Engaging Consumers Through Social Sports: A New Brand Strategy

Wednesday, April 30 | 12:30 PM ET

Engaging Consumers Through Social Sports: A New Brand Strategy

As brands search for new ways to connect authentically with consumers, the post-pandemic shift toward sports that drive participation and activity-based social engagement - known as “social sport” - is proving to be a powerful opportunity.

Reinventing how we look at traditional sports and how they are presented to consumers is driving participation adjacent to consumption, and it’s attracting attention not just from consumer brands but also from venture capitalists eager to get in on the action.

Enterprising entrepreneurs are stepping in as community builders, creating spaces for brands to engage directly with consumers at both traditional and unexpected venues across the country. With venture capital backing, the social sport movement is scaling rapidly, promising new ways for brands to build loyalty and for investors to capture value.

If you haven’t heard about it yet, you will soon. The only question is whether you’ll be watching from the sidelines or jumping in to play.

Featured Speakers (Additional to be Announced)

Trisha Goyal is a trailblazing entrepreneur who founded Break Sports in 2019, creating a platform that redefines how people access and engage in recreational sports by breaking down traditional barriers to entry.

With a background in digital product development at ESPN, GIPHY, and HuffPost, Trisha combines her expertise in technology with her passion for sports inclusivity. Today, Break Sports is a powerful force in the industry, offering 425,000 bookable listings and serving over 360,000 users across 35 markets.

A 2025 Inc. Female Founder 500 honoree, Trisha was also named the first-ever Tory Burch Foundation Sports Fellow, in partnership with Billie Jean King, recognizing her commitment to expanding access to sports for all. Her mission continues to grow through high-impact partnerships with brands like American Express, Liquid I.V., and Bumble.

Micky Lawler was appointed as Commissioner of Unrivaled in June 2024 and is responsible for overseeing and managing day-to-day operations for the league, including driving direction and strategy, leading partnership initiatives, overseeing all revenue verticals, and empowering Unrivaled athletes. Lawler brings with her four decades of experience in the industry and a strong commitment to championing gender equity in sports.

She joins Unrivaled from the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), where she served as President and played a pivotal role in strengthening the geographic footprint and commercial value of women’s tennis. During her tenure, the WTA broke records across sponsorship, media and international investment in the sport.

Lawler provided exceptional strategic leadership during her time at the WTA, where she spearheaded the WTA’s broadcast, streaming, and data asset agreements, as well as drove unprecedented collaborations with the ATP in support of a more unified tennis fan experience. Among her accomplishments at the WTA include a complete rebranding of the WTA, an innovative six-year data rights partnership, and the debut of Netflix’s Break Point series in 2023, which reached Top 10 status in 28 countries.

She served as a WTA Board member for 11 years and as a leader of tennis with Octagon for 27 years. Prior to joining Octagon, Lawler began her sports career in communications at the Men’s International Professional Tennis Council, the predecessor to the ATP World Tour.

Born in Holland, Lawler earned a BA in Political Science from The American University of Paris and Masters in Applied Linguistics from the University of Delaware. In 2023, she was honored in Forbes’ 50 Over 50 list and Sports Business Journal’s Class of Champions: Pioneers & Innovators in Sports Business. She was named the “Most Powerful Women in Sports” by ADWEEK in 2020 and 2018, a “Game Changer: Women in Sports Business” by the Sports Business Journal in 2012, recognized by the Washington Business Journal as one of their “Women Who Mean Business” honorees in 2009 and recipient of the Warsaw-Thurston Award by the University of Oregon College of Business in 2012. Having lived in nine different countries across South America, Central America, Europe, Africa and the United States, Lawler is fluent in Dutch, Spanish, French, German and English. She is the mother of three children, Charlotte, Trevor and Juliette, and grandmother to two grandsons.

Kimberley Nixon is Founder and Managing Partner at Open Venture Capital (OVC), an early stage venture capital fund. The fund invests in sport, health and wellness brands that have the ability to expand from product to platform via a unique product, marketing and/or community engagement approach. Open Venture Capital began as Open Venture Studio, and for several founders we continue to invest time and resources to build a clear value proposition and a path to scalability before investing capital.

Kimberley is an Operator turned VC. Kim holds deep expertise in leading digital transformations and launching new products to market. Over the course of her 20-year career Kimberley has been entrusted by her clients, boards and executive leadership alike to deliver against key strategic objectives tied to growth optimization and operational excellence. Her work has spanned startup to billion dollar organizations, and across several international markets for companies including Under Armour, Manduka Yoga, Health House, Headspace and Tonal

Registration is free. All registrants will receive a recording of the webinar following the event.

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