Olivia Dean attends the 68th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
"If I was West Ham, I'd be hammering down the door of Olivia Dean's management and asking her how she wants to get involved in the club," says Al Greenwood, drummer for the British band Sports Team.
On Sunday, Dean, the singer-songwriter of global chart-topping hits like Man I Need and So Easy (To Fall In Love), won the Grammy for best new artist. "I'm up here as a granddaughter of an immigrant. I'm a product of bravery, and I think those people deserve to be celebrated," she powerfully said during her winning speech.
The 26-year-old has been releasing music since 2019 but her soulful, pop-sounding second album, The Art of Loving, has cemented her status as one of the most exciting artists of her generation.
The weekend before performing and winning at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles for the music industry's most glitzy event, she was at the London Stadium cheering her beloved West Ham United during their 3-1 Premier League win over Sunderland.
Given Dean is one of the most famous artists in the world -- she has joined names such as Amy Winehouse and Adele as winners of the breakthrough award -- the question is: how can West Ham tap into Dean's global appeal and will they try to?
Dean has been a lifelong fan and has mentioned them -- and sometimes shouted the word "IRONS!" -- in multiple interviews.
Growing up in Highams Park in north east London, Dean regularly attended West Ham matches at the team's former stadium, Upton Park, with her father and brother. In previous interviews, Dean, who was a student at the renowned Brit School of Performing Arts, has spoken of going to the Black Lion pub before every match, of how their seats were near to the corner flag and recalled standing up for an entire game to cheer on her team.
During an interview on Apple Music 1, Dean excitedly received messages from men's team captain Jarrod Bowen congratulating her on her new album and was invited to Chadwell Heath training ground by women's team players, Ffion Morgan and Shelina Zadorsky. But other than the personalised messages and passionate mentions, Dean is yet to collaborate with her team.
Manchester United fan Greenwood, who has been photographed for her team's kit launches in the past, is not alone in hoping Dean will be at a home West Ham game soon to show off her Grammy. The Athletic asked West Ham whether they were planning to invite Dean but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
Greenwood is also one of the founders of Inmotion Collective, the creative group behind the Lionesses' squad announcement video for the 2022 European Championship, featuring cameos from singer Joy Crookes, presenter Amelia Dimoldenberg and former England players such as Alex Scott, Ian Wright and David Beckham.
The drummer, who interviewed Dean in 2022 for Glorious Sport, a digital media brand centred on women's sports, tells The Athletic: "I wrote that piece (for Glorious) four years ago and, at the time, I was like, West Ham need to jump all over this because she speaks so eloquently and has such an authentic connection to the club.
"Obviously, she just picked up a Grammy, her rise to stardom has been stratospheric and she's such a great overall representative for the women's game beyond just being an incredible artist. The way she speaks, the amount of brands she's involved in. She is just such an impressive individual.
"But it's not about saying: 'Oh, do you want to be in the kit launch?' That's also brilliant, but you need to find ways to really engage with artists in ways that are meaningful to them."
Last year, Dean performed alongside Newcastle United fan Sam Fender, with whom she collaborated on the song, Rein Me In, during his sold-out headline show at the London Stadium. At that show, Dean told the crowd it was nice to be performing at her "home ground" and the Newcastle-strong contingent booed. It wasn't quite the homecoming she had planned, but she took it in good jest.
Fender has linked up with Newcastle in several creative ways. To promote his Mercury Prize-winning third album People Watching, the singer sponsored the back of the team's shirts for their Carabao Cup quarter-final against Brentford during the 2024-25 season. The shirt was then released as a limited edition by Adidas, with the match-worn shirts auctioned for charity. Fender has also performed multiple sold-out shows at St James' Park, the home of Newcastle, and continues to authentically lead the way when it comes to the famous fan collaboration.
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) represent Dean. As senior creator marketing director for brand consulting, Ellen Topley works on the sporting side of the business. She has no crossover with Dean or her team, and a collaboration "really depends what the individual themselves is looking to get out of it".
"It can be such a smart partnership (sports teams and artists) to win over new fans, bring in new revenue and new relevance for the club when it comes to culture," Topley says.
"A lot of them probably don't want to be doing a big kit launch with the club, right? They just want to go and enjoy their club and have a nice time with their friends and family. But I think that's just where those relationships and conversations start. It is about understanding is there an opportunity to do more?"
Take a look at the Hollywood effect at Wrexham. When actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds bought the Welsh club in 2021, they used not just their fortunes but their fame to transform a then non-League side battling it out in the fifth tier of the English pyramid to a team currently knocking on the door of the Premier League. One more promotion and they'll be competing in the world's wealthiest football league.
Eva Longoria, Will Ferrell, Hugh Jackman and Channing Tatum are just some of the celebrities who have turned up to watch Wrexham play, bringing with them the extra social media likes and headlines that celebrities tend to garner. A fifth season of Welcome to Wrexham is currently being filmed, a documentary which has, over the past five years,captivated a global audience. On the pitch Wrexham are succeeding but off it too, thanks to some major brand deals,revenue has hit another stratosphere.
Other teams, like Birmingham City, who count NFL great Tom Brady as one of their minority stakeholders, have taken notes from the Wrexham playbook by using star power as a foundation for success both on and off the field.
No one is suggesting Dean should become an investor. But for Greenwood, who has experience of directing shoots and being in them,partnerships between artists and sports teams are important for many reasons. She can't quantify whether her work with Manchester United or the Lionesses has brought her Mercury Prize-nominated band even more listeners,but it would be a surprise if those collaborations at least hadn't boosted name recognition.
"What we always talk about as a band is the fact that there's six of us who are all different individuals. And I think the more that you can do to express yourself as an individual,the more there is for a fan to get behind," says Greenwood,the only female in the group.
"It's always been key to how I see the sport expanding and more women getting involved,more people accessing and enjoying women's sport.
"Culture is going to be key to unlocking that. Through my career as a drummer,and through the work we've done as a creative collective,we've tried to always blur that increasingly permeable wall between culture,music,art and sport."
Ahead of the women's World Cup in 2023, Dean wrote the song Call Me A Lioness and sang on the track alongside a talented collection of artists, who called themselves Hope FC, including Self Esteem and Melanie C, the former Spice Girl. "It feels like she's got her own sort of creative pursuits and endeavours," Greenwood, who drummed on the song, says. "And if I was working with her, I'd be trying to open doors to enable her to express herself in a way that feels good and meaningful to her."
The photograph of Dean applauding at the London Stadium, with a claret and blue scarf draped over her shoulder, was shared on X by West Ham, getting 1.5 million views and over 10,000 likes. There was also a collaboration post on Instagram between the club and the Premier League using the same image which had over 59,000 likes. By contrast, West Ham's post at full-time for the 3-1 win against Sunderland had nearly 40,000 likes on Instagram.
Topley adds: "Across any kind of brand partnership, if someone is excited about the brand or the team it’s so much easier to get something over the line. If you’re having to force something from the beginning, it just makes it hard."
"If you can tap into talents' passions,whether that is the way that you bring the partnership to life or whether it is the actual partnership itself,it’s just so much easier for negotiations and even getting that initial conversation started."
Might we even see Dean and Lionesses captain and Arsenal defender Leah Williamson creatively linking up on a future project? The two-time European Championship winner is now represented by fivethree,a agency co-founded by Emily Braham,dean’s manager of 10 years—a person whom she thanked on stage last Sunday.Williamson joining forces with fivethree is just another example of how football,music,fashion,art and film are already deeply intertwined.
And there is clearly an opportunity for West Ham and Dean should they wish to collaborate. But,for now,it seems both are content with being nice to each other,to half borrow a line from Dean’s most viral track.