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Boardroom is a sports, media and entertainment brand co-founded by Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman and focused on the intersection of sports and entertainment. Boardroom’s flagship media arm features premium video/audio, editorial, daily and weekly newsletters, showcasing how athletes, executives, musicians and creators are moving the business world forward. Boardroom’s ecosystem encompasses B2B events and experiences (such as its renowned NBA and WNBA All-Star events) as well as ticketed conferences such as Game Plan in partnership with CNBC. Our advisory arm serves to consult and connect athletes, brands and executives with our broader network and initiatives.

Recent film and TV projects also under the Boardroom umbrella include the Academy Award-winning Two Distant Strangers (Netflix), the critically acclaimed scripted series SWAGGER (Apple TV+) and Emmy-nominated documentary NYC Point Gods (Showtime).

Boardroom’s sister company, Boardroom Sports Holdings, features investments in emerging sports teams and leagues, including the Major League Pickleball team, the Brooklyn Aces, NWSL champions Gotham FC, and MLS’ Philadelphia Union.

All Rights Reserved. 2022.
By Michelai Graham
Boardroom's Tech Reporter
January 26, 2025
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Laura Mueller made history this week as the first-ever woman race engineer in Formula 1 after being promoted to the top role by Haas to work closely with Esteban Ocon, a new driver for the team. Mueller takes on the senior trackside role as Haas goes through a broader restructuring ahead of the next F1 season.

Let’s get into this week’s news.

A peek into today’s edition:

  • The state of the creator economy
  • Tech Byte: JACQUEMUS x Apple
  • Manchester City‘s third kit designed by AI

The content creator economy is currently projected to be worth $250 billion, a value that is expected to more than double by 2030.

This meteoric rise reflects the increasing reliance on creators to drive consumer engagement, shape trends, and generate revenue across platforms, most notably Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and X. Creators have become the backbone of social media ecosystems, attracting billions of users and sparking lucrative advertising opportunities. Their ability to foster niche communities and deliver highly personalized content has transformed entertainment, reshaped industries and brands, and fundamentally altered how society interacts online. Despite their influence, creators face significant challenges, from platform policies to external regulations, which can threaten their ability to sustain and grow their digital presence.

The recent TikTok fallout and ongoing regulatory scrutiny have underscored these vulnerabilities. Creators are rethinking strategies, diversifying their platforms of activity, and grappling with the reality of limited ownership over their channels and content when publishing on platforms that ultimately hold the reins. Social media platforms need creators to thrive, yet they maintain control over access, censorship, engagement, reach, monetization, and algorithmic growth—factors that directly impact creators’ livelihoods.

Personally, I will always believe that the success of social media brands is inextricably linked to the creators they empower. It’s one thing to be online consuming content and another to create content. Both are necessary, but one is working harder than the other. But if all these social media platforms went offline tomorrow, how would creators survive? Where would their work live?

Toni Cowan-Brown, a Formula 1, internet culture, and political commentator, recently spoke to Boardroom about the current shift across the content creator economy, what it means to own your content, and what this next wave of online communities could look like.

Toni Cowan-Brown

Owning Your Digital Footprint

In the wake of Tiktok going offline and swiftly snatching access to its platform from more than 170 million American users, Cowan-Brown decided to revive her Substack newsletter. She originally launched it in 2020 during the pandemic because, like many people, she needed an outlet. Her newsletter started as a beginner’s guide to Formula 1 and eventually evolved into an official guide to Formula 1. In its latest era, Idée Fixe has become a weekly dive into tech, culture, and other related insights.

“As a young professional, LinkedIn was my go-to for connections and updates,” Cowan Brown told Boardroom. “Then, as a content creator during the pandemic, I saw the power of TikTok. Social media was thrilling—meeting new people, growing follower counts, and having your content seen instantly is addictive.”

But newsletters are slower to grow, she said. People are more protective of their inboxes than their social media feeds, though that’s changing. Cowan-Brown realized she’d been investing too much time and effort in platforms she didn’t own.

“These platforms are like rented land—you don’t invest heavily in a place you don’t own,” she said. “Social media platforms are not our homes; we’re paying for access with our time, data, and content. That realization hit me hard. I’m not saying abandon social media, but we need to invest in spaces we own, like newsletters or personal websites.”

Cowan-Brown discussed two main things content creators need to understand about internet culture right now. First, there are social media platforms for visibility, sharing, and engaging with audiences. Then, there are ownership tools, which include websites, newsletters, donation pages, and platforms like Substack, Beehiiv, and Patreon. Cowan-Brown said she’s excited by how these tools have lowered the barrier to entry into the digital content industry.

“More voices, diversity, and representation are coming through because the middleman is gone. If you want to launch a podcast or newsletter, you can just do it,” she said. “However, access isn’t universal—some people still lack internet access or resources. But compared to 15–20 years ago, the barriers are much lower.”

But, as access evolves, so do the platforms. This past week, top tech CEOs — including Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, TikTok’s Shou Zi Chew, and X’s Elon Musk — sat alongside President Donald Trump at his inauguration. While Big Tech’s presence at such events is nothing new, and their substantial donations to incoming administrations are standard practice, what stood out this time was the unprecedented level of camaraderie. These CEOs shared front-row seats at one of America’s biggest political events, underscoring just how closely tech and politics are intertwined.

Zuckerberg, Pichai, and Musk are joined by Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos at the Presidential Inauguration last week. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson / Pool / Getty Images)

This growing visibility has placed content creators in an increasingly uncomfortable yet necessary position, especially as issues like censorship and platform bias take center stage. The once-neutral facades of social media platforms are shifting as their leaders become more vocal about their political stances—an approach that hasn’t always been the norm. For creators who rely on these platforms, the lines between business, politics, and free expression are becoming harder to navigate, forcing them to rethink how they engage with audiences in this politically charged landscape.

“Platforms like Instagram and Facebook are showing their true colors, censoring content left and right. It’s no longer neutral,” Cowan-Brown said.

TikTok’s Ripple Effect

Last week, I shared as much as possible about TikTok’s fate in the US and how the platform reached this point. One thing that’s been on my mind since last weekend is that there’s no going back. Millions of people on TikTok received various alerts signaling the platform’s return, and it felt more like political messaging than a simple app update. These notifications — reaching over 170 million phones —were a stark reminder of how deeply integrated TikTok has become in our lives and how easily it can be manipulated to serve a larger agenda. This unsettling shift highlights the thin line between personal data and political influence in the digital age.

“I think it’s full of firsts, which is interesting, and we’ve got to get used to a lot of firsts,” Cowan-Brown said about how TikTok’s initial ban unfolded. “TikTok brought a sense of joy and community, but now that feels lost. Politics and platforms go hand in hand. Everything is interconnected, and it’s naïve to think otherwise.”

Cowan-Brown described how easy, quick, and scary it was to watch TikTok push out those short but impactful messages to its users. She said her whole thought process about TikTok changed at that moment, and while the app hasn’t been perfect in the last five years, she at least felt like she had more ownership over her experience. That’s not the case anymore, which is the same sentiment many creators feel as they flock to other platforms.

In response to TikTok’s recent challenges, social media platforms like Meta’s family of apps are offering increased incentives to creators who post exclusively on their platforms. Meta has introduced the Breakthrough Bonus program, which provides new creators up to $5,000 in bonuses during their first 90 days for posting original content on Facebook and Instagram. Additionally, Instagram is offering substantial cash bonuses ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 per month to attract TikTok influences.

Talk about capitalizing on the moment. The recent uncertainty surrounding TikTok’s status has underscored the precarious nature of the creator economy, leaving many to question: Can creators truly rely on any platform for long-term stability?

I hope I can answer that question one day.

Tech Byte

Today, Simon Porte Jacquemus returned to Paris for the Spring 2025 JACQUEMUS fashion show, but this time, he teamed up with Apple to capture the iconic presentation using the iPhone 16 Pro Max camera system. JACQUEMUS teased the new partnership on social media by showcasing a robotic arm with an iPhone capturing a dress, stating iPhones would be clocked in for the entire show.

This Week in Tech

  • Puma and Manchester City have launched a global fan vote to select the club’s 2026/27 Third Kit, following the success of the Puma AI Creator kit competition that saw over 180,000 fan-designed kits. Fans can vote on ten shortlisted designs until Jan. 29, with the winning kit set to make history on-pitch.
  • Tubi and iHeartMedia have partnered to bring The Breakfast Club, a nationally syndicated radio show and podcast, to streaming for the first time. Fans can access the show’s “best of” moments, curated clips, highlights, and other original content for free.
  • The administration announced a new AI infrastructure initiative, The Stargate Project, and committed to investing $500 billion over the next four years with initial equity partners, including SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX. SoftBank will take on financial responsibility for the new company while OpenAI will run operations. The initial technology partners are Arm, Microsoft, Nvidia, Oracle, and OpenAI. X chief Elon Musk, the co-lead of the new Department of Government Efficiency, criticized the new venture and said it doesn’t have the financial backing promised.
  • Autograph, the NFT platform turned fan loyalty program founded by Tom Brady, has merged with digital fitness platform Future. The partnership aims to make fitness training more accessible through Future’s digital platform and Autograph’s work in fan engagement and partnerships.
  • Streaming viewership reached new heights over the 2024 holiday season, with platforms accounting for 43.3% of total TV watch time, up from 35.9% the previous year, according to Nielsen. YouTube and Prime Video hit record shares, while Netflix saw a 14% monthly increase, driven by holiday NFL games, Squid Game Season 2, and Carry-On. Max led monthly growth with an 18% surge.
  • X Games 2025 debuted an experimental AI judge during the snowboarding competitions in Aspen this week. The Google Cloud-based AI product analyzed and scored snowboarding events, though it didn’t impact the outcome at this time. The tech is being evaluated for use in the future.
  • Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pratt will star in Meta‘s new Ray-Ban Meta glasses ad campaign during Super Bowl LIX. The Big Tech giant will promote its smart glasses in two ad spots during the big game.

Michelai’s Bet of the Week

On its latest earnings call, Netflix revealed price hikes, raising its ad-supported tier to $7.99 and the standard plan to $17.99. I’m going to bet that the ad tier’s growth will outpace the standard plan this quarter as more people opt for lower-cost streaming.

More Tech Talk:

Michelai Graham

Michelai Graham is Boardroom's resident tech and crypto reporter. Before joining 35V, she was a freelance reporter with bylines in AfroTech, HubSpot, The Plug, and Lifewire, to name a few. At Boardroom, Michelai covers Web3, NFTs, crypto, tech, and gaming. Off the clock, you can find her producing her crime podcast, The Point of No Return.

About The Author
Michelai Graham
Michelai Graham
Michelai Graham is Boardroom's resident tech and crypto reporter. Before joining 35V, she was a freelance reporter with bylines in AfroTech, HubSpot, The Plug, and Lifewire, to name a few. At Boardroom, Michelai covers Web3, NFTs, crypto, tech, and gaming. Off the clock, you can find her producing her crime podcast, The Point of No Return.