The Pipeline - Series 1: Sports in Bermuda we want to break into and how we are gonna do it! (Part 1)

Hey everyone!

So I’m going to try something new that I’ve been mulling over while I’ve been thinking of a topic for this week’s post. I’m introducing a new series into this newsletter called The Pipeline, which will explore the various plans, events, and projects that I have planned for AceBoy Sports Group in the near and distant future. I’m not going to go into too much detail in these posts, as I know these projections could very well change depending on external factors, but I hope the content will still be as informative and as interesting as my previous posts, and maybe even inspire some of you!

Now before we get going, thanks so much to all my subscribers so far for reading and sharing these posts, I hope you’ll continue to find enjoyment in them! And to those of you who are new, you know what to do, so go smash that subscribe button!

In the first edition of this new series, I’m going to talk about the sports that I think AceBoy Sports Group can really break into and establish ourselves within the pillar of athlete representation and management. For the sake of clarity and avoidance of doubt, I have elected to leave out basketball and football as we are already active in these sports locally and internationally. While we will continue to build out our presence in these two sports and their respective communities, this post will focus on sports we are not yet involved with in any way. The sports I’ve highlighted to be more involved with in the next 5 years are as follows:

• Golf

• Track & Field

• Sailing

So now, lets get into it!

The purpose of exploring these sports…

By expanding into new sports in different pillars of operation, we are diversifying, which has always been a main objective of AceBoy Sports Group. As mentioned in previous posts (if you haven’t read them already, then what are you actually doing?) creating a community is something we really value and is also at the forefront of what we are trying to accomplish. To do that, we need to first break into their existing communities, in a similar way to what we did with basketball through Battle on the Blacktop and The Reapers (these posts can be found on the dashboard).

We can then firmly establish our community and begin welcoming new entrants via our hashtag #AceBoyAthlete and through sponsorship (The Reapers), whether that be sponsoring a team or developing an event within that sport (Battle on the Blacktop). Another way we will seek to do this is through representation, much like how we’ve done with football. While we don’t yet have a community in football like we do with basketball, we are building it out through representation of our athletes, which we will hope eventually leads to events, programs, etc.

Why Golf?

Golf is a sport that has gained a lot of traction in Bermuda, particularly after The Bermuda Tourism Authority and the PGA Tour agreed to a multi-year deal which saw the creation of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, with the inaugural edition being held in 2019. Since then the event has been the largest international sporting event hosted in Bermuda (along with the 2017 America’s Cup and Sail GP World Series events, but more on those later). Previously viewed as an expat sport on the island, it is my opinion that the Bermuda Championship has introduced more Bermudians to the sport who might not normally watch golf or even participate.

In the last two editions, the Bermuda Championship saw local semi-pro/professional golfers get a chance to compete in the Championship in the early qualifying rounds, further demonstrating the access to elite competition that local golfers now have. Because of this, these golfers now have something on home soil to strive to that they can have a legitimate career in. With the Bermuda Championship comes investment in local infrastructure surrounding the sport, which if invested correctly, could potentially lead to the development of higher level golfers that the island has not yet seen.

I’m not saying that because Bermuda has hosted a PGA Tour event and will continue to do so in the coming years means we will all of a sudden develop the world’s best golfers, but what it could do is provide an avenue for success that these golfers might not have access to without the attention and personnel the Tour brings. If this follows through, it makes golf an ideal sport for us to consider as one to break into by aligning ourselves with young golfers and managing their careers, if they’ll have us of course! With some of the best golf courses in the world in Bermuda, it would be amazing to see them filled with local golfers who have been developed on the island, and compete internationally.

Why Track & Field?

Arguably the polar opposite to golf in terms of cultural acceptance, track & field is something that almost all Bermudians are inherently proud of and enjoy watching or taking part in. From the recreational May 24th Bermuda Day Half-Marathon, the annual End-to-End (or Middle-to-End for some) walk/run, and the Iron Kid Triathlons, to the more serious semi-pro/professional Carifta Games and the World Triathlon Championship Series (hosted in 2018, 2019, and now 2022), track holds a large share of Bermuda’s sport calendar and is one of the more popular sports on the island.

In addition to these events our G.O.A.T., Dame Flora Duffy, not only won the 2018 edition of the WTS on home turf, but also won Gold in the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, further paving a way for future Bermudian track athletes. Seeing Bermudian athletes succeed at a high level, and also compete in a professional setting on home soil, is key for young athletes to observe and take in. In similar fashion to golf, track athletes are beginning to train and therefore compete at levels where they may benefit from having some form of representation. I’m not attributing any future track athlete’s success to that of Flora’s accomplishments, but I am suggesting that for young athletes to see the real life success from one of their own will go a long way in terms of their own inspiration.

While it is up to the athlete to determine if they would like our representation services, track is a sport where we can see ourselves being a major player in when it comes to sponsorship. As mentioned above, there are plenty of track & field events hosted around the island annually of varying levels, allowing us to integrate our brand into different smaller communities within track e.g. children’s events, charity walk/runs, corporate events, larger events such as Carifta, etc. This would allow us to further diversify ourselves within a single sport, and being able to partner with different companies and events could prove crucial to our continued growth.

Why Sailing?

Finally, we move onto what some might call a controversial sport in Bermuda, and that’s sailing. Our first foray into the sport as a host country began in 2017 when we hosted the 35th America’s Cup, which at the time was the largest sporting event the country had ever hosted. Unfortunately, the event was hosted in an election year and was used as a tool to question the priorities of the party in power at the time, so the event has always had its critics from a socio-economic perspective. But without going into all of that, the event itself was a massive success from a sporting and economical perspective. The America’s Cup Event Authority and Bermuda Tourism Authority came in $14 million under budget for the total event, and the conclusion of the event saw the creation of, in my opinion, the most beneficial legacy impact of the event, the Endeavour Program.

Endeavour is a youth sailing initiative aimed at teaching middle school aged children STEAM subjects through the sport of sailing, while also providing a platform for high school/university students and young adults to enhance their understanding of the maritime industry through the Endeavour Maritime Springboard Platform. Full disclosure, I do have a bit of a soft spot for sailing in Bermuda - in 2016 I interned for the America’s Cup Event Authority and following the completion of my MSc in 2019, I took on a part-time role with the Endeavour Program. My time spent with both organizations allowed me to see first hand the potential that sailing offered as both a sport and employment opportunity.

We have always had a large sailing community in Bermuda, but in similar fashion to golf it was not a diverse population of participants. Endeavour has helped to introduce more Bermudians to the sport both competitively and recreationally, and has also shown young Bermudians just how viable and realistic a maritime career in Bermuda can be. We’ve always had young sailors competing internationally and representing Bermuda, but now with proper resources on the island to develop these athletes further, it will be interesting to see how successful these athletes become.

Having said all that, I believe any future involvement we have in sailing will be through sponsorship, hopefully of the Endeavour Program. As I mentioned, it is an initiative that I hold in high regard as I’ve seen the work that goes into it first hand, and the benefits that it has provided to Bermudians of all ages and backgrounds. This is the kind of organization that I would love to integrate into our community, and continually build into our own sailing community. I think sailors could be athletes we add to our representation pillar, however it would take a lot of studying on my part to ensure I am able to provide value to these athletes.

What’s next?

I’ll be discussing more sports I want ABSG to break into in the next 5 years in Part 2 of this post - as explained above I wanted to make sure I went into enough detail on each sport without turning this post into a book! Now I’ll continue to focus on strategies to efficiently and effectively move into these sports, and I already have a few in mind which I hope to implement in 2023.

In the next edition of The Pipeline, we will look at the sports that ABSG will be targeting in the pillars of strategic partnerships, sponsorships, and events, in similar fashion in what we are already doing with basketball. I wanted to include all the sports we want to be more involved with in this one post, but I feel like that will water down the information I want to share, and might end up being very basic.

Thanks for reading everyone!

Check you later!

Jason