Sports For The Win.
Netflix’s new sports identity, Test cricket’s brilliant showing Down Under, a spot that bemoans the comments sections & much more.
The Colour Bar is where creativity, content, culture, tech, brands & humanity collide. This week, a sprinkling of sports across Netlfix, cricket, and the top movers in 2025. There’s a grand serving of Lamb, a call for awareness on Scams from the funnest kids magazine I know, smatterings on Monte Cristo and The Sidemen. Plus, quickies- video in APAC, one Piers Morgan, RIP Venu and our Information Gods.
Lets kick off with some visual delight!
Curated/Cuts.
Selections in creative & content, clicking too many links so you don’t have to.
Netflix Sports
We are all warming up to the idea that we can expect to see plenty more sports on Netflix. So here we are, with a newly minted ‘Sports Identity’, looking bold and punchy, made by the team at Study Hall.
Some pretty major TV packaging & design vibes going on there! As someone who has spent a lot of time in that space, and lived the whole ‘TV is dying’ bit, there’s chuckles to be had seeing it on Netflix, but fun nonetheless. And hey, do I see some TV colour bar inspo there?
Netflix: Noah Nathan · Derek Vander Griend · Study Hall: Jeremy Volk · Alex Sheyn · Matt Yerman ·
The Comments Section
In a spot that’s wonderfully timely, more so than the makers could possibly have known when they made it, here’s a manifestation of many social media comments sections. Brought to life, it looks and sounds about as absurd as it sometimes actually feels, when we wade through a sh*tstorm of comments wondering, “how do people have so much time and energy to leave such inane/mean/vile/vacuous comments?”. Watch first.
Once you’ve seen it, you’ll know this is for Australian Lamb . What, wait- why lamb you might well ask. There is a history of taking themes that might matter to the (Aussie) population at large, and contrasting any discord with the harmony that good lamb brings to all (on, of course, a good Aussie barbie). They’ve all released during the summer- the interesting but slightly heavy-handed Generation Gap, the un-Australians, ensuring Australia is Real and Gods of the World (which ruffled some old feathers).
*I am reliably informed there are leaves for the vegetarians.
Scam Alert!
Over in Singapore. The consistently top work continues from EYEYAH!, this time with a special issue on scams. Eyeyah! aims to build awareness in young people, using art in the magazine but complementing it with wider education efforts like talks and workshops.
The Straits Time had the lowdown, and you can get a glimpse here.
· Tanya Wilson Chua · Steve Lawler ·
Good Luck Returning That!
Nike smashes a spot featuring defending champion Sabalenka for this year's Australian Open. Watch out!
That Guy From Monte Cristo
I remember enjoying The Count of Monte Cristo (abridged, assuredly) when I was a child. Betrayal, nobility, honour and revenge- a plotline easy to comprehend & a primary character easy to root for. There have been too many adaptations to count (including non-French and non-English ones), but the latest French adaptation looked lush in the trailer when I saw it last year.
We're at a ceiling with YouTube: The Sidemen
The Sidemen is a seven member group with more than 146 million YouTube subscribers between them. They have made their fame on YouTube, but now feel they've "
10 Sports Movers & Shakers
Got to love 'em New year lists! Here's SportsPro’s list of 10 influential people in sports, 2025.
Michele Kang/ Founder and Chief Executive, Kynisca Sports International. Owns/co-owns Washington Spirit in NWSL, Olympique Lyonnais Feminin, London City Lionesses. Has committed US$50 million towards the Kynisca Innovation Hub, which is seeking to raise US$100 million to fund research into the health of elite female athletes
Bob Iger/ Chief Executive, The Walt Disney Company. Iger’s final year in charge of Disney will see the launch of the fully D2C streaming version of ESPN. Could impact not just the sports industry, but the media landscape as well, with cable surely bracing for it.
Caitlin Clark / Basketball player. Time’s Athlete of the Year, the American basketball star took the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) by storm, with multiple records & individual accolades. The so-called ‘Clarke effect’- "one WNBA executive likened her impact to that of an emergent Tiger Woods."
Sebastian Coe/ President, World Athletics since 2015. One of seven candidates vying to become the next president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Believes the IOC needs an overhaul. Not a slam-dunk to win, but could play an infulential role.
Gareth Balch / Chief Executive and Co-Founder, Two Circles. Data-driven sports marketing consultancy started in 2011 with three employees. Today a global player whose valuation has doubled in the last 12 months alone to US$650 million. Nine offices across three continents, a client base of more than 90 rights holders, including UEFA Women’s Champions League, World Rugby, Wimbledon and the Ryder Cup.
Bela Bajaria / Chief Content Officer, Netflix. No one was really shocked that Netflix has made a play into sports (finally) in 2024. $5b in WWE Raw, a partnership with the National Football League (NFL) for Christmas Day games, a (US-only) deal for the 2027 & 2031 Fifa Women’s World Cups. UFC next?
Elliott Hill / President and Chief Executive, Nike. Professes an “irrational love” for the Swoosh. “intends to return Nike to its core business”. Soorts circles will be watching.
Sarah Massey / Managing Director, 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup. Rugby Football Union (RFU) will hope the World Cup in England will be a milestone in the global commercialisation. Rugby hopes to join football/soccer and basketball in leading a wider revolution in women’s sport.
Mark Shapiro / President and Chief Operating Officer, Endeavor and TKO. Convinced Netflix to make WWE Raw its first live sports rights acquisition. Has regularly talked up the streamer’s potential interest in the UFC. TKO set to continue as a publicly traded company once Endeavor goes private this year.
Turki Alalshikh / Chairman, General Entertainment Authority Saudi Arabia. Middleman between promoters, used the Gulf state’s vast resources to stage blockbuster bouts, cool hostilities between boxing’s powerbrokers. "Arguably no other person over the last 12 months that has been as influential in transforming a sport." Saudi Arabia’s lavish spending in sports could lead to some real power over boxing in 2025.
Full piece here (subscribers only).
Quickies & Links
A look at both the APAC and India markets for video, in Variety & HT respectively. India moves into a post mega-merger world after the formation of JioStar ( Walt Disney India + Reliance), coupled with a resurgence in SVOD subscriptions in 2024. At the Asia level, a 40% revenue surge to &89 billion is on the horizon through 2029, with an $8B decline in traditional TV, according to Media Partners Asia. India looks set to lead in that, with 26% of projected growth. · Vivek Couto ·
After ~10 months of chatter, Venu, the much heralded (by some) sports streaming JV between Disney, WBD and FOX, has been officially called off. Oh well. Deadline tries to break down who comes out with anything positive from this. (Hint: Its not WBD).
Like him or be put off by him, its hard to ignore Piers Morgan and his brand of interviews. This piece in Variety tries to understand his latest reinvention, looking to become a major player in the new-media landscape with 'Piers Morgan Uncensored'.
In Behind the Curtain: The information Gods, Axios xlooks at the emerging news & information landscape which is being propelled forward with recent events. Especially, IMO, with the big election year 2024 has been in 2024- not just the USA, but many others including the most populous country on the planet. They finish with this sobering and daunting truth that many of us already know. “The burden now falls on you to find sources of information you trust for reliable truth. That means better scrutinizing not only the publications you choose, but the individuals you follow on social media. That's a lot to ask — but it's the new necessity.”
Shutterstock and Getty to merge and ”create a $3.7 billion stock-image powerhouse geared for the artificial intelligence era”.
From Creative Review magazine, here are some Best Ofs 2024: Movie posters, Album cover design, Book covers, and magazine covers.
Thanks for reading!