About The problem How I work Who it's for Case study Work together Get in touch

HELPING
SPORTS
UNLOCK WHAT
THEIR DIGITAL
IS WORTH.

Most sports organisations are doing more with digital than ever. But doing more isn't the same as making more. The gap between digital activity and commercial return is where most of the value gets left on the table. I help close it.

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There's a version of digital in sport that looks great — busy social channels, a shiny app, impressive reach numbers. And there's a version that actually makes money. The gap between the two is bigger than most organisations want to admit. Closing it is what I do.

I've spent 25 years working out how to do that — from inside rights holders, broadcasters, big tech and a start-up. I've sat in the rooms where the commercial decisions get made. I've learned what moves things forward and what doesn't. I've got things right and I've got things wrong, and both have been useful.

I set up Red7 Advisory to do this work on my own terms — which mostly means being straight with people. What I sell isn't time or deliverables. It's outcomes, insight and judgement — shaped by pattern recognition across the best and worst digital operations in sport. If I think there's a real opportunity, I'll tell you. If I don't think I'm the right person to help, I'll tell you that too.

Nick Shaw — Founder, Red7 Advisory

A few things from the last 25 years

0% EMEA ARR growth Greenfly — $1.9M to $3.7M in under two years
$0 Revenue at Meta 150% of target. Exceeds All rating.
0× Digital revenue growth ECB — £10K to £1.8M per annum in digital revenue
0B Campaign impressions Most successful Olympic campaign in Meta's history
Who I've worked with

THE ORGANISATIONS
I'VE WORKED WITH.

A selection — across rights holder transformation, platform partnership and commercial digital advisory.

IOC
FIFA
UEFA
Premier League
Formula 1
Liverpool FC
World Rugby
EA Sports
Saudi Pro League
DFL
ECB
RFU
Meta
Sky / Now TV

Plus governing bodies, broadcasters, technology companies and investors across Europe, Middle East and North America.

Nick Shaw
About

NICK
SHAW

Founder — Red7 Advisory

Most people in this space have worked on one side of the table. I've worked on four — rights holder, broadcaster, big tech and vendor. That matters because you see the same problems from completely different angles, and after a while you start noticing what everyone else keeps missing.

Rights Holder

ECB · RFU

I was the buyer. I know what oversell looks like, what questions to ask, and what a bad technology decision costs from the inside.

Big Tech

Meta EMEA

I was the platform. I led partnerships with the biggest sports organisations in the world and know what they actually want from digital.

Scale-Up

Greenfly

I was the vendor. I understand the gap between what vendors promise and what they deliver, and how to stress-test a proposal.

Global Platform

IOC · FIFA · UEFA · PL · F1

I've benchmarked against the most commercially advanced sports organisations in the world. Not UK peer comparison. Global best practice.

Head of Digital at the RFU and ECB — evolving both functions into departments that operated commercially and drove real outcomes. Head of Now TV Sport at Sky — joining one of the UK's first OTT/DTC sports products at launch and understanding first-hand what it takes to build a direct-to-consumer audience from scratch. Sports Lead — Leagues & Federations at Meta across EMEA, owning partnerships with UEFA, FIFA, the IOC and the Premier League at a time when digital rights were being defined in real time. MD EMEA at Greenfly — growing a region 94% in under two years.

I've delivered digital strategy through World Cups, Olympic Games and global multi-market tournaments — environments where weak operating models and unreliable measurement get exposed immediately. When the margin for error is zero, you find out very quickly what actually works.

I've been in the room, made the case to the board, and lived with the outcome — the wins and the misses both. I try to be the same person in every conversation: direct, honest, and genuinely interested in helping. Red7 Advisory is, finally, my own thing. And I'm really enjoying it.

  • GreenflyManaging Director, EMEA
    2023–present
  • MetaSports Lead — Leagues & Federations, EMEA
    2018–2023
  • ECBHead of Digital
    2015–2018
  • Sky / Now TVHead of Now TV Sport
    2014–2015
  • RFUHead of Digital
    2010–2014

YOUR DIGITAL
IS WORKING.
MAKING IT
STAND UP
COMMERCIALLY
IS THE HARDER PART.

Most sports organisations have talented digital teams working hard. The content is going out. The platforms are being managed. The numbers are being reported.

But there's a gap between operational output and commercial confidence — and it's rarely anyone's fault. The teams are good. The effort is real. What's usually missing is the ability to prove, price and defend the value of digital to leadership, to sponsors, to the board.

In my experience, the opportunity is almost always already there. In the data. In the partnerships. In the fan relationships. The question is whether the foundations are in place to act on it.

When that confidence is missing, value quietly leaks — year after year. The cost isn't poor performance. It's missed opportunity.

$130B The revenue sports could unlock by closing the digital gap with other industries Morgan Stanley, 2024
24% Average share of fans that sports organisations can actually identify with first-party data Dizplai Fan Index, 2024
30% Sports organisations using personalisation tools — versus 92% in retail Morgan Stanley, 2024
83% Sports executives who say they need new commercial models to attract investment PwC Global Sports Survey, 2024
01

Fan data is often the most underused commercial asset in sport.

The data most sports organisations hold on their fans is genuinely valuable — commercially and strategically. But it takes the right thinking to turn it into something useful, and that conversation often hasn't happened at the right level.

02

Making digital actually pay is genuinely hard.

The problem is rarely the people. It's the operating model around them — unclear commercial mandates, misaligned incentives, and no shared language between digital and sponsorship teams. Fix the structure and the same people deliver very different results.

03

Digital can be one of the biggest revenue opportunities available to a sports organisation.

When digital is positioned commercially — at board level — the revenue conversation changes completely. Sponsorship deals get larger, partnerships get longer, and direct-to-fan channels start generating real income.

04

Output metrics and commercial metrics are not always the same thing.

Reach and follower counts tell part of the story. The more useful question is how digital activity connects to revenue — and that's a conversation worth having at the right level.

05

Every organisation is different. Good advice starts with understanding yours.

Different objectives, budgets, culture, politics, and people. What works has to be built around your specific reality — not lifted from a template or a competitor's playbook.

06

When digital and commercial are aligned at board level, things move faster.

The most effective digital teams I've seen have one thing in common — the people at the top genuinely understand and believe in what digital can do commercially. Getting there is partly about evidence, and partly about having the right conversation in the right way.

Where most organisations sit

MOST ORGANISATIONS
AREN'T FAILING.
THEY'RE IN
THE GREY ZONE.

Most organisations don't think about digital in terms of maturity. They experience it as confidence or uncertainty, momentum or friction, investment or constant questioning. From inside the most advanced digital environments in sport, I've seen those experiences fall into clear patterns.

01

Activity-Led

Digital is busy and visible — but hard to defend commercially. High output, inconsistent leadership support, sponsorship value bundled rather than priced. Digital feels important — but remains fragile.

02

Engagement-Led

Digital performs and audiences respond — but value is uneven. Commercial conversations are supported, but measurement isn't decisive and pricing confidence is inconsistent. Digital works — but isn't fully trusted.

03

Value-Led

Digital is trusted and investable. Content is treated as an asset, sponsorship is priced with evidence, measurement supports decisions, and leadership relies on digital confidently. Digital is a commercial advantage.

Most organisations sit between levels, not fixed in one. The risk isn't where you are — it's trying to solve a higher-level problem without the right foundations in place. That's where value leaks.

What I've seen work

WHAT THE BEST
ORGANISATIONS
DO DIFFERENTLY.

The organisations I've seen get this right don't necessarily have bigger budgets or better teams. They just think about digital differently. Five things consistently separate the ones that make digital pay from the ones still trying to prove it should exist.

Intent

Content is created with intent, not habit. Every piece of output has a reason to exist — and someone can explain what that reason is.

Insight

Decisions are shaped by data, not gut feeling. Not drowning in dashboards — just clear on what's working, what isn't, and why.

Measured

Measurement supports pricing and renewal decisions — not just reporting. The numbers mean something commercially, not just operationally.

Value

Digital value is articulated in commercial language. Not impressions and reach — but what it's actually worth and why someone should pay for it.

Investment

Leadership treats digital as an investment, not a cost. That shift changes everything — how it's resourced, how it's discussed at board level, and how confidently it's sold.

What I believe

TREAT DIGITAL AS A COMMERCIAL FUNCTION — NOT JUST A CONTENT ONE — AND THE RESULTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

I've seen this play out a lot. Data sitting unused. Sponsorship teams and digital teams that barely talk to each other. Fan audiences that nobody has figured out how to monetise. The gap between a digital team working hard and one that's driving real revenue is almost never about talent or budget. It's about clarity — knowing what you're trying to achieve commercially and building everything around that.

The same issues show up again and again across different organisations, different sports, different markets. Once you've seen enough of them, you start to recognise what's actually going on beneath the surface. That's what I bring — not a framework or a methodology, but the ability to see the problem clearly and know what to do about it.

New sponsors

Digital propositions that open commercial conversations that wouldn't otherwise exist — because they offer something broadcast and physical can't.

Deeper partnerships

Rights holders with strong digital capability command better deals and longer relationships. It's not complicated. It's just not being acted on.

Audiences you own

Owned audience is the most durable commercial asset in sport. Building it is a strategy. Monetising it is the point.

How I work

HONEST ENOUGH
TO BE GENUINELY USEFUL.

I'm not interested in turning up, handing over a report and disappearing. I want to be genuinely useful — close enough to understand the real pressures, honest enough to say the things that are sometimes difficult to hear, and invested enough that the outcome matters to me. You're not buying hours or slides. You're buying experience, judgement and someone who's solved enough of these problems to know which ones actually matter. I've never seen the point in telling people what they want to hear. It wastes everyone's time.

I won't pretend I'm for everyone. Some organisations need a big agency and a room full of people. That's completely the right call. But some just need a straight conversation with someone who's been around long enough to have seen most of it, and who'll give them an honest view rather than a polished one.

Straightforward. Honest. No vested interest in making things more complicated than they are.

What you'll leave with
  • Clarity on where the commercial value in your digital actually is — and an honest view of what's getting in the way.
  • A plan you can act on — practical and specific to your organisation, not borrowed from somewhere else or dressed up in jargon.
  • An independent perspective that isn't shaped by internal politics, sunk costs or what anyone wants to hear.
  • Confidence at board level — the right framing, the right questions, and someone who's been in those conversations before.

The three questions I help you answer

What digital content genuinely drives value — and what's just activity?

How do you prove its impact to sponsors and leadership — in language they trust?

How do you deliver it consistently with the teams and resources you actually have?

  • 01

    Digital Transformation Audit

    You'll know exactly where you're strong, where confidence breaks down, and what's actually getting in the way of commercial progress. Not a scorecard — a straight answer from someone who's been inside enough organisations to know the difference.

  • 02

    Commercial Digital Strategy

    You'll leave with a clear path to turning digital assets, fan data and audience into real commercial revenue — through sponsorship, partnerships and beyond. I've actually done this, not just recommended it, so the strategy is grounded in what's achievable, not what looks good in a deck.

  • 03

    Content & Product Strategy

    You'll get clarity on what you should actually be making, why, and what to stop. There's a lot of content being produced in sport that nobody has really asked for. The outcome is focus — less waste, more purpose, and a strategy your team can actually follow.

  • 04

    Technology Evaluation & Vendor Advisory

    You'll make better tech decisions — faster and with less risk. I've been on both sides of these conversations, so I know which questions don't get asked, where vendors oversell, and what actually matters once the contract is signed.

  • 05

    Digital Leadership Advisory

    Leadership will have a clear picture of how digital should be structured, resourced and led — what targets actually mean something, and how to have the conversations that shift digital from a cost line to an investment.

What I don't do

Implementation, project management or delivery. You're not buying a pair of hands — you're buying the thinking that makes sure the right hands are doing the right things. I'm most useful helping you work out what needs to happen, why, and in what order. The doing is yours. That distinction is what keeps the conversation at the level where it's most valuable.

Who this is for

NOT DEFINED BY SECTOR.
DEFINED BY SITUATION.

It's not about what type of organisation you are. It's about what you're going through right now.

Digital and commercial are having separate conversations — and nobody is bridging them.

The board asks digital to justify its existence every budget cycle — and the answers aren't landing.

You have a major sponsorship renewal coming up and digital assets are on the table — but you don't have the evidence to price them properly.

A new CEO or commercial director has inherited a digital function they don't fully understand or trust.

You've invested significantly in digital and the commercial return still doesn't match the effort.

You know your digital capability is better than the revenue it generates suggests — but you can't prove it yet.

If you read any of these and thought 'that's us' — that's where the conversation starts.
Probably not for you if

You need a large team to deliver a project end-to-end, you're looking for someone to validate a decision that's already been made, or you want a long retainer without clear outcomes. None of that is what I do best. If you need someone embedded in day-to-day operations full time, I'm probably not the right fit either.

What this looks like in practice

WHAT THIS LOOKS LIKE
IN PRACTICE.

Case Study

England & Wales Cricket Board — Digital Transformation

The Situation

Digital function was active but commercially invisible. Content was going out, platforms were managed, but there was no link between digital activity and revenue. The function was treated as a cost centre with no commercial mandate.

What I Found

No measurement framework that meant anything to sponsors. No alignment between digital and commercial teams. Leadership lacked the confidence to invest further. The team was talented but had no commercial direction or accountability.

What Changed

Rebuilt the digital function around commercial outcomes. Created a measurement framework sponsors could rely on. Aligned digital and commercial teams around shared goals. Gave the board a clear way to evaluate and invest in digital with confidence.

The Outcome

Digital revenue grew from £10,000 to £1.8 million per annum. The function moved from cost centre to commercial asset. Sponsors started asking for digital-first packages rather than treating digital as an add-on.

£10K → £1.8M digital revenue per annum · Digital moved from cost centre to commercial asset
How we can work together

HOW WE CAN
WORK TOGETHER.

You deal with me directly. No junior analysts, no account managers, no slide decks produced by people you've never met. I typically work with three to four clients at any one time.

If after our first conversation I don't think there's a clear problem worth solving, I'll tell you — no proposal, no pitch, no wasted time on either side.

Sustained change

BUILD COMMERCIAL CONFIDENCE

Retained Advisory

Ongoing strategic input for organisations navigating a transformation, sponsorship challenge or digital leadership question. A thinking partner with a point of view — not a yes-person. Direct access to me, not a team working on your behalf.

Monthly retainer · Typically 3–12 months

Start here

FIND THE GAP

Diagnostic Project

An independent assessment of your digital function — what it's doing, what it's not, where commercial value is being lost and what needs to change. Delivered as a clear report with prioritised recommendations. Most retained relationships start here.

Fixed fee · Typically 4–6 weeks · Board-ready output

High stakes moments

WIN THE COMMERCIAL CONVERSATION

Strategy Session or Project Advisory

For specific moments — a board presentation, a sponsorship negotiation, a technology decision, or a half-day session where you need a senior outside view fast. No brief required, no long commitment. Bring me in when the stakes are high and you need someone who's been in the room before.

Half-day or day rate available · Fixed fee for larger mandates · Scoped per conversation

Engagements are scoped to the problem. We agree what it looks like and what it costs before anything starts.
Start with a conversation — no brief needed, no commitment required · nick@red7advisory.com

If a project involves platforms I have an existing relationship with, I disclose that upfront.

LET'S TALK
Taking on select projects from Q3 2026 — happy to talk now

Get in touch

A COFFEE.
A CHAT.
NO AGENDA.

No pitch. No proposal you didn't ask for. Just a genuine conversation about where you are, where you want to get to, and whether there's a useful role for someone like me.

nick@red7advisory.co.uk