The Future of Fandom – Details, episodes & analysis

In this special episode of The Future of Fandom, hosts Miheer Walavalkar and Samuel Westberg sit down with sports media veteran Peter Hutton to explore the evolving business case for fan engagement and gamification. They dive into how fan data, community-building, and interactive experiences are reshaping loyalty, monetisation, and broadcast strategies across the industry.

What You'll Learn in This Episode 

>> Why capturing first-party fan data is essential for monetisation and long-term growth

>> How private equity evaluates sports properties using audience insight and engagement metrics

>> The limitations of relying solely on social media platforms for fan relationships

>> Practical examples of gamification driving deeper fan retention and loyalty

>> Why even smaller leagues and emerging sports must prioritise direct fan engagement

Meet Our Guest

Peter Hutton is a seasoned sports media executive with decades of experience leading major networks including Eurosport and Meta. Now an advisor and board member to global sports organisations, he shares unique insights on the future of fan engagement and broadcasting.

About the Hosts

Miheer Walavalkar is the CEO and Co-founder of LiveLike, a leading fan engagement tech company powering billions of interactions for major sports and media brands.

Samuel Westberg is CRO and Co-founder of LiveLike and CEO of LaSource, blending deep sports industry experience with strategic innovation across media and technology.

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Connect with Miheer Walavalkar on LinkedIn

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Follow Peter Hutton on LinkedIn

In this episode of The Future of Fandom, Miheer Walavalkar, CEO and co-founder of LiveLike, sits down with Bo Han, Chief Commercial Officer at Transmit, to explore the evolving dynamics of live sports consumption and monetisation. Bo shares insights from his journey at Twitter, Buzzer, and now Transmit, diving deep into how real-time fan engagement, personalisation, and streaming innovation are reshaping the sports media landscape. This is a must-listen for anyone passionate about future-proofing fan experiences and monetisation models.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

>> Why real-time attention is the most valuable currency in live sports

>> How Gen Z consumes sports differently—and what that means for engagement strategies

>> The shift from linear TV to streaming and its impact on monetisation

>> The role of AI and personalisation in delivering fan-first ad experiences

>> Why the future of sports media is about scalable, non-intrusive monetisation formats

Meet Our Guest

Bo Han is the Chief Commercial Officer at Transmit, leading commercial strategy for advanced in-stream advertising across digital video. Formerly founder and CEO of Buzzer and Director of Content Partnerships at Twitter, he’s a seasoned executive reshaping the future of live content monetisation.

About the Host

Miheer Walavalkar is the CEO and co-founder of LiveLike, a fan engagement platform powering experiences for global giants like the NBA, UEFA, and FOX. He’s a recognised industry leader transforming how audiences interact with content in real time.

Enjoyed the Episode?

Subscribe, leave a review, and share with others who are passionate about developing community-driven fandom! 

Visit LiveLike to discover how you can activate your audience. 

Connect with Miheer Walavalkar on LinkedIn

Follow Bo Han on LinkedIn

Today on The Future of Fandom, we explore how to let super fans tell your story for you. On this episode, we take a look at Rally and how it creates shareable experiences for its investors and die-hards, all with the help of Rob Petrozzo, their Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer.

We've chatted with a few fintechs and investing brands on this show. You know that. We know that. But Rob is a true modern day pioneer of the belief that anything can be an investment. So he's seen the best and the worst of the trends within alternatives, and he's had a front row seat to the ways regulation impacts the ways financial brands can tell their stories, not that, that stops him. Rally has developed a cult following. And with a little experience tinkering and a lot of shareable moments, Rob has managed to steer his community into a frenzy whenever they get in on the investing action.

We chat about this particular strength and how the future relies on that critical muscle, no matter who you are. So let's be super now and predict the future with Rally and Rob Petrozzo.

Check out The Future of Fandom, a podcast by LiveLike, wherever you get your podcasts. We hope that you become a fan!

Join the podcast! https://livelike.com/podcast/

Learn more about LiveLike: https://livelike.com/

Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/livelike/

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LiveLikeInc

Hosted by Adam Conner.

The Future of Fandom is powered by Authentic Avenue.

Today on The Future of Fandom, we protect you, starting with your stuff. On this episode, we explore how Extend is building and borrowing fandoms in the name of protecting product, with their founder and CEO, Woody Levin.

On the show, Woody refers to Extend as the AppleCare for everything, and our conversation drifts into what a best-in-class e-commerce purchasing experience might look like in the future. He's betting that it will include warranties on what you love written in plain English, and that consumers will grow to demand that just as they do for protection for their iPhones.

Woody also talks about how you can't create external fans without internal ones, which we haven't touched on too much on this show, but it carries extra weight when talking about an industry not known, at least not yet, for having fans. I'm not sure how many extended warranty brands have that right now, but they might down the road.

So let's get some coverage on this topic and predict the future with Extend and Woody Levin.

Check out The Future of Fandom, a podcast by LiveLike, wherever you get your podcasts. We hope that you become a fan!

Join the podcast! https://livelike.com/podcast/

Learn more about LiveLike: https://livelike.com/

Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/livelike/

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LiveLikeInc

Hosted by Adam Conner.

The Future of Fandom is powered by Authentic Avenue.

Today on the Future of Fandom, we explore an explosion of entrepreneurialism. On this episode, we chat with Fundbox about how to build and retain communities of small businesses and its similarities with consumer efforts via their Head of Brand and Content Marketing, Cameron Maxwell.

Think about it for a moment. How many people that you know, have started up a side hustle over the last few years? The truth is, small business is on the rise, and Cameron has a front seat as to how those businesses are being built and supported. We also talk about how to market when small businesses and consumers become indistinguishable. After all, on the small side of small business, we're essentially just talking about people. Thus, a fandom can be achieved even in a B2B context, and Cameron explains how. So let's all put on an entrepreneurial hat and predict the future with Fundbox and Cameron Maxwell.

Check out The Future of Fandom, a podcast by LiveLike, wherever you get your podcasts. We hope that you become a fan!

Join the podcast! https://livelike.com/podcast/

Learn more about LiveLike: https://livelike.com/

Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/livelike/

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LiveLikeInc

Hosted by Adam Conner.

The Future of Fandom is powered by Authentic Avenue.

Today on The Future of Fandom, we teach you a lesson. On this episode, we learn about the consumerization of education and its future at the primary level with Age of Learning and their Chief Innovation Officer, and Head of Mastery and Adaptive Product, Sunil Gunderia.

It's no secret that one of the most disrupted arenas over the last few years has been the classroom. Alongside that, tech has evolved from forced Zoom rooms to increasingly individualized programs, giving children a new lease on their learning life.

Sunil has seen that firsthand and believes this proliferation of disparate educational content will only continue and broaden for our youngest students going forward. Of course, that individualized, disaggregated approach brings up questions of retaining educational communities and the comradery that results from early schooling. And we get some insight there as well. We also think about fandom in this way, not in the typical consumer lens we've been used to so far on this show. Open your books and your ears and let's predict the future with Age of Learning and Sunil Gunderia.

Check out The Future of Fandom, a podcast by LiveLike, wherever you get your podcasts. We hope that you become a fan!

Join the podcast! https://livelike.com/podcast/

Learn more about LiveLike: https://livelike.com/

Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/livelike/

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LiveLikeInc

Hosted by Adam Conner.

The Future of Fandom is powered by Authentic Avenue.

Today on The Future of Fandom, we bank for humans. You're a human, right? Well, then you're going to love this. On this episode, we explore how Dave is creating an ecosystem for, and inspired by, those facing economic hardship, through the lens of their CMO, Michael Goodbody.

Ever notice how most fintechs or financial apps you see gain popularity, target investing and other actions frequented by high earners or high net worth individuals. Well, guess what? Most people aren't in that position and the team at Dave noticed. It inspired Michael to join and build a community to serve a different set of needs.

It also brings up interesting brand questions like, how do you create an enthusiastic community around financial topics, which people don't love to talk about? How, even if you empower them to better their finances, do you retain that base?

Michael's got great insight here and I think it deserves more attention. So let's be humans together and predict the future with Dave and Michael Goodbody.

Check out The Future of Fandom, a podcast by LiveLike, wherever you get your podcasts. We hope that you become a fan!

Join the podcast! https://livelike.com/podcast/

Learn more about LiveLike: https://livelike.com/

Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/livelike/

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LiveLikeInc

Hosted by Adam Conner.

The Future of Fandom is powered by Authentic Avenue.

Today on The Future of Fandom, get a life, or at least some insurance for it. On this episode we learn about some terms of digital engagement as a startup with Ladder and their VP of marketing, Olivia Borsje.

Ladder lets you get a life insurance policy in as little as five minutes, which is obviously a great pull, but it got me thinking. If you can get your customer to make a lifelong decision in such little time, how do you build community from minute six onwards?

Olivia does a great job explaining that, as well as, how to set yourself apart as a startup via a little shock value, and all together, what a best in class digital insurance experience of the future looks like. So let's stake a claim of our own and predict the future with Ladder and Olivia Borsje.

Check out The Future of Fandom, a podcast by LiveLike, wherever you get your podcasts. We hope that you become a fan!

Join the podcast! https://livelike.com/podcast/

Learn more about LiveLike: https://livelike.com/

Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/livelike/

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LiveLikeInc

Hosted by Adam Conner.

The Future of Fandom is powered by Authentic Avenue.

Today on The Future of Fandom, we craft brand love, find a common enemy and talk a little bit about SpongeBob. Together we'll explore how Betterment is setting up the next generation with a long-term investing focus, and building a fandom regardless, with our guest, their Chief Marketing Officer, Kim Rosenblum.

Most folks in their 20s and 30s will deeply appreciate Kim's contributions as a leader at Viacom where she led creative for properties like Nickelodeon. That's what makes her journey into FinTech all the more fascinating. The perspective of a media style approach to building a community of investors is one not often seen, but I think you'll agree that many of its principles work incredibly well when it comes to influencing your financial choices.

As someone who's had the pulse of the next generation since the '90s, Kim is in incredibly well-positioned to peer into the crystal ball and chat about what the leaders of this industry will need to do to stick. So let's do that now as we predict the future with Betterment and Kim Rosenblum.

Check out The Future of Fandom, a podcast by LiveLike, wherever you get your podcasts. We hope that you become a fan!

Join the podcast! https://livelike.com/podcast/

Learn more about LiveLike: https://livelike.com/

Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/livelike/

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LiveLikeInc

Hosted by Adam Conner.

The Future of Fandom is powered by Authentic Avenue.

Today on The Future of Fandom, we quit chasing memes and level up our understanding of the market. On this episode, we get a look at how Public.com is differentiating within one of the most commoditized financial services out there, stock trading, via their GM of IR innovation, Katie Perry.

App-based stock trading has gone from virtually non-existent to everywhere within the last seven to eight years, and so has the community surrounding it. The forums of yesteryear have become the full content studios of today, giving new meaning to what investor relations really is and the power it wields. Katie has invested in this world early and makes a few calls as to what's to come. So let's make a few asks of our own and predict the future with Public.com and Katie Perry.

Check out The Future of Fandom, a podcast by LiveLike, wherever you get your podcasts. We hope that you become a fan!

Join the podcast! https://livelike.com/podcast/

Learn more about LiveLike: https://livelike.com/

Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/livelike/

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LiveLikeInc

Hosted by Adam Conner.

The Future of Fandom is powered by Authentic Avenue.