UP572 Creators: What Are They Good For?

Wimbledon didn't ban influencers. It said it wouldn't create a creator accreditation category and would confiscate ring lights and selfie poles under existing rules. The headline ran anyway, and it tells us more about sport's gatekeepers than about creators. Richard Gillis is joined by two people who sit on opposite sides of the creator deal. Jo Tongue is CEO of Tongue Tied Management, representing athletes, broadcasters and content creators. A former BBC sports reporter, she edited 5 Live's 606 for a decade and is a director of Women in Football. Lisa Parfitt is co-founder of The Space Between, the sports marketing agency for challenger brands whose work includes the ECB's women's cricket campaigns and FIFA's Women's Champions Cup launch. She previously co-founded Engine Sport. They discuss who is responsible when creators misbehave, why rights holder channels are underdelivering for sponsors, and what sport now demands of its elite athletes.

Key discussion points

• 02:30 The US Open ring lights and the "Wimbledon bans creators" headline: what actually happened
• 04:00 Jo argues the blame lies with whoever invited the creators, not the creators themselves
• 06:45 Lisa on snobbery, gatekeeping, and why influencers didn't invent annoying tennis crowds
• 10:00 Unilever shifting 50–70% of activation budgets to creators
• 11:30 How agents match talent to the outcome a brand actually wants
• 16:00 Lisa's research showing rights holder channels reach about 27% of a sport's fans
• 20:00 Creators versus journalists, and paid versus earned
• 23:30 Who controls creator behaviour: rights holders, sponsors, or hosts
• 29:30 Brand risk after Callaway and Good Good, and the cost of heavy approvals
• 34:30 Jazmin Sawyers and the pressure on athletes to become creators
• 41:00 Rehab programmes, insurance and tunnel selfies: which rules actually matter
• 45:30 Women's sport and whether there are enough women's football creators
• 48:00 Women's T20 World Cup: a 70/30 split between sport and lifestyle
• 52:30 Taking first-timers to Lord's, and the value of the outsider's question

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