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.
Episodes
46 episodes
ITV's Head of Generative AI: Why the Best Ideas Come From Bench Conversations, Not Board Meetings
Broadcast content is about to stop being something you just watch, and this ITV exec built the team proving it.Every broadcaster is racing to add generative AI without a playbook, and most leaders still can't answer a simple question: w...
Fan Engagement Beyond Borders: Why Demographics Are the Wrong Starting Point
Most media companies are still building for an audience that no longer exists. Demographic boxes - Hispanic or American, soccer or football, Spanish or English - were built for a world where culture moved slowly. The fans those boxes were meant...
First-Party Data, Bigger Sponsorship: The Fan Intelligence Stack Sport Is Still Missing
Sport's sponsorship model hasn't fundamentally changed since the 1960s. The data most organisations hold about their fans isn't connected to the products those fans actually use. And the opportunity sitting inside every rights holder's fan base...
From Wimbledon to Wembley: Alexandra Willis on Rewriting the FA's Digital Playbook
The Football Association wrote the laws of the modern game. It has governed English football for 160 years. And until this year, it had never had a Chief Digital Officer.Alexandra Willis is the person who has taken on that role ...
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The Club That's Building Football's AI Blueprint - and It's Not in the Premier League
Most football clubs are talking about AI. Almost none of them are doing it properly. Stuart Fenton is the first-ever Head of AI at a professional English football club - and he's building something at Reading FC that the rest of the sport hasn'...
How to Build a Sports League, a Brand and a Fan Base All at Once
Most women's sports leagues copy the men's playbook. The Netball Super League is writing its own, and it's working.What happens when you have 3 million people playing a sport, but almost none of them are paying fans? How do you convert p...
How NASCAR is Winning Over the Next Generation of Fans - Media Rights, Original Content & What's Next
NASCAR is rewriting the playbook on how a legacy sport stays relevant in a fragmented media landscape.Struggling to balance a loyal core fan base with the need to attract younger, digitally native audiences? Wondering how to future-proof...
Beyond the Like Button: Meta's Rob Pilgrim on the Next Era of Fan Engagement
In this special episode, recorded at Meta's London office, LiveLike founder and CEO Miheer Walavalkar sits down with Rob Pilgrim, Head of Sports Partnerships for EMEA at Meta, to explore how the world's largest social media company is helping s...
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The Missing Layer in Sports Streaming: Ari Evans from Maestro on Personalization, AI, and Fan Funnel
Maestro has spent nearly a decade pulling the media industry toward a more interactive, personalized future - often years before the market was ready.In this episode of Future of Fandom, we sit down with Ari Evans, Founder & CEO of M...
Reach Matters: Brian Lawlor on Rebuilding Local Fandom and the Rise of Women’s Sports
Sports fandom doesn’t grow behind paywalls.In this episode of Future of Fandom, we’re joined by Brian Lawlor, President of Scripps Sports, to unpack how mass distribution is reshaping local sports, why over-the-air reach still matters, a...
From Data Provider to Experience Enabler: Sportradar's Evolution
Sportradar has evolved far beyond being just a data provider, they've become a full-stack experience enabler spanning streaming, betting engagement, and sports analytics. Patrick Mostboeck, SVP of Fan Engagement, takes us inside how the company...
Behind the rise of E1 Series with Laurence Boyd
In this episode of The Future of Fandom, Samuel Westberg welcomes Laurence Boyd, Chief Content and Product Officer at E1 Series. Laurence shares how E1, the world's first electric powerboat championship, blends entertainment, cutting-e...
Inside YES Network's fan engagement playbook
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 p...
Mastering fan engagement with Stefanie Rapp
In this episode of The Future of Fandom, Miheer Walavalkar chats with Stefanie Rapp, SVP and Commercial Growth Officer at TNT Sports, about balancing authentic fan engagement with monetisation. From Bleacher Report to Roland Garros, St...
How Yahoo Reimagined Fan Engagement
How can a legacy brand like Yahoo drive next-gen fan engagement while staying true to its roots? In this episode of The Future of Fandom, Miheer Walavalkar, CEO and Co-Founder of LiveLike, sits down with Ryan Spoon, President of Yahoo ...
Inside the Future of Fan Experiences
LiveLike takes listeners inside SportsPro AI and Leaders Week for a behind-the-scenes look at how AI is revolutionising the sports and media landscape. In this special edition of The Future of Fandom, leaders from LiveLike and major br...
How Recast is Redefining Digital Content Monetisation with Andy Meikle
How can clubs, leagues, and content creators monetise digital assets without pushing away fans? In this episode of The Future of Fandom, Samuel Westberg, Co-Founder of LiveLike, sits down with Andy Meikle, Founder & CEO of Recast, to explor...
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What is the Future of Fan Loyalty in a World of AI?
In this special edition of The Future of Fandom, the mics are turned around as hosts Miheer Walavalkar and Samuel Westberg become the guests. They dive deep into how artificial intelligence is reshaping fan engagement, from breaking do...
Building Loyal Fans Beyond the Broadcast with Peter Hutton
In this special episode of The Future of Fandom, hosts Miheer Walavalkar and Samuel Westberg sit down with sports media veteran Peter Hutton to explore the evolving business case for fan engagement and gamification. They dive into how ...
The Future of Fan Attention in Live Streaming with Bo Han from Transmit
In this episode of The Future of Fandom, Miheer Walavalkar, CEO and co-founder of LiveLike, sits down with Bo Han, Chief Commercial Officer at Transmit, to explore the evolving dynamics of live sports consumption and monetisation. Bo s...
How TMRW Sports is Reinventing Fan Loyalty with Kara Baker from TMRW Sports
Kara Baker, Senior Director at TMRW Sports, joins Miheer Walavalkar, CEO and co-founder of LiveLike, to unpack how TGL (Tomorrow's Golf League) is redefining digital fan engagement. This new indoor golf league created by Tiger Woods and Rory Mc...
Firework Chief Business Officer Jason Holland on How to Light a Fire Under Next Gen Consumers
Today on The Future of Fandom, we present the finale for our 2022 run of episodes. And hey, what good is a finale without a little Firework show? On this episode, we explore how Firework envisions the future of truly connected communit...
USTA Chief Brand Officer Amy Choyne on How to Serve a World Class Next Gen Fan Experience
Today on The Future of Fandom, we serve up an open conversation about tennis. On this episode we explore how the US Tennis Association, or USTA, is crafting brand love (get it?) for next-gen fans in partnership with their Chief Brand O...
