March 22 – The Players’ Tribune, a US-based website set up for sportsmen and women to tell their personal stories and express their views, wants to pull in English Premier League players and other footballers across Europe.
The digital platform already has had more than 1,200 athletes contributing and is keen to expand.
“In general, football is only going to get bigger and bigger here. The culture is changing a lot,” Joe Puglisi, director of branded content for the Players’ Tribune, was quoted by Reuters as the Leaders Sports Business Summit in New York.
“I see that as a big growth area, especially for us. We’re very interested. Big plans for international expansion, specifically in Europe right now.”
Puglisi singled out Liverpool, Barcelona and Real Madrid as potential early targets. “I think it’s important for us to establish relationships with the clubs, because they have the most say over the players’ time and what they’re doing with media properties,” Puglisi told Reuters. “We’re very interested in having this be a global platform,” Puglisi said.
“Those players would be able to tell a story the way that they want to and to reach a new audience here, and a lot of those clubs are very interested in growing their U.S. audience.”
The first-person content is often conducted via interviews done by Players’ Tribune staff, the Sports Business Journal reported. Manchester United and England forward Marcus Rashford has already contributed about his childhood and how he made it big in football. Tottenham Hotspur and England midfielder has also signed on to the platform.
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