Three things to expect from the business of sport in 2021 December 30, 2020 What does next year hold for sport in a commercial sense? Here, Neil Hopkins, global head of strategy at M&C Saatchi Sport and Entertainment, gazes into his crystal ball. Grounds for optimism Fans are back. Not many of them, but they are back. With vaccination under way, at some point in 2021 the tentative trickle of [...]
Sportspeople have never had so much power. In 2021 they will continue to change the way they are defined December 29, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic has been the dominant theme of 2020 for the entire global population and its impact on the world of sport – its events, competitions, clubs and athletes – has been equally transformative. But, as Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote states, out of adversity comes opportunity. And as we look ahead to the sporting [...]
Why women’s sport will hit £1bn and the tech tools trusted by pros will go overground in 2021 December 28, 2020 Paul Lee, global head of technology, media and telecommunications research at Deloitte, forecasts two major growth areas for sport in 2021. Women’s sports Deloitte predicts that revenue from women’s elite sports will be almost £1bn in 2021. The start of the 2021-22 season will kick off a record period for women’s sport attendance, TV audiences [...]
Major League Cricket: Silicon Valley and Bollywood’s grand plan to make America fall in love with T20 December 23, 2020 People don’t tend to associate the game of cricket with the United States. The world’s second most popular sport has an estimated global following of 2.5bn, yet has struggled to attract an audience in the US, where American football, baseball, and basketball dominate the live sport broadcasting schedule. But a group of investors that includes [...]
The Big Sport Quiz of 2020: How well were you following the action this year? December 22, 2020 Roll up, roll up: it’s City A.M.’s Big Sport Quiz of 2020! Yes, a lot of it was severely disrupted and most of it happened without fans present, but there was still plenty of vintage sport and some intriguing storylines to follow. So test your knowledge on our selection of questions covering all major sports [...]
Triller: Mike Tyson, Snoop Dogg and the TikTok rivalling video app’s big plans to shake up sports broadcasting December 18, 2020 Three weeks ago in Los Angeles, a 54-year-old Mike Tyson fought a 51-year-old Roy Jones Jr in a boxing match that was unusual not only for the age of its participants. Former undisputed world heavyweight champion Tyson showed glimpses of his old power and speed as the judges surprisingly scored the eight-round contest as a [...]
EFL clubs urged to sue government after being cut out of £300m bailout December 17, 2020 English Football League (EFL) clubs should unite and sue the government for excluding them from its sport bailout, says one owner. The Sports Winter Survival Package last month issued £300m of emergency funding to offset the financial impact of Covid-19. Rugby union received £135m and horse racing £40m, but the only funding for football was [...]
The Week in Sportbiz: Premier League toasts beIN deal; banker set to buy Lille; breakaways boosted; Australian Open delay; and Griezmann bins Huawei December 17, 2020 Christmas cheer has arrived early at the Premier League after it agreed a new $500m deal with beIN Sports. The contract, which gives beIN exclusive broadcast rights in 24 countries across the Middle East and North Africa, is effectively a three-year extension to their deal for 2019-22. It comes as a boost to the Premier [...]
Rangers, Hummel and JD Sports probed by competition watchdog over replica kit pricing December 16, 2020 Scottish football club Rangers are being probed by the UK competition watchdog over the pricing of their replica kits. The Competition and Markets Authority is also investigating Rangers’ former kit maker Hummel and retailers JD Sports and Greaves Sports. The CMA said it’s probe centred on “suspected anti-competitive behaviour in relation to the price at [...]
What the tech happened to sport in 2020? December 16, 2020 Comparing the lack of sport with the other crises witnessed this year would be disingenuous. Still, an awful lot of people had large holes in their lives when live sport went off air in 2020. Some entities filled the gap fast, most notably motorsport, in no small part thanks to its embracing of esports. For [...]