The Future of Fandom
In today’s digital world, engaging fans isn’t optional—it’s everything.
Future of Fandom is the podcast for sports leagues, broadcasters, and digital platforms who know that the old playbook for audience engagement no longer works. Hosted by the team at LiveLike—the leading enterprise engagement and loyalty platform—this series explores how the most forward-thinking organisations are using gamification, loyalty programs, and community-driven experiences to deepen fan relationships and drive real business results.
Every other week, we speak with senior decision-makers from global sports teams, media companies, and consumer brands about what it takes to turn casual spectators into loyal superfans. We dive into how enterprise organisations are rethinking digital infrastructure, leveraging first-party data, and adopting modular, API-first engagement tools to future-proof their fan strategies.
Whether you're a Head of Product, Digital, Revenue or Strategy, Future of Fandom gives you the insight and inspiration you need to move beyond passive content and into interactive, monetisable, and measurable fan experiences.
This isn’t about chasing trends—it’s about building the infrastructure of tomorrow’s fandom, today.
Subscribe now and stay ahead of the game.
The Future of Fandom
Inside YES Network's fan engagement playbook
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
What does it take to turn passive viewers into loyal fans? In this episode of The Future of Fandom, YES Network's Vice President of Strategy & Business Development, Matthew Duarte, joins host Miheer Walavalkar to unpack how smart product strategy, nimble third-party partnerships, and data-driven decision-making are reshaping the fan experience. Discover how YES Network's innovations in gamification, streaming, and community engagement are setting new standards in sports media.
What you'll learn in this episode
>> How YES Network evolved its streaming platforms to enhance user experience and retention
>> Why fan engagement needs to be treated as a holistic, long-term business strategy
>> Key lessons from building gamified features like Pick & Play and rewards programmes
>> The role of community features in deepening viewer connection and boosting loyalty
>> How YES Network balances innovation, speed, and ROI with lean, cross-functional teams
Meet our guest
Matthew Duarte is Vice President of Strategy & Business Development at YES Network. With a background in finance, corporate strategy, and sports media, he leads strategic initiatives across partnerships, product, and commercial innovation.
Meet our host
Miheer Walavalkar is the CEO and Co-founder of LiveLike, a leading fan engagement tech company powering billions of interactions for major sports and media brands.
Enjoyed the episode?
Subscribe, leave a review, and share with others who are passionate about developing community driven fandom!
Visit LiveLike to discover how you can activate your audience.
Connect with Miheer Walavalkar on LinkedIn
Connect with Matt Duarte on LinkedIn