Sports business in 2019: Industry insiders pick the trends that defined the year December 15, 2019 Izzy Wray, consultant in Deloitte’s Sport Business Group Women’s football The growing popularity of women’s football has been one of the defining sports trends of 2019. The Women’s World Cup smashed TV audience records, with a reported 1bn people watching it worldwide and over 28m people tuning in to the tournament on the BBC. Numerous [...]
SailGP is aiming to make a splash in its second year after the arrival of Sir Ben Ainslie December 10, 2019 If the first season of SailGP was about making a splash and proving that there is an audience for the sport, then the second is about expansion. The worldwide sailing series, the brainchild of American software billionaire Larry Ellison and former world champion yachtsman Sir Russell Coutts, enjoyed a successful first season this year. Teams [...]
Amazon steps into Premier League broadcasting for the first time with big ambitions December 2, 2019 December is an important month for the future of the Premier League. On the pitch, the focus will be on whether Liverpool can sustain their charge at the top of the table, if Jose Mourinho can turn around Tottenham’s fortunes in the long term and which sides are sliding towards relegation. But off it eyes [...]
European football chiefs quick to co-opt ‘the dream’ in fight for future of Champions League October 8, 2019 They may be on opposite sides of a bitter dispute over the future of European football but they both came to defend “the dream”, that somewhat nebulous but impossible-to-oppose tenet of sporting competition. Andrea Agnelli, the latest figurehead of a dynasty that has owned Juventus for nearly a century and the chairman of the European [...]
NFL London Games: UK director Alistair Kirkwood on cross-Atlantic growth, the Tottenham Stadium and a future franchise October 2, 2019 When it was announced that the NFL would host a game in London for the first time, the decision was met with intrigue and scepticism. Was the risk worth the potential rewards? Were the English public really interested enough in American football? Would jet-lagged players struggle to perform at Wembley? Twelve years on from that [...]
Crystal Palace hawked for sale in £210m deal October 1, 2019 Crystal Palace are being hawked to prospective buyers in a deal which would value the Premier League football club at £210m. A document circulating among bankers and seen by City A.M. offers to facilitate the purchase of at least 75 per cent and up to 90 per cent for either a single buyer or a [...]
Ben Stokes and Steve Smith’s redemption stories offer sponsors an alternative to virtue signalling September 23, 2019 The dust may have settled on an exhilarating Ashes series that saw Australia retain the urn, but for the sponsors of each team’s star player it is just the beginning of what will likely become an increasingly lucrative relationship. Steve Smith was almost single-handedly responsible for preventing England from reclaiming the urn, while Ben Stokes [...]
Raheem Sterling hits new heights and shows why sponsors are in hot pursuit September 11, 2019 Last month it emerged that Raheem Sterling was being courted by Air Jordan, the Nike sub-brand reported to be considering making him the face of a new range of football boots in a £100m deal. If anyone was in any doubt why Sterling is in line for one of the sport’s most lucrative ever boot [...]
The great Premier League giveaway: Why Sky Sports are handing over free highlights on YouTube September 4, 2019 Premier League football is an expensive commodity and to extract every ounce of its value broadcasters need to innovate. In February last year Sky Sports pledged £3.6bn to buy 128 live matches per season in the 2019-22 rights cycle. That might have worked out as a reduction from its previous deal – £4.2bn for 126 [...]
Summer transfer window: Premier League narrowly misses out on all-time record as £1.41bn is splashed August 8, 2019 When Premier League clubs voted to shut the transfer window before the season started the reasoning was clear: get business done earlier to avoid disruption on the pitch. The change, which began last year and had its second outing with deadline day, was not unanimously agreed upon, with five clubs voting against and one abstaining, [...]