Rising Ballers

🔊 The Soundtrack of the Beautiful Game: Speaker Culture 🔊 It’s no secret that Gen Z’s tech-savvy nature shapes how they engage with portable speakers and in-home audio devices. Their dynamic consumption habits and evolving entertainment preferences hold the key to unlocking meaningful connections with this influential generation. As a brand or marketer, understanding these trends isn’t just important - it’s essential. We’ve broken it all down in our latest newsletter, offering the insights and soundbites you need to turn up the volume on your Gen Z strategy. 📩 Don’t miss out - check it out now! #GenZ #TechTrends #AudioTech #MarketingInsights

Skechers Football x Rising Ballers take Bronze at the The Sports Business Awards 2024 in the ‘Best brand activation involving sport category’! 🏆 At the end of 2022, Skechers stunned the world by entering the fiercely competitive football footwear market.   Together we have disrupted the space, creating a clear identity for Skechers Football and flipping the script on any preconceived brand perceptions. We've increased brand recognition, loyalty, and trust with young consumers.    We’re extremely proud this work has been recognised within the industry. A huge congratulations to the full Skechers Football team, roll on 2025. 🌟 Greg Smith Lee Molyneaux Joe Partington

Back in 2016, whispers of an exciting 16-year-old at Fulham spread through the football world. But this youngster didn’t just make his debut – he made history.  💥 The youngest ever Championship goal scorer   ⚽️ First player born in the 21st century to score in English professional football   🥅 7 goals in 30 appearances, by the end of the 2016/17 season   🏆 A place in the Championship Team of the Year   🌟 And a reputation as one of the brightest talents in world football.  The top clubs wanted him, and the hype was real. Our latest Perspectives episode is with Ryan Sessegnon. At 19, Ryan left Fulham and was bought by Spurs for £25 million. But the next big step in his career didn’t go to plan. Now for the first time, Ryan shares his untold story... What really happened at Tottenham? And how did his rapid rise come to an abrupt halt? Fast forward and Ryan is now back at Fulham playing in The Premier League. And at only 24 years-old, still has time to reach the heights we know he is capable of. This is Perspectives, where Rising Ballers tells the most interesting stories in football. Full episode out now on YouTube and Spotify. Links in the comments. 

Fit Check Meets Fitness Goals 👟💪 This week’s newsletter dives into Gen Z football consumers’ relationship with exercise and their take on the running-inspired trainers trend. Backed by exclusive first-party data and packed with actionable insights, this is your inside scoop - you won’t want to miss it!

We are thrilled to share that Rising Ballers has been shortlisted for a prestigious International Sports Convention Award in the Social Media category! 🏆📱 This recognition highlights our mission to shine a spotlight on the next generation of football talent and create truly impactful stories that connect the grassroots game to the global stage, creating culture and opportunity for the next wave. It’s a testament to the incredible support of our audiences, our change-making clients, our hardworking team, and, most importantly, the players and fans who engage and inspire us every day. ⚽ And a huge congratulations to She's A Baller, our sister arm of the Rising Ballers media business, for their nomination in the Fan Engagement category! The team’s dedication to elevating women’s football and driving fan connection is nothing short of inspiring. Thank you to the International Sports Convention for recognising our efforts. 💪 #ISCawards #RisingBallers #SocialMedia 

🎥 Perspectives with Callum Hudson-Odoi: A Rising Ballers exclusive 🚀 Callum Hudson-Odoi is still only 23 years old. Yet despite his age, he’s already experienced a journey in football that some players might not encounter in their entire careers. Growing up, Callum was a prolific talent in Chelsea’s academy, a standout star who consistently left us in awe. Infact, he was one of the first players we ever posted on our Instagram. Now, we’ve come full circle. We sat down with Callum, for our Perspectives Series, to discuss the real story behind the headlines. From lifting trophies to overcoming injuries and navigating the challenges of transfers, Callum tells all about the highs and lows of his career so far. ⚽ Watch and listen to the full interview now, via the links in the comments 🔗

🚀 The Next Wave Intel Newsletter is Live! 🚀 We’re excited to launch our newsletter on LinkedIn! This week, we're diving deep into Gen Z’s headphone trends, backed by exclusive first-party data. From frequency of wearing to headphones as a fashion accessory, we’re uncovering what drives the next generation’s audio choices. 🎧 Stay ahead of the curve - plug in and explore the latest insights shaping the future of sound.

Last week our founders Brendon Shabani and Eni Shabani had the pleasure of speaking on stage at Adwanted Events' Future of Media, London. They presented how the digital space has evolved since Rising Ballers’ creation in 2017 to a hall packed with likeminded media professionals, brand representatives and marketers from the industry. Brendon and Eni shared insights based on our experience of seeing Rising Ballers move from social channels only, to the fastest growing football media brand for youth audiences; creating culture and community for the next wave.   If you are interested in seeing the full presentation, drop us a DM! 🤝 

A wonderful full circle moment. It was back in 2018, that Santan Dave first followed Rising Ballers. 🤝 After many link ups and ball sessions over the years, it was only right that we were there to cover his Santan Cup this year. 🤩 The tournament was fantastic with some great teams playing. 👏 Fashion designer KidSuper, French Rapper Tiakola, SE Dons & A Star Barbers all entered teams alongside RB of course.⚽️ Unfortunately our team lost in the final…but content on the day in partnership with Spotify & NB Football performed very well on our channels with millions of impressions already within a week. 📈 We wanted to say a massive Thank You to Dave & @Neighbourhood team for organising and for getting us involved. We’ll be back next year to get that trophy. 😉 ICYMI - you can watch our long-form video of the whole tournament here: https://lnkd.in/ex2uYei4

The launch of Skechers Football has been nominated for another award! This time it has been shortlisted within the prestigious The Drum ‘Social Sports’ category. 🚀     The Drum Awards celebrate industry gold-standard marketing campaigns and activations and it’s huge for Skechers football to be recognised.    It’s been over a year now that we’ve been working closely together with Skechers on a brand narrative that deeply resonates with a young global football audience and we're delighted this work is being celebrated. We’re just getting started though 👀   Congratulations to all the other organisations shortlisted! Greg Smith Peter Youell Lee Molyneaux Joe Partington Eni Shabani Brendon Shabani Jamie Pollitt James Mellish Hannah Doherty #TheDrumAwards #Nomination