Welcome to the next edition of On The Record, thoughtful analysis on culture, entertainment, tech, fashion, music, sport, and brands. Here’s a round-up of key conversations and campaigns that caught my attention this week.
This week reflects how cultural influence, platform economics and sport investment are reshaping brand visibility. Adidas is leaning on cross-industry star power to reinforce the cultural longevity of the Superstar, while Cristiano Ronaldo’s stake in UD Almería highlights how athlete brands are evolving into ownership and media assets. At the same time, AI platforms are beginning to license journalism as infrastructure, signalling a shift in how information and content are valued across the digital ecosystem.
Bad Bunny Delivers Record-Breaking Super Bowl Halftime Show 🌎🎤
📌 Bad Bunny delivered the most-watched halftime performance in the history of the National Football League’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, generating 4.157 billion global views within 24 hours, according to Roc Nation, which produced the show. Anticipation had been building for weeks ahead of the broadcast, fuelled by both widespread fan excitement and political backlash from commentators objecting to the prominence of Spanish during the Super Bowl broadcast.
Ricky Martin appeared performing in front of the distinctive white plastic chairs featured on the cover of Bad Bunny’s album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, while additional cameos included Lady Gaga performing “Die With a Smile,” and appearances from Pedro Pascal alongside Karol G and Young Miko. The moment reflected the growing scale and cultural centrality of Latin music on the global stage, with the Super Bowl operating as a platform where entertainment, identity and mass media visibility intersect.
4.157 billion global views within 24 hours
Most-watched halftime performance in Super Bowl history
Produced by Roc Nation
💡Latin music’s global scale is no longer niche or emerging, it now commands the biggest stage in American sport and delivers record-breaking global reach for brands and platforms.
Live Nation Antitrust Trial Begins, Music Industry Power Structure Under Scrutiny 🎟️⚖️
📌 Opening arguments have begun in the federal antitrust trial against Live Nation Entertainment, with prosecutors alleging the company and its subsidiary Ticketmaster have built an ecosystem that limits competition across concert promotion, venues, artist management and ticketing. The lawsuit, filed by the United States Department of Justice alongside 39 states and Washington D.C., argues this concentration of power restricts choice for artists, venues and fans while discouraging rivals from entering the market.
The case follows years of mounting criticism, amplified by the chaotic ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour in 2022. Prosecutors claim Live Nation uses its control over venues and promotion to pressure artists into using its services, while venues are allegedly pushed into exclusive ticketing deals with Ticketmaster. If the court finds the company violated antitrust law, the judge could force a structural breakup between the two businesses, a move that could significantly reshape the economics of the live music industry.
Ticketmaster controls roughly 80% of primary ticket sales in the U.S.
Live Nation operates or controls 265+ venues across North America
The company manages 400+ artists
💡 🎶 The trial is less about ticket queues and more about structural power, the outcome could determine whether the live music economy remains vertically integrated or shifts back toward competitive market dynamics.
Arsenal Women Show the Commercial Upside of Investing in the Women’s Game ⚽📈
📌 Arsenal Women delivered a landmark season on and off the pitch, combining sporting success with significant commercial growth. The club reported £21.5 million in total revenue, driven by strong attendances, expanding sponsorship interest and a historic victory in the UEFA Women's Champions League.
Matchday income rose sharply as the team continued to draw record crowds, while commercial partnerships accelerated alongside the club’s growing cultural visibility. Despite the growth, the team still receives £11.9 million in financial backing from Arsenal F.C., highlighting how most elite women’s teams remain in a scale-building phase where parent-club investment is essential to sustain momentum.
£21.5m total revenue
35% growth in matchday income, reaching nearly £6m
Commercial revenue almost tripled
£22,000 profit reported for the season
💡⚽ Women’s football is proving commercially viable, but the real story is that strategic parent-club investment is still the engine powering its growth phase.
BBC Charter Review Opens, UK Music Sector Urged to Engage 📻🎶
📌 The BBC has formally entered the consultation phase of its next Royal Charter review, a once-a-decade process that defines the broadcaster’s mission, governance structure, public purposes and funding model. The current Charter runs until the end of 2027, meaning the framework being debated now will shape the BBC’s role in British culture and the music ecosystem from 2028 onwards.
The UK Government’s Green Paper consultation invites evidence from the public and industry stakeholders, including artists, producers and music organisations. As the country’s largest employer of musicians, the BBC plays a structural role in talent development through initiatives such as BBC Introducing and programmes like BBC Young Musician. Data from PRS for Music and PPL also indicates BBC radio broadcasts a wider range of recordings than many commercial counterparts, making policy decisions around its future especially consequential for artists and the wider music industry.
Current BBC Royal Charter expires end of 2027
Consultation underway via UK Government Green Paper process
BBC remains the largest employer of musicians in the UK
💡🎧 The BBC Charter review is effectively a ten-year reset for the UK’s cultural infrastructure, meaning decisions made now will shape who gets heard, funded and developed across British music for the next decade.
Samuel L. Jackson, JENNIE, Lamine Yamal & Kendall Jenner Front adidas Superstar Campaign 👟🔥
📌 Adidas Originals has unveiled a new global campaign for the iconic Adidas Superstar, led by Samuel L. Jackson and supported by a cross-disciplinary lineup including Kendall Jenner, JENNIE, Lamine Yamal, Baby Keem, Olivia Dean, James Harden and Tyshawn Jones. The cinematic short film leans into surreal storytelling to position the Superstar as a symbol of cultural longevity rather than simply a footwear launch.
By assembling figures spanning music, sport, fashion and skate culture, the campaign frames the Superstar as connective tissue across creative disciplines. The activation also introduces the Spring 2026 adidas Originals collection, refreshing the classic black-and-white sneaker with updated styling while reinforcing the silhouette’s longstanding place in streetwear and global youth culture.
💡🔥 adidas is using cross-industry cultural capital, not product innovation, to reinforce the Superstar as a permanent fixture in the cultural wardrobe rather than a seasonal sneaker drop.
Cristiano Ronaldo Buys 25% Stake in UD Almería as Saudi Ownership Expands Its Football Portfolio ⚽💼
📌 Cristiano Ronaldo has acquired a 25% minority stake in UD Almería through his investment vehicle CR7 Sports Investments, formally entering the shareholder structure of the Spanish second-division side. The move follows the club’s 2025 takeover by a Saudi-led consortium involving SMC Group and Abna Al Theeb Group, which retains controlling ownership.
While the deal does not alter governance control, Ronaldo’s involvement significantly raises the club’s global visibility at a moment when Almería are pushing for promotion from Spain’s second tier. The development also reflects growing strategic ties between Middle Eastern capital and European football, with personal brand equity increasingly used to elevate club profiles and commercial potential.
25% minority stake acquired by Ronaldo
Saudi consortium took full control of the club in May 2025
Almería currently 3rd in Spain’s second division
💡Ronaldo’s investment shows how elite athlete brands are increasingly operating like strategic media assets, capable of accelerating a club’s global visibility and commercial value overnight.
StubHub Launches HerSportsHub for WNBA, NWSL & NCAA Women’s Basketball Tickets 🎟️🏀
📌StubHub has introduced HerSportsHub, a dedicated resale destination for women’s sports events, covering leagues including the WNBA, National Women's Soccer League, Professional Women's Hockey League and NCAA Women's Basketball. The platform reflects growing demand for women’s sports and the emergence of a highly engaged fan base that actively supports multiple leagues and athletes.
StubHub’s internal data shows major global events like the Olympics significantly accelerate that demand, particularly across basketball, soccer and hockey. The launch also follows a wider shift across media and streaming platforms including ESPN, The Athletic and Roku, which are increasingly investing in women’s sports coverage and access as audience growth becomes commercially impossible to ignore.
64% growth in unique women’s sports ticket buyers during Olympic periods
252% increase in PWHL demand during 2026 Winter Olympics
360% YoY increase in WNBA interest during Olympic years
199% jump in women’s sports ticket buyers in the 30 days after 2024 Summer Olympics
💡HerSportsHub signals a structural shift from treating women’s sport as occasional programming to building dedicated commercial infrastructure around its fast-growing audience.
Caitlin Clark Stars in New Gatorade Campaign Narrated by Candace Parker 🏀🥤
📌 Gatorade has expanded its partnership with Caitlin Clark following the rapid sell-out of her limited-edition Gatorade bottles, releasing a new campaign film narrated by Candace Parker. The spot builds on Clark’s growing cultural momentum, positioning her not just as a rising athlete but as a central figure in the next era of women’s basketball storytelling.
By pairing Clark’s on-court impact with Parker’s established legacy voice, the campaign connects two generations of elite players while reinforcing Gatorade’s long-standing strategy of anchoring brand narratives around defining athletes. The activation also reflects the accelerating commercial value of women’s basketball stars as demand for athlete-led products and content continues to surge.
Limited-edition Caitlin Clark Gatorade bottles sold out within minutes
Campaign features narration from WNBA legend Candace Parker
💡 🏀 Gatorade is building cultural continuity in women’s basketball, using Clark’s breakout moment and Parker’s legacy voice to position the brand inside the sport’s generational shift.
Meta Signs $50M AI Content Deal With News Corp 🤖📰
📌 Meta has signed a multiyear artificial intelligence licensing agreement with News Corp worth up to $50 million per year, allowing Meta to use the publisher’s journalism across the U.S. and U.K. for AI-related services. The deal enables Meta to retrieve up-to-date reporting to answer user queries while also drawing from News Corp’s archive of articles to train and improve its AI models.
The agreement reflects a growing shift in how major technology companies compensate publishers for the use of editorial content in generative AI systems. As platforms race to improve AI assistants and search experiences, high-quality news archives are becoming a valuable data source for training models and delivering credible information to users.
Deal valued at up to $50 million annually
Covers News Corp journalism from the U.S. and U.K.
Includes access to news archives for AI training
💡 🤖 AI platforms are beginning to formalise the economics of information, turning publisher archives into licensed infrastructure rather than free training data.
Amazon Shuts Down Wondery App as Podcast Strategy Shifts to Audible 🎙️📱
📌 Amazon is shutting down the podcast app from its subsidiary Wondery along with the Wondery+ subscription service, consolidating parts of its podcast offering under Audible. Select Wondery+ shows will continue through Audible as Amazon realigns its audio strategy.
The decision follows a broader restructuring of the Wondery division last year, when narrative programming was moved into Audible and around 100 roles were cut. The shift signals Amazon’s move to streamline its audio ecosystem by prioritising platforms with stronger subscription momentum rather than maintaining a standalone podcast app.
Wondery podcast app shutting down
Some shows migrating to Audible
Around 100 staff laid off during earlier restructuring
💡🎧 Amazon’s move shows the audio market consolidating around subscription ecosystems, where podcasts are becoming one pillar inside broader premium audio platforms rather than standalone destinations.
TikTok Declines End-to-End Encryption for Direct Messages, Citing Safety Concerns 📱🔐
📌 TikTok has confirmed it will not introduce end-to-end encryption for its direct messaging feature, diverging from privacy standards adopted by many competing platforms. The company argues that encrypted messaging can limit the ability of technology companies and law enforcement to detect harmful or illegal activity shared privately between users.
Privacy advocates, however, warn that the absence of encryption leaves users’ messages more vulnerable to interception or surveillance compared with services that prioritise secure communications. The decision places TikTok at the centre of an ongoing debate across the tech industry over how platforms balance user privacy, safety enforcement and regulatory expectations.
💡 ⚖️ TikTok’s stance highlights a growing fault line in platform governance, where safety enforcement and user privacy are increasingly framed as competing priorities in messaging infrastructure.
Women Earn 83p to Men’s £1 in UK’s Largest Agencies, Study Finds 📊
📌 New analysis from Agency by Agency examining 74 large UK agencies shows women earn 83p for every £1 earned by men, reflecting a 17% mean hourly gender pay gap across the sector. The report, produced with consultant Lynda Harvey, highlights how the imbalance is largely driven by role distribution rather than pay policy alone.
Women occupy 57% of the lowest-paid roles but only 39% of the highest-paid positions, pointing to structural barriers in promotion and leadership representation. Despite this, agencies led by women show slightly stronger productivity metrics, generating an average gross value added per employee of £91,000 compared with £86,000 in male-led agencies, reinforcing the commercial argument for more balanced leadership.
Women earn 83p for every £1 earned by men across large UK agencies
57% of lowest-paid roles held by women, but only 39% of top-paid roles
Women receive 74p in bonus pay for every £1 men receive
Women-led agencies generate £91k GVA per head vs £86k for male-led firms
💡📉 The agency gender pay gap is less about pay policies and more about structural access to senior roles, meaning equality progress depends on promotion pathways as much as compensation frameworks.
UK Digital Ad Market Hits £40.5bn as Social and Video Drive Growth 📊📱
📌 The UK digital advertising market reached £40.5 billion in 2025, growing 10% year-on-year, according to new data from IAB UK. The sector significantly outpaced wider economic expansion, with UK GDP increasing just 1.4% over the same period.
Growth was driven largely by social and video formats. Social media advertising surged 21% to £11.5 billion, now representing 28% of total digital ad spend, while video formats continue to gain strategic importance across platforms. Meanwhile, search remained the largest category, increasing 6% to £17.9 billion and accounting for nearly half of the UK’s digital ad market.
UK digital ad market reached £40.5bn in 2025
Social media spend rose 21% to £11.5bn
Video accounts for 23% of all digital ad spend and 59% of social investment
Search grew 6% to £17.9bn, representing 44% of the market
💡📈 The numbers confirm that attention is consolidating around social and video ecosystems, forcing brands to design campaigns for platform-native storytelling rather than traditional digital formats.
Hilary Knight, Megan Keller & Heated Rivalry’s Connor Storrie Appear on Saturday Night Live 🏒📺
📌 Hilary Knight and Megan Keller joined the cast of Saturday Night Live during an episode hosted by Connor Storrie, the breakout star of the hockey romance series Heated Rivalry. The appearance brought Olympic women’s hockey directly into one of America’s most visible entertainment platforms.
Storrie, who plays Russian hockey player Ilya Rozanov in the series, was joined on stage by both men’s and women’s Team USA players, including Knight, following recent Olympic success for U.S. hockey. The crossover moment reflects how the sport’s growing cultural footprint is expanding beyond the rink into mainstream entertainment and television.
💡🏒 Women’s hockey is increasingly crossing into mainstream culture, with athletes and hockey-themed entertainment blurring the line between sport, fandom and pop culture visibility
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski’s Burger Video Goes Viral, Burger King Jumps In 🍔📱
📌 Chris Kempczinski sparked a viral moment after posting a video on Instagram trying the new Big Arch burger from McDonald's. The clip, intended as a casual behind-the-scenes style post, quickly gained traction online, generating around 145,000 shares in a single day as viewers mocked what many perceived as a staged and slightly awkward attempt at authenticity.
The moment escalated into classic fast-food brand banter when rivals including Burger King and Wendy's joined the conversation with sarcastic responses. Burger King’s U.S. president Tom Curtis even posted his own video eating a Whopper, highlighting how competitor brands increasingly use real-time social media reactions to insert themselves into viral cultural moments.
Video generated 145,000 shares in one day
Competitors Burger King and Wendy’s joined the online reactions
Burger King’s U.S. president posted a Whopper response video
💡In the social media era, even a CEO eating a burger becomes brand theatre, where authenticity attempts can quickly turn into competitive marketing moments.
Nike Unveils 2026 NWSL Kits, Blending Bold Designs With Local Storytelling ⚽👕
📌 Nike has revealed its 2026 kit collection for the National Women's Soccer League, delivering a lineup that mixes heritage-inspired designs with striking new visuals as the league heads into another growth year. The collection highlights club identity through distinctive colour palettes, creative graphics and subtle design details tied to each team’s home city.
From classic tributes to experimental looks, the release reflects how football kits have become central to fan culture, where debate over jersey design is as much a part of the sport as the matches themselves. As the NWSL continues to expand its cultural footprint, the kits double as both performance gear and cultural merchandise for a rapidly growing fanbase.
💡 👕 Football kits have become cultural artefacts, and Nike’s NWSL drop shows how design storytelling now plays a major role in building fan identity around women’s football.
Chloe Kelly Honoured With International Women’s Day Barbie Alongside Serena Williams 🎀⚽
📌 Chloe Kelly has been honoured with a one-of-a-kind Barbie doll created by Mattel to celebrate International Women's Day. The special edition doll reflects Kelly’s status as one of the defining figures in modern women’s football, featuring her signature ponytail and wearing the England women's national football team Euro 2025 kit.
Kelly is one of eight athletes recognised in the initiative, joining sporting icons including Serena Williams, Smriti Mandhana, Stephanie Gilmore and Regina Sirvent Alvarado. The recognition follows a landmark year for Kelly, who played a decisive role in England’s Euro 2025 triumph and won the UEFA Women's Champions League with Arsenal Women.
Kelly helped England win UEFA Women’s Euro 2025
Finished 5th in the Ballon d’Or rankings last season
Part of England squads reaching the 2023 World Cup final and winning Euro 2022
💡🎯 By turning elite athletes into cultural icons through products like Barbie, brands are helping translate sporting success into lasting mainstream visibility for women’s sport.
Olivia Dean, Sam Fender & ROSALÍA Lead the 2026 BRIT Awards in Manchester 🎤🏆
📌 The Brit Awards took place in Manchester for the first time, bringing a slightly looser energy to the ceremony while still rewarding artists dominating the charts. Olivia Dean emerged as the night’s biggest winner, taking Artist of the Year, Album of the Year for The Art of Loving, and Pop Act, cementing her commercial and cultural breakout year.
Other major winners included Sam Fender, whose track “Rein Me In” with Dean won Song of the Year, alongside his Alternative/Rock Act win. ROSALÍA secured International Artist of the Year, while Wolf Alice used their Group of the Year speech to highlight the crisis facing grassroots music venues, noting dozens of closures and thousands of lost jobs across the UK live sector.
Olivia Dean won three awards including Album and Artist of the Year
Sam Fender won Song of the Year and Alternative/Rock Act
30 UK grassroots venues closed last year, highlighted in Wolf Alice’s speech
🏆 Full List of Winners
Album of the Year – Olivia Dean – The Art of Loving
Artist of the Year – Olivia Dean
Song of the Year – Sam Fender ft. Olivia Dean – Rein Me In
Group of the Year – Wolf Alice
Breakthrough Artist – Lola Young
International Artist of the Year – ROSALÍA
International Song of the Year – ROSÉ & Bruno Mars – APT.
International Group of the Year – Geese
Alternative/Rock Act – Sam Fender
Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act – Dave
Dance Act – Fred again.. / Skepta / PlaqueBoyMax
Pop Act – Olivia Dean
R&B Act – SAULT
Critics’ Choice – Jacob Alon
Songwriter of the Year – Noel Gallagher
Producer of the Year – PinkPantheress
Outstanding Contribution to Music – Mark Ronson
Lifetime Achievement Award – Ozzy Osbourne
🎤 Performances
Performances throughout the ceremony included:
ROSALÍA with Björk
Sam Fender
Olivia Dean
Alex Warren
James Blunt
Mark Ronson featuring Dua Lipa and Ghostface Killah
💡 🎶 The 2026 BRITs highlighted a familiar pattern, blockbuster streaming success continues to dominate the awards while artists increasingly use the stage to spotlight the structural pressures facing the UK music ecosystem.
🎙️ The Creative Strategies Defining Brand Success in 2026
CIM Marketing Podcast (host: Ben Walker) featuring Emily Heath (Global Brand Director, Rexona/Sure at Unilever) and Paul Greenwood (Global Head of Research & Insights, We Are Social)
📌 This episode asks a timely question for modern marketers: in a digital ecosystem dominated by algorithms and saturated with content, is creativity losing its edge—or expanding into new territory? Emily Heath and Paul Greenwood unpack how shifting online behaviour is reshaping how audiences interact with brands, and what that means for marketers trying to stand out. Drawing on insights from global brand campaigns and social trend research, they explore how brands can balance data, technology, and human creativity to remain distinctive in an algorithm-driven landscape.
Worth Your Time Because: This episode tackles one of the defining tensions in modern marketing: the relationship between algorithmic optimisation and creative differentiation. Heath and Greenwood explain why creativity still drives brand impact—even as platforms increasingly prioritise data signals—and how marketers can work with algorithms rather than against them. For brand strategists navigating AI-driven content saturation and rapidly shifting digital behaviour, it offers practical insight into how to stay culturally relevant while scaling creativity globally.
👀 Things to Be Aware Of This Week
(Monday 9 March – Sunday 15 March 2026)
📚 The London Book Fair opens at Olympia London (10–12 March 2026), bringing global publishers, agents and media companies together for the year’s biggest rights marketplace and a key barometer for what stories will travel next.
🏆 The 98th Academy Awards take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles (15 March 2026), with Hollywood’s biggest night set to shape the global awards narrative and studio prestige strategy for the year ahead.
🏉 Six Nations “Super Saturday” closes the 2026 championship with Ireland v Scotland, Wales v Italy and France v England (14 March 2026), the decisive final round that will determine the tournament winner.
⚾ World Baseball Classic knockout rounds begin (Quarter-finals: 13–14 March 2026), as the global tournament shifts from pool play into high-stakes elimination games.
❄️ Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics conclude (6–15 March 2026), closing a 10-day global showcase for elite adaptive sport and a key moment for brands and broadcasters invested in Paralympic visibility.
👗 Paris Fashion Week closes with its final runway shows (9–10 March 2026), wrapping the Autumn/Winter womenswear season and setting the tone for fashion’s next cultural and retail cycle.
🧵 Seoul Fashion Week runs at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (9–14 March 2026), spotlighting South Korea’s rising designers and reinforcing Seoul’s growing influence across global fashion and youth culture.
🤠 C2C: Country to Country Festival returns to The O2 in London (13–15 March 2026), bringing Nashville’s biggest acts to the UK as country music continues its global streaming surge and crossover momentum.