons without focusing solely on immediate return. Not every ownership group has that luxury.

But the framework is replicable. Build three experiences that work. 

Prove them with retention data for at least six months. Then monetize selectively around proven demand.

Yesterday's newsletter broke down the complete framework Ged shared with me, including the replication steps and what's actually replicable versus what requires their specific advantages.

Link in comments.

What experiences are you trying to monetize before proving they work?

To all the comms people working in sports, just forward this to your colleagues! 

Can't stress enough how important this channel is nowdays!

Most teams ignore their strongest distribution channel. And it’s sitting inside their building 🔎 

Find out why comms should be treated like a core distribution channel — and how looping them in early unlocks reach, credibility, and better partnership results.

In this edition of Sponcon Sports:

🥷 Your Hidden Distribution Advantage
🚘️ LEGO Makes Its Way Downtown 
🔮 Gemini’s Sphere Renewal News

PLUS, 2025 Major League Soccer Schedule Release Stats You NEED to Know.

#sportsbusiness #sportsmarketing #sponsorship

👋 Welcome back to Sponcon Sports, a weekly newsletter dedicated to sponsored content strategy in the sports industry! Major League Soccer Schedule Re

Open article: The Distribution Channel Everyone Forgets by Alex Kopilow • 9 min read

The Distribution Channel Everyone Forgets

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