THE FIRST SEAT
People kept replying to the newsletter with the same question. You're sharing all these tips and insights, but I would love to connect with more people in this industry.
My answer for a long time was that LinkedIn already exists, so go and use that. I've changed my mind.
The First Seat is the private room underneath The Commercial Table, for sports marketing and commercial people. It's written for rights holders, sponsors and service partners, and it's here to help you grow your fanbase, sell more tickets, sell more partnerships, and get better at the job.
I ran it as a closed beta with eight readers who've been here since the early issues, mostly to find out what people would actually bring in. It's open now.
WHAT YOU GET
🛠️ THE WORK
Post the work you're stuck on. A campaign that isn't moving, a brief you can't get signed off, pricing you can't defend, renewal terms, a deck that isn't landing. Members answer and so do I, the same day.
♟️ THE MONTHLY WORKSHOP
One member's real problem, one expert who has solved it for money, sixty minutes live. You get the reasoning behind the decision, the market they went after, how they broke it up, and what the process actually looked like from the inside. Recording and notes go into the channel afterwards. The first one runs at the end of September.
🤝 INTRODUCTIONS
Your role, your organisation, what's on your plate this week. I read every one, and I put people in touch off the back of them.
🥂 IN PERSON
Tell me where you live and which events you go to. Where enough members are in the same city for a Grand Prix or a conference, we do a dinner.
📰 NEWSLETTERS + DMs
Every issue in one searchable feed, plus direct messages to me and to every other member. There's an app you can put on your home screen.
WHY PEOPLE JOIN
LinkedIn was supposed to do this job, and it hasn't. A co-founder of a venture studio that works with football clubs and fashion brands told me last week he's sitting on 800 connection requests from people he's never met, and 400 of those are pitching him something or asking him for a favour.
People hold back there anyway. It's public, and nobody wants a screenshot of their honest opinion doing the rounds inside their own company.
A private room works because someone keeps the level up. Everybody brings their own thing to the table, and the group rises because the standard was high to start with. That phrasing came out of a call last week, and I haven't heard the point put better.
The other thing people want is a look behind the curtain. They want the person who did the work to tell you over a drink.
WHO IT'S FOR
Sports marketing and commercial people who turn up with a give-and-take. Something they can contribute from work they've actually done, and something they want to understand better.
Marketing, commercial and partnership leads at teams, series, venues and rights holders.
Brand-side marketers buying or running sponsorship.
Service partners and agency people who'd rather have a straight answer than a case study.
Founders selling a property nobody has heard of yet.
Who it isn't for: anyone after a course, a job board, or a feed of people reposting their own LinkedIn content. If you haven't got live work you want a second opinion on, the newsletter on its own is plenty.
WHAT IT COSTS
$10 / month
Cancel from your account settings whenever you like. No email, no retention call.
$100 / year
Two months free against the monthly rate. Invoice on every payment.
$10 a month is the lowest this room will ever cost. The price rises as it fills, and whatever rate you come in on is the rate you keep for as long as your subscription stays active. There's no timer on this page.
QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK
Do I keep getting the newsletter?
Yes. Tuesday lands either way. The First Seat sits on top of it.
Is it Slack?
No, it runs inside The Commercial Table, so your login is the email you already subscribe with.
How busy is it?
Quiet on purpose. Five channels. If you only open it once a week you won't have missed much.
Can I expense it?
You get an invoice on every payment, and $100 a year clears most discretionary limits without a conversation.
What if it's not for me?
Cancel in ten seconds. I'd rather you did that than keep paying for something you never open.
BEFORE YOU GO
That's the whole thing. If there's a campaign, a brief or a partnership on your desk this week you'd like a second opinion on, come in and post it. The room stays open, so the only date worth watching is the first workshop at the end of September. Join before it and you're in that one.
Questions first? Reply to any issue, or email [email protected]. I read every one.