Meet The Team~ Charlie Rickard

Hi everyone! My name is Charlie Rickard, I’m a postgraduate student at Leeds Beckett University studying Strategic Sports Marketing MSc. In the coming weeks, I will be writing about the ways in which major digital developments have transformed the ways in which we (sports fans) are exposed to sport over the years. Traditionally sport was delivered to us through a one-way broadcasting model. Driven by unceasing advancements in technology, we now are now presented with an array of options for sport consumption, from live broadcasting to YouTube watch-along’s with streamers and social-media influencers. I will be discussing how the NBC have collaborated with social media influencers as a new way of promoting the 2024 Paris Olympic Games I have a long-lasting passion for sport in general. Sport has dictated the way in which my life has been shaped so far and I expect that it will likely have a similar lasting effect for the rest of my life.

From being brought up almost religiously watching rugby league with my father, a staple coming from the rugby-league-rich town of Wigan, and regularly watching football with my brother, my life-long interest for sport has shaped my academic journey, having studied sport and exercise science in college followed by an undergraduate degree in the same subject. Now, i have taken a shift away from sports performance to study strategic sports marketing as a postgraduate, underpinned by a desire to better my understanding of the business and marketing side of sport.

Aside from this, the Olympic Games seem to grab my attention every time it comes around, despite having no real interest in athletics outside of the Olympic events. There’s just something about watching Team GB compete which entices me to watch sports of which I have no interest, and sometimes have no prior awareness of. With the continuous new ways to consume sport, what do you think the future will hold for sport fans?