The London Lions appoint first-ever Chief Content Officer

The London Lions appoint first-ever Chief Content Officer

The London Lions Basketball Club has announced Oliver Emery as their first-ever Chief Content Officer in a move to further amplify the teams’ successes in using relevant, creative content to engage and excite an ever-increasing population of current and future basketball fans. Emery makes the step from Senior Vice President into the newly formed role, after joining the business in February 2022 to spearhead the club’s content strategy. 

• The Lions have seen their social fan base quadruple to over 100,000 fans over 12 months
• TV viewership has increased 1445%
• Landmark content partnerships formed over the past year with Formula E and London’s LGBTQ basketball teams

During the past 12 months, the Lions have seen their social fan base quadruple to over 100K fans, TV viewership increase 1445% through a new BT Sport distribution deal and ticket sales increase by 485%. Supporting the sport’s meteoric rise in the UK, the Lions’ content arm is positioned at the heart of the team’s behind the scenes success, attracting both new talent and fan communities whilst even opening doors with European rights holders.

Emery has also led several landmark creative projects for the club which have helped to form new connections with the diverse demographics that make up UK sport.

This includes the creation of the first-ever magazine dedicated to the intersection of basketball, culture and the community around the game, entitled 'BASELINE'. 

Leveraging community focused partnerships as part of the Lion’s audience engagement strategy, over the last year alone, the Lions have teamed up with Formula E to activate the London E-Prix as well as London's LGBTQ basketball teams for Pride month, in addition to multiple brand endorsements that reflect the cultural diversity of the basketball community.

Oliver Emery, Chief Content Officer for London Lions said: ‍

‍‘The future of the London Lions and British basketball lies in its ability to deliver storytelling to a young, relevant audience and on the platforms that matter. The sporting story is one thing but it is the culture around basketball that makes it a unique proposition. Music, fashion, art and community are rich storytelling opportunities for us and there is no better place to tell those stories than in East London.

‘As well as re-engaging those basketball fans that have become disengaged from domestic competition, our core focus remains reaching and educating a new audience through these verticals, building excitement and interest in the sport.
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The potential audience is huge and I have no doubt over the next 12 months we will see an explosion of new fans falling in love with British basketball.

‘Over the coming weeks and months we expect the commercial side of the business, across marketing and content, to double in size. We are building a team that can compete with the biggest and best in Europe and it’s important we do that both on and off the court.

It’s no secret that one day we want to be competing in EuroLeague against the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona; so we are building a team that can win us fans across Europe, capitalising on the brand equity of those we will face on court.’

Emery possesses a wealth of sporting start-up content experience, including his years as Head of Content for the FIA Formula E series, where content films secured two Cannes Lions awards during his tenure. More recently in a strategist role at Little Dot Studios, Emery built out content teams and strategy for the likes of Extreme E and the World Electric Scooter Championship in their inaugural years. Emery's new role is set to be the first step in a move to bolster the culture of creativity at the club and continue to expand their fanbase through exciting new projects and activations.