Outside the Game

An inside look at what your favorite athletes, teams and sports brands are doing outside the game. #OutsidetheGame

[Outside the Game @OutsidetheGame1]

It’s @Olympics week.

I found the 10 most interesting facts about this year’s Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina (so you don’t have to).

Let's dive in:

1. Athlete Experience Upgrade

Milan’s Olympic village includes Italian-style bidet toilets, meditation spaces, gyms, and a free Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 for every athlete. The village will then become subsidized student housing after the Games.🏠

2. These will be the most geographically spread Winter Games ever.

Milan-Cortina competition sites are up to ~260 miles apart (Milan <--> Cortina). By comparison, recent Winter Olympics like Beijing 2022 and PyeongChang 2018 were largely contained within 60–120 miles of their primary host cities. ⛰️

3. Gender Balance

These will be the most gender-balanced Winter Olympics ever, with women making up nearly 47% of athletes - the highest in history. 🏅

4. From Viral to VIP

Riccardo Zuccolotto, an 11-year-old from northern Italy, was forced off a bus in the snow after not having enough money for the increased fare due to the Olympics - and had to walk nearly 4 miles home. The story went viral… and now he’s been invited to play a symbolic role in the Opening Ceremony.

5. A Pause for Peace

Organizers and the U.N. revived the ancient Olympic Truce, which urges warring nations to suspend hostilities during the games.

6. NHL Stars are Back.

NHL players will compete in Olympic hockey for the first time since 2014.🏒

7. Over 90% of competition venues already exist or are temporary, one of the highest reuse rates in Olympic history.🏟️

8. Several alpine events will be held at lower elevations than typical Winter Games, forcing organizers to rely more heavily on artificial snowmaking and climate modeling than ever before.❄️

9. There will be no single Olympic Park - athletes, media, and fans will rely on Italy’s high-speed rail network to move between clusters, essentially turning the Games into a country-wide roadshow🚄

10. For the first time in Olympic history, women will race the same cross-country skiing distances as men, ending a long-standing gap and quietly modernizing one of the Olympics’ most traditional sports.⛷️

If you enjoyed this breakdown, follow @OutsidetheGame1 for more💪

[Outside the Game @OutsidetheGame1]

Bump.

[Outside the Game @OutsidetheGame1]

Victor Wembanyama is going to save the NBA All-Star Game.

LeBron, Kawhi, and the rest of the NBA’s stars that created load management are on their way out, and Wemby is here to change things up.

“I want to push the great players of this sport to play in the All-Star game just as hard as I will. We'll see how it goes, But if they don't play hard, I'll do it without them."

Wemby literally doesn’t care if LeBron, Luka, or Jokic is playing hard. The French Alien is cut from a different cloth, and is already showing how.

Wemby created the NBA’s first fan section (@SpursJackals) modeled after what the best European football clubs have, hoping to give the Spurs an unrivaled home court advantage.

He doesn’t think he is “too cool” for All-Star Weekend, and wants to win at everything he does. This man even tried to CHEAT in last year’s skills challenge before being disqualified...

Wemby is going to go hard at the ASG - the only question is how long will it be before the rest of the superstars follow his lead.

Every era needs one guy who treats exhibitions like Game 7's. Jordan did. Kobe did. Wemby does, and the league is his for the taking.

Don’t question it, just check on the box score on Sunday.

[Outside the Game @OutsidetheGame1]

Victor Wembanyama is going to save the NBA All-Star Game.

LeBron, Kawhi, and the rest of the NBA’s stars that created load management are on their way out, and Wemby is here to change things up.

“I want to push the great players of this sport to play in the All-Star game just as hard as I will. We'll see how it goes, But if they don't play hard, I'll do it without them."

Wemby literally doesn’t care if LeBron, Luka, or Jokic is playing hard. The French Alien is cut from a different cloth, and is already showing how.

Wemby created the NBA’s first fan section (@SpursJackals) modeled after what the best European football clubs have, hoping to give the Spurs an unrivaled home court advantage.

He doesn’t think he is “too cool” for All-Star Weekend, and wants to win at everything he does. This man even tried to CHEAT in last year’s skills challenge before being disqualified...

Wemby is going to go hard at the ASG - the only question is how long will it be before the rest of the superstars follow his lead.

Every era needs one guy who treats exhibitions like Game 7's. Jordan did. Kobe did. Wemby does, and the league is his for the taking.

Don’t question it, just check on the box score on Sunday.

[Outside the Game @OutsidetheGame1]

Insane technology. The product of a lot of thought from a lot of very smart people.

[Matt Barrie @MattBarrie]

I went under the @TGL green for @SportsCenter. It’s a 1-of-1 snug technological dungeon.

[Outside the Game @OutsidetheGame1]

The WNBA–WNBPA meeting today feels headed for a lockout - but the real tension isn’t just player pay.

For decades, the NBA subsidized the #WNBA, covering losses that now approach $50M/year (hello private team planes).

In exchange, the NBA + other investors own ~58% of the league, meaning the WNBA only controls 42% of the revenue it’s negotiating over.

That’s the structural problem no CBA can easily fix.

[Outside the Game @OutsidetheGame1]

@espn Anyone else notice that insanely smooth racket toss?!

[Outside the Game @OutsidetheGame1]

Do you agree? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. 🗣️

If you enjoyed this thread, follow @OutsidetheGame1 for more!

[Outside the Game @OutsidetheGame1]

The NBA All-Star Game is far from broken.

It’s just not the game you think you’re tuning in for.

Let me explain👇🏻

[Outside the Game @OutsidetheGame1]

The real mistake is pretending the All-Star Game should be competitive.

It’s a showcase, a marketing event, and a business weekend.

Once fans see it that way and stop expecting playoff-level intensity, the All-Star Game finally makes sense. 🧠

[Outside the Game @OutsidetheGame1]

@FOS @AnnieCostabile Wild stat: over half of people watching women’s sports today only started in the last 2–3 years. This growth is just beginning 🚀

[Outside the Game @OutsidetheGame1]

The most valuable commercial of the night doesn’t sell a product.

It builds an empire.

If you enjoyed this thread, follow @OutsidetheGame1 for more inside scoop on #SportsBusiness

[Outside the Game @OutsidetheGame1]

The most important Super Bowl commercial won’t be 30 seconds. 🏈

It’s 13 minutes. And it costs $0...

[Outside the Game @OutsidetheGame1]

That’s the Super Bowl math.

Brands buy ads.

Artists BECOME the ad.