The fund that spent $5BN trying to build a global golf league just stopped writing the cheques. PIF is ending direct funding of LIV Golf after 2026.

The biggest sovereign wealth fund in sport just proved what every other backer already knew, you can't buy fandom on a tech-style timeline.

That's one of five strategic bets Ed and Jo unpack this week. Adidas is selling anime, not boots, six weeks out from the World Cup, chasing the Gen Alpha and female football fans most of the sport is sleeping on. iShowSpeed has been named Expedia's official travel partner, with a globe-style mini-site mapped to the places he's filmed. DAZN spent $100M on ViewLift to own the streaming pipes rather than chase rights. Plus the Circana forecast that $1 in every $10 of US retail spend could move through TikTok Shop by 2028.

Show Notes

• Adidas Originals × streetwear anime World Cup drop.
• Expedia names iShowSpeed official travel partner.
• DAZN acquires ViewLift for $100M.
• Circana — TikTok Shop forecast to hit 10% of US retail by 2028.
• PIF to end direct funding of LIV Golf after 2026.

New episode every Wednesday. Head to Dizplai.com/podcasts for the latest.

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The man who tried to build the European Super League just launched a fund that won't touch football. Andrea Agnelli is putting €100m into basketball, cricket, hockey and rugby instead. The most plugged-in operator in the sport thinks the valuation has peaked.

That's one of three strategic bets Ed and Jo unpack this week. Marc Jacobs has stopped making ads and started making a Rachel Sennett-fronted micro drama. The Financial Times has launched a standalone YouTube channel that hides the FT brand from the front door. Plus PayPal can finally prove a Connected TV ad drove a sale, and Powerade is treating the World Cup like a four-year platform.

Show Notes

• ⁠Marc Jacobs' New Social Series.⁠
• ⁠PayPal's Verified CTV Purchase Attribution Platform.⁠
• ⁠Financial Times Launches New YouTube Series as Subscriber Acquisition Funnel⁠
• ⁠Powerade's New World Cup Campaign, Power Your Fate.⁠
• ⁠Andrea Agnelli's Sport Investment Fund.⁠

New episode every Wednesday. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Want to feature? Email us at ⁠Hello@attentionshift.media

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In this episode of The Attention Shift, Ed sits down with Chris Sice, Chief Content Officer of the ICONS Series, to explore how a golf tournament played by elite athletes from other sports has become one of the most compelling challenger sports brands in the world.

From building a distribution network across 25 publisher partnerships, to achieving a 49.8% interaction rate through the audience engagement hub, Chris breaks down what it takes to build a digitally native sports property from the ground up and why most traditional sports organisations are still getting it wrong.

Want to read more? Head to the Dizplai website and check out the show notes. Got a topic or question for Ed & Jo? Drop us a line at hello@attentionshift.media.

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Description: In this episode of The Attention Shift, Ed and Jo dissect Gary Neville's seven figure acquisition of Mark Goldbridge's YouTube channels, ask whether you can actually buy an engaged community, and explore what it means for fan creator consolidation across sport.

From UEFA quietly exploring a Champions League direct to consumer pilot, to Sky commercialising Soccer Saturday for the first time in 30 years, and YouTube staging its Brandcast at Lincoln Center to make a direct play for TV ad money, this week's stories all point to the same shift. The lines between broadcast, digital and creator are gone.

Want to read more? Head to the Dizplai website and check out the show notes. Got a topic or question for Ed & Jo? Drop us a line at hello@attentionshift.media.

Show notes:

• The Overlap acquires Mark Goldbridge's YouTube channels in a seven figure deal.
• UEFA explores direct to consumer Champions League streaming pilot.
• Sky opens Soccer Saturday to integrated brand sponsorship for the first time in 30 years.
• Sport accounts for 60% of all US TV upfront ad commitments.
• YouTube Brandcast confirmed for May 13th at Lincoln Center.

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Justin Bieber performed for millions who weren't at Coachella through YouTube's live stream, engaging with fans in real time across seven simultaneous stages. The Nashville Predators have made every game free on a brand new local TV station, no subscription, no cable package. Golf's biggest YouTube creators have stopped competing against each other and launched a unified network selling sponsorship at TV level CPMs. YouTube is now letting creators clone themselves for Shorts. And Netflix Japan just proved that exclusivity can still win in a fragmented world.

Want to read more? Head to the Dizplai website and check out the show notes. Got a topic or question for Ed & Jo? Drop us a line at hello@attentionshift.media.

Show notes:

• Coachella x YouTube 2026 livestream
• Nashville Predators go free-to-air
• Source Golf launches backed by Bolt Ventures
• YouTube AI avatars for Shorts
• Netflix Japan World Baseball Classic case study
• Jo's newsletter

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Nearly 90% of sports organisations are seeing flat or declining revenue. The average rights holder can only identify 24% of their fanbase. And most are spending third party investment on athletes rather than the data infrastructure that could save them. Ben Wells, founder of PTI Digital and author of the Sports Leadership Benchmark, joins Ed to break down why the sports industry's revenue model is under more pressure than most leaders want to admit, what the data actually shows about fan anonymity, sponsorship squeeze and technology leadership, and what the organisations getting it right are doing differently.

Want to read more? Head to the Dizplai website and check out the show notes. Got a topic or question for Ed & Jo? Drop us a line at hello@attentionshift.media.

Show notes:

• Download the PTI Sports Leadership Benchmark
• Download the Dizplai Anonymous Fan Index

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The NFL just gave 32 clubs permission to become media companies. Social as owned media, highlights on TikTok, in-game content now sponsorable, and clubs can now sell original content directly to streamers. All landing right before the league renegotiates its entire media deal.

OpenAI has acquired a daily live tech show that previously covered them as a subject. DAZN has launched a global creator programme timed perfectly to the World Cup. And 70% of publishers fear creators are stealing their audiences. Their response? Become them.

Want to read more? Head to the Dizplai website. Got a topic or question for Ed & Jo? Drop us a line at hello@attentionshift.media.

Show notes

• NFL Teams Just Got the Keys to Their Own Digital Kingdom.
• OpenAI Buys TBPN.
• DAZN Launches Playmakers, the New Global Creator Programme.
• Daily Mail Puts 25+ Creators on Payroll.
• Reddit Opens Pro Publisher Tools to All. Views Up 46%, Comments Up 48%.
• Sponcon Sports newsletter

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YouTube has launched an AI tool that lets brands find creators across three million channels with a single sentence. No agency, no brief. Tubi are running free creator-led alt-casts of every F1 race in 2026 alongside Apple TV, turning free access into a fan acquisition funnel. And the Savannah Bananas have made creator distribution an official rights tier, sitting alongside ESPN and the CW. Once one deal like this exists, the template exists.

We also look at KSI giving Dagenham a global audience and the Indiana Pacers building a media network from their fan base.

Want to read more? Head to the Dizplai website. Got a topic or question for Ed & Jo? Drop us a line at hello@attentionshift.media.

Show notes:

• YouTube launches Gemini AI creator brand partnerships
• Tubi and Apple bring free F1 alt-casts to every US device
• Savannah Bananas make creator distribution an official rights tier
• KSI streams Dagenham live to 17 million subscribers
• Indiana Pacers launch Fieldhouse Media Network

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