This week’s sports industry reading list

Posted on by David Cushnan

Time for another sports industry reading list, my selection of the week’s most interesting, relevant and – whisper it – perhaps even useful pieces about the global business of sport. As per, below you’ll find the usual mix of interviews, profiles, long-form features, punchy analysis and opinion. What you won’t find this week is anything on the biggest sports money story of the week, Neymar’s record-shattering transfer from Barcelona to Paris (Qatari branch). Like you, I’ve read all sorts of ‘hot takes’ on what it all might mean for Barca, PSG, football in general and global geo-politics. And, if I’m honest, I’m a bit bored of it, so for this week at least this list is a Neymar-free zone. Don’t fret, though – there’s still plenty of fascinating subjects and pieces to get your teeth into. So let’s get to it. To business:

This week’s sports industry must-reads

•  Los Angeles announced its candidacy for the 2028 summer Olympic Games last week, the next step in the somewhat tortuous procedure that will ultimately see the 2024 and 2028 Games hosts officially confirmed in September. But to all intents and purposes it’s done, and in a big week for the Olympics – and in the odd circumstances of being at the start of an 11 year countdown – here’s a view from LA, by the Los Angeles Times’ Bill Plaschke.

•  The Championship – for the uninitiated, that’s English football’s second tier – began on Friday and I’ve developed a small theory that, at least on the business side of things, it’s a far more interesting place than the Premier League this season. There’s big clubs, new and interesting owners, plenty of peril and lots and lots of ambition. In an attempt to convince you, here are three eve-of-season pieces well worth your time: The Telegraph’s Sam Wallace sat down with Leeds United’s new owner, Andrea Radrizzani to hear his plans to rebuild the club; Rory Smith’s latest missive for the New York Times saw him examine the curious new ownership of Wolverhampton Wanderers and the links to so-called super agent Jorge Mendes; and Dan McLaren’s latest Digital Sport Insider Podcast episode was a fascinating conversation with Middlesbrough’s Head of Digital and Marketing Development, Bob Tait.

•  A column well worth reading here by the Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg on his experience at last week’s Citi Open ATP World Tour event in the city – I think it’s a comment on what seems to be some odd scheduling (and the weather), but you’re probably best served by reading it and draw your own conclusions.

•  This is a very good piece, by Adam Elder and published by the Guardian, on the motivations behind the recent spate of footballer investments in American soccer clubs – and why entering at Major League Soccer level isn’t necessarily the be-all and end-all.

•  In the week when it dipped another of its seemingly infinite number of toes into the world of sports rights, acquiring the ATP World Tour rights for its Prime service, this is a must-read piece by Wired’s Liat Clark outlining how Amazon intends to basically take over the world.

•  Last week this reading list recommended a piece on the downturn of LeEco’s fortunes. This week, it’s the turn of another big Chinese investor in sport, as the New York Times’ Keith Bradsher chronicles the problems facing Wanda.

•  Slightly late to this but, with the World Athletics Championships well underway, it’s still very relevant: Inside the Games’ Duncan Mackay expertly tells the compelling story of the long road travelled by London on the way to staging track and field’s showpiece standalone event.

•  And last but by no means least this week, Sports Business Journal executive editor Abraham D. Madkour caught up with sports business veteran Tony Ponturo, who made his name at the helm of Anheuser-Busch’s vast sports sponsorship portfolio and still has plenty of fingers in sports industry-flavoured pies.

That’s your lot for this week. As always, should you feel the need to drop me a line you can do so via email – davidcushnan@gmail.com – or on Twitter – @DavidCushnan. Until next time.

 

This week’s sports industry reading list

Posted on by David Cushnan

Hello there, sports business operatives/middle managers/executives/interested observers, and the warmest of welcomes to the latest sports industry reading list. This is my selection of the most interesting, relevant and perhaps even useful pieces on the global business of sport from the past week or so – an eclectic mix, as you’ll discover, of profiles, interviews, long-form features, opinion and analysis. Don’t forget to share the word about this list with industry friends, colleagues and the rest of your ‘network’, if you like what you see below. Right, let’s get this underway. To business:

This week’s sports industry must-reads

•  Every once in a while a piece like this pops up, which takes a country, in this case South Korea, and a sport you wouldn’t particularly associate with it, in this case horse racing. This, by Henry Young and Aly Vance for CNN, on a burgeoning racing industry is fascinating.

•  The World Athletics Championships begin in London this coming Friday and the Guardian’s Martha Kelner sat down with Niels de Vos, chief executive of both UK Athletics and London 2017, for a status report as the final preparations happen.

•  MP & Silva’s enormous bid for Major League Soccer’s global media rights came to light last week. Deadspin’s Billy Haisley expertly broke down what we know and what it might mean.

•  This is a superb piece by Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo, telling the story of the NBA’s first excursion to Russia back in 1988 when the Atlanta Hawks played three exhibition games in the USSR.

•  A piece here, by Engadget’s Cherlynn Low, that touches only briefly on sport but provides some important detail on the difficulties facing LeEco, one of the big spenders on sports rights in China over the past few years.

•  I listened to a very good podcast last week, which featured The Ringer’s Bill Simmons interviewing former Ticketmaster chief executive Nathan Hubbard. Turns out so did Michael Broughton, who followed up with this fascinating piece musing on the threat the ‘sharing economy’ might pose to the sports business.

•  It was five years last week since that fabulous evening in the Olympic Stadium when London 2012 began. Unsurprisingly there were a glut of pieces this week reflecting on the Games and its legacy, but two stuck out to me. The first is this terrific Guardian Cities piece, by Tim Burrows, on the physical and social legacies of the Olympic Park in east London. The second, by Synergy’s Tim Crow writing for Campaign Magazine, examines the post-Olympic UK sports sponsorship landscape.

•  An authoritative and illuminating New York Times profile, here, of Charlie Stillitano, the man behind many of the mega-friendlies we’re currently enjoying (or, if you prefer enduring) before the European season gets underway in a few weeks. It’s written by Kevin Draper.

•  And finally, I’ve very much enjoyed Alan Abrahamson’s dispatches from the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest on his 3 Wire Sports site this past week. In particular, this piece, discussing the relevance of Olympic sports like swimming in an era of sports-entertainment mash-ups such as Michael Phelps racing a shark, provides plenty of food for thought.

Those, then, are my sports industry must-reads for this week. Hopefully you’ll find something interesting, useful or just a bit thought provoking among them. As always, all feedback is welcome – you can reach me at davidcushnan@gmail.com, or on Twitter – @DavidCushnan. Until next time.

This week’s sports industry reading list

Posted on by David Cushnan

We’re smack bang in the middle of another fabulous (northern hemisphere) summer of sport – Wimbledon’s been and gone, the magnificent Tour de France is concluding in Paris as I write, the Women’s World Cup is about to be lifted at a packed Lord’s, the best para-athletes in the world have been running, jumping and throwing in London for the last week and the Open Championship has underlined again why it’s one of my very favourite sporting events. But there’s a whole heap of business behind all that top-class sport, which is where this blog comes in: below you’ll find my selection of relevant and hopefully interesting pieces on the global sports industry – profiles, features, interviews and analysis. It’ll almost certainly make you more informed at your sports industry water cooler of choice, your next cocktail reception or riveting networking breakfast. Got the gist? Good. To business.

This week’s sports industry must-reads

•  This week in sports politics, FINA, the governing body of world aquatics, re-elected its 81-year old president Julio Maglione. But that’s really only a small sliver of the story. Alan Abrahamson was among those prowling the hotel lobby in Budapest this week, as the administrators of one of the Olympics’ most high-profile sports gathered ahead of the World Aquatics Championships, and has all the important context and analysis in this terrific piece. This, meanwhile, is a damning verdict on the sport’s governance and governors by Swim Vortex’s Craig Lord.

•  A major sports industry move last week as Sophie Goldschmidt, once of the RFU and latterly of the CSM agency, was appointed the new CEO of the World Surf League. SportsPro’s Michael Long bagged one of the first interviews with Goldschmidt following the announcement, in which she outlines her belief that surfing is poised for a significant global breakthrough.

•  Rumours abound that Porsche, fresh from yet another triumph at Le Mans, is poised to withdraw from the top category of sportscar racing, LMP1 – perhaps as soon as at the end of this season. Gary Watkins explains what’s going on – and examines the modern considerations a car manufacturer must make when deciding on its motorsport strategy – in this excellent piece of analysis for Motor Sport.

•  Sports leagues moving beyond their traditional geographical boundaries, in the quest for more money and new fans, is an ongoing industry trend. Last week came reports of one of the most unexpected expansions yet, with rugby union’s Pro 12 league – currently featuring teams from Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Italy – set to include two South African franchises from next season. The BBC’s Tom English expertly fills in the blanks in this must-read piece.

•  In a somewhat similar vein, some interesting comment here from Richard Scudamore, executive chairman of the Premier League, on the prospect of one day playing competitive games outside the UK. It’s an idea he’s floated before, of course, but he returned to the theme in conversation with a group of journalists including the South China Morning Post’s James Porteous last week in Hong Kong, where the league has been staging its pre-season Asia Trophy,

•  Here’s Sportcal’s Martin Ross with a personal view well worth reading on Uefa’s growing desire to put live Champions League games behind a paywall in its major markets.

•  A fascinating read on a slightly uncomfortable subject here by Bloomberg Businessweek’s Lauren Coleman-Lochner, and one with plenty of relevance to sport: the marketing rights of dead celebrities.

•  This is an excellent piece, by Emre Sarigul for the Guardian, on Turkish football club Besiktas’ recent progress on and off the field – and the Istanbul club’s plans to look beyond Turkish borders in the same way as other European football heavyweights.

•  In this piece, reprinted on the Sports Illustrated website this week after featuring in a recent edition of the magazine, Jacob Feldman asks what cricket and its introduction of the Twenty20 format can teach American sports currently hesitating over whether to tweak their own rules for the modern world.

•  A very good Washington Post piece here, by Tim Bontemps, on the NBA’s efforts to ‘own’ July, traditionally the slowest month for America’s major leagues. You will not be surprised, given the way everything the NBA touches appears to turn to gold, to hear that those efforts have been effective.

That’s your lot for this week – thanks, as always, for reading and don’t forget to share the existence of this blog with friends and colleagues; you know it makes sense. You can get in touch, for any reason, via email – davidcushnan@gmail.com – or on Twitter: @DavidCushnan. Until next time.

This week’s sports industry reading list

Posted on by David Cushnan

Hello, global sports industry and welcome to my sports industry reading list, a handpicked (clicked?) selection of the pieces you really ought to be reading this week if you work in sport, or simply want to know more about the business behind it. As you’ll be all too aware if you’re a regular reader, what follows below includes profiles, interviews, features, analysis and opinion from all corners of the internet – newspaper websites to specialist sports platforms, the trade media and other blogs. Those are the terms and conditions: let’s get to this week’s essential reading. To business:

This week’s sports industry must-reads

•  Few men have had as much influence over the way we watch sport on TV than David Hill. The former Fox executive offers his latest bets for the future of sports broadcasting to John Ourand in this fascinating Sports Business Journal piece.

•  In a week of some note for the Olympics (a step closer to awarding the 2024 and 2028 Games simultaneously and the launch of the Olympic Channel in the United States), Phil Hersch, on his Globetrotter blog, phoned up Peter Ueberroth, architect of the event the last time Los Angeles played host to the Games 33 years ago, and “gave him the chance to gloat”.

•  And speaking of the launch of the American version of the Olympic Channel (or to give it its full title, Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA), here’s the story of how it came to be and what it’s intended to be, explained with typical style by Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch.

•  I once interviewed Agustin Pichot and he is undoubtedly one of the most impressive athlete-turned-administrators I’ve encountered. The vice chairman of World Rugby’s thoughts on the future of his sport, as told to the Daily Telegraph’s Daniel Schofield, are well worth reading.

•  This Chuck Blazer obituary, written by the Guardian’s Michael Carlson, following the football administrator’s death last week, is a reminder of an influential and controversial life.

•  The football transfer window, as you can’t fail to have noticed (the draft is, frankly, unavoidable), wide open. I enjoyed this Independent piece, by lawyer and prominent tweeter Jake Cohen, which cuts through the flim-flam to reveal the realities of a major transfer.

• Maybe – maybe – the most interesting transfer of the summer in the Premier League is the appointment of journalist Tony Barrett as the head of club and supporter liaison. Barrett sat down with the Liverpool Echo’s Andy Kelly to explain his new role and his plans for shaping it.

•  It’s been a year since WME-IMG acquired the Ultimate Fighting Championship. ESPN’s expert-in-chief Darren Rovell has been avidly reporting and tweeting about the organisation’s highs and lows throughout that period: his first year business report card is worth your time.

•  A fascinating long-read here, pulled together expertly by Mark J. Burns for Forbes, on the rise and rise of sports/popular culture/lifestyle digital platform Barstool Sports.

•  Blink (over a 24 hour period) and you’d have missed it, but I posted my first Instagram Stories content this week. Turns out I’m not the only one, as this Digiday UK piece by Lucia Moses, reflecting the rise of Instagram and (perhaps) the decline of Snapchat, underlines.

So that’s your lot for this week, but if you think I’ve missed something or have any other feedback do let me know – either via email, davidcushnan@gmail.com, or on Twitter, where I can be found @DavidCushnan. Until next time.

 

 

 

 

This week’s sports industry reading list

Posted on by David Cushnan

This is the sports industry reading list, your relatively regular guide to what to read if sport is your business, or you’re simply keen to know more about the way global sport is financed and organised. As usual, there’s a real mix featured below: interviews, analysis, profiles, long-form pieces and five-minute reads, sourced from across the world wide web – from newspaper sites to specialist sport platforms, the industry trade media to personal blogs. With that, you’re fully up to speed so let’s get cracking with a selection of pieces from the past couple of weeks. To business:

•  To begin, a couple of pieces published immediately before the start of Wimbledon last week: Sean Ingle in the Guardian produced this superb piece on how the All England Club is moving with the times, while the Mail on Sunday’s Nick Harris told the remarkable tale of Sir David Attenborough’s pivotal role in tennis history.

•  After 37 years, multiple world titles and no little controversy, Ron Dennis has finally severed ties with McLaren – the racing team he built into a multi-faceted technology group. The BBC’s Andrew Benson put together this must-read piece on one of the most significant figures in Formula One history.

•  As if to underline the transition from old McLaren to new McLaren, here’s an interesting LinkedIn post, authored by the team’s executive director Zak Brown, outlining Formula One’s Asian opportunity.

•  Sticking with motorsport, Jeff Gluck, writing on his eponymous blog, has expertly delved into the complex world of Nascar’s merchandising operation.

•  The latest in Callum Murray’s excellent series of interviews with sports industry heavyweights sees him sit down with Michael Payne, the former International Olympic Committee marketing director-turned-adviser to various bids, federations, properties and brands.

•  The Tour de France is moving into its second week, with rights-holding broadcasters now being offered live coverage of every second of every stage. The superb Inner Ring blog examines the French TV landscape to explain why.

•  The debate over how elite sport is funded in the UK rumbled on and I thought this, an open letter from former badminton player Gail Emms to new UK Sport chair Katherine Grainger, was a particularly noteworthy recent contribution.

•  Canada celebrated its 150th anniversary a week or so ago and to mark the occasion Sportsnet’s Stephen Brunt produced this fascinating long read on the country’s continuing obsession with hockey.

•  A typically thoughtful piece here from SportsPro deputy editor Adam Nelson, published in the wake of the release of the magazine’s 50 Most Marketable Athletes list, on the crossovers between sport and popular culture.

•  And finally here’s that authoritative piece on the challenge of making Australian horse racing relevant to a younger generation you’ve been waiting for, by the Sydney Morning Herald’s Chris Roots.

Those are the sports business pieces you ought to be reading this week. Thanks for reading, as ever. And as ever, you can reach me via email – davidcushnan@gmail.com – or on Twitter: @DavidCushnan

This week’s sports industry reading list

Posted on by David Cushnan

Congratulations, sports industry aficionados, because you’ve stumbled across the sports industry reading list – a regular selection of the best, most interesting and most relevant pieces about the global business and politics of sport. I’m your curator and I’ve spent much of the past few days carefully scouring the web for the finest profiles, interviews, features, analysis and opinion, quite simply for your reading pleasure. Here are the results. To business.

This week’s sports industry must-reads

•  In the wake of the announcement that McDonald’s has terminated its Olympic sponsorship, and the IOC’s confirmation last week that Intel has joined the ranks of TOP partners, there has been plenty of, frankly, half-baked analysis from some who should know better. Thank goodness, then, for this eminently sensible assessment of the current status of Olympic sponsors and finances  from Inside the Games’ David Owen.

•  This is an illuminating oral history of NFL Europe, by ESPN’s Jon Gold, ten years after the National Football League called time on the project.

•  A piece well worth reading here by Nascar’s vice president of analytics and insights, Norris Scott, and published recently in the Journal of Digital and Social Media Marketing, examining sponsorship return on investment in what the cool kids are now calling an omni-channel world.

•  Igor Rabiner has written a lengthy but fascinating feature for The Blizzard charting the rise and fall and rise of AS Monaco, newly-crowned Ligue 1 champions and darlings of last season’s Champion’s League.

•  A typically incisive piece by Christopher Clarey for the New York Times on what the next chapter of the America’s Cup might look like, and the starkly differing philosophies of the two teams in contention to shape it, Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand.

•  Andrew Brandt’s latest Business of Football column for MMQB examines the tricky subject of ‘tanking’ and how long-term thinking can be the key to success for NFL franchises, even if it is at the expense of short-term gains.

•  New Formula One chief executive Chase Carey was on stage at the FIA’s Sport Conference in Geneva last week and he also recently gave James Allen an interview, published on the excellent James Allen on F1 blog, in which he considered the always-interesting subject of where the balance lies between sport and technology.

•  Sticking with motorsport, if you were looking for something on the business behind the Autopolis circuit in Japan – host of, among other things, the country’s popular Super GT category – then you’re luck’s in, thanks to Oscar Boyd and the Japan Times.

•   An interesting perspective, which may divide opinion, from Tod Meisner for Front Office Sports, on Snapchat and the sports industry.

• This is a fun ‘behind-the-scenes of the broadcast’ piece (the best type of behind-the-scenes pieces) peeling back the curtain on British channel ITV’s coverage of Royal Ascot, by the Daily Telegraph’s Alan Tyers.

•  Manny Pacquiao fights Australian Jeff Horn in Brisbane this coming weekend and I enjoyed this, by Grantlee Kieza of local newspaper the Courier Mail, on how and why it’s happening.

That’s this week’s recommended reading – do tune your web browser this way once again next week for more. In the meantime, all feedback’s welcome – you can get in touch via email (davidcushnan@gmail.com) or find me on Twitter, @DavidCushnan. Until next time.

This week’s sports industry reading list

Posted on by David Cushnan

And we’re back. This is the sports industry reading list, returning after a brief hiatus during which, frankly, there have often been more important things to be reading about. Nonetheless, I’ve curated – LOVE that word – the best, the most interesting and the most relevant pieces on the global business of sport from the past few days – a mix of interviews, profiles, long-form features, punchy analysis and opinion. So let’s get going. To business:

This week’s sports industry must-reads:

•  A very good series from the Guardian, Sport 2.0, went live last week with the aim of considering the future of sport in a connected world. It’s all well worth reading but the pick, to my mind, is Simon Hattenstone’s piece examining the way in which consumption of football is changing almost before our eyes.

•  An extensive interview here – so extensive it had to be split in two – with new PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, by SportsPro’s America’s editor Michael Long, on his plans to grow the game and how he intends to make his own mark in a role held for so long by Tim Finchem.

•  World sport’s attention is gradually moving once again towards Russia, with the World Cup just a year away and the Confederations Cup now up and running. Nick Ames, writing for ESPN FC, put together this interesting piece on Kazan, a city that may help to change perceptions of the host country over the next 12 months.

•  It’s on (with extra hype). Mayweather versus McGregor, August 26th, Las Vegas. And, happily, Kevin Draper has already written perhaps the definitive ‘business behind the bout’ piece in the New York Times.

•  Nascar writer Jeff Gluck has got a nice little series running where he speaks to various series stakeholders about their personal social media strategy. The latest edition, featuring former Nascar champion and prolific tweeter Brad Keselowski, is particularly fascinating.

•  Hein Verbruggen, the influential and controversial former president of world cycling’s governing body, died last week. Sportcal’s Callum Murray sat down with the Dutchman as recently as May for what turned out to be his final interview – it’s a fascinating long read.

•  Plenty to chew on in Olympic sponsorship circles over the past few days, with Intel poised to join the worldwide marketing programme and the early conclusion to the longstanding partnership between the Games and McDonald’s. Inside the Games’ Michael Pavitt’s latest blog considers the IOC’s current financial landscape.

•  It’s Women’s Sports Week in the UK and the BBC has published an analysis of the gender prize money gap. The summary: it’s closing. The full details, put together by Anna Thompson & Kate Kopczyk, are well worth your time.

•  And finally, a long and revealing LA Times profile of Jeanie Buss, controlling owner and president of the Los Angeles Lakers, by Tania Ganguli.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading and, if you feel the need, do drop me a line at davidcushnan@gmail.com or find me on Twitter: @DavidCushnan. Until next time.

This week’s sports industry reading list

Posted on by David Cushnan

This, as the headlines rather hints at, is the sports industry reading list, my weekly guide to the best, most interesting and most relevant writing on the global business of sport. Whether you’re working in sport or are simply interested in how it’s organised and funded, you’ll hopefully find something of interest below. As usual, the list contains a combination of profiles, long-form features, pin-sharp analysis and interviews with industry grand fromages. Let’s get to it. To business:

This week’s sports industry must-reads

•  It’s been a few weeks since heavyweight boxing’s big night at Wembley Stadium, but SportsPro editor Eoin Connolly has been beavering away to produce this, perhaps the definitive behind-the-scenes account of Joshua-Klitschko.

•  A big couple of weeks in the golf equipment business, with TaylorMade’s announcement it had signed a megabucks deal with Rory McIlroy swiftly followed by confirmation the company has been sold to KPS Capital Partners. Golf.com’s Alana Johnson sat down with TaylorMade chief executive David Abeles on the why, what and how.

•  As the IOC extends its long-term partnership with watch brand Omega, a marvellous slice of Olympic sponsorship history here from Inside the Games’ David Owen.

•  One for broadcast production fans: Sportcal’s Martin Ross draws back the curtain and takes a peek inside Infront Sports & Media’s impressive digital operation at the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships.

•  This is a really fascinating piece, by Nieman’s Joseph Lichterman, on tennis journalism and how Racquet magazine, a quarterly publication, is staking a claim to be the sport’s independent voice.

•  In the wake of the mild furore created when Manchester United chief executive Ed Woodward told investors last week the club plans to “aggressively” market its in-house TV channel, MUTV, The Drum’s Tony Connolly examines the football club as media company and the real aim: data collection.

•  A fascinating deep-dive here by Motorsport.com’s Jonathan Noble explaining how a former Formula One team owner is the man behind the launch of Formula One’s latest fan-friendly initiative.

•  Shabab Hossain of Tech Exec shares the highlights of Atlanta Hawks’ chief creative officer Peter Sorckoff’s presentation on rebranding the NBA franchise, from the recent CMO Disrupt event in Melbourne.

•  Richard Williams is well worth reading on just about anything. His latest Guardian column is Olympic-focused and makes a compelling case for Paris 2024.

Many thanks, as always, for reading and (as I’m sure you’re about to) sharing far and wide. Feel free to drop me a line via email – davidcushnan@gmail.com – or on Twitter. Until next time.

 

This week’s sports industry reading list

Posted on by David Cushnan

Welcome along to the sports industry reading list, your weekly guide to the best, most interesting and most relevant writing on the global business of sport (accept no imitations). As usual, you’re invited to scroll down for a variety of pieces plucked from across the internet – from newspaper sites to specialist sports publications, social media to sports trade media platforms. And don’t forget to share widely – you’ll find me on Twitter and at davidcushann@gmail.com – among industry friends and colleagues. Parish notices concluded, let’s get down to business:

This week’s sports industry must-reads

•  Rob Harris spent his week in Bahrain, chronicling Fifa’s latest Congress. Here’s his razor-sharp Associated Press analysis of another noteworthy week in world football politics.

•  The European Tour’s first GolfSixes event – a short-form version of the game, with added dry ice and pyrotechnics – took place last weekend in St Albans, just north of London. Matt Cooper’s review of the razzmatazz for ESPN is well worth a read.

•  A fascinating and shrewd piece by former Olympic 1,500 metre runner Ross Murray, for Athletics Weekly, on the challenges of securing sponsorship for track and field athletes in an age of YouTube and reality TV ‘influencers’.

•  As the International Olympic Committee’s evaluation commission moves from Los Angeles to Paris, as it considers the strengths and weaknesses of both the remaining 2024 bids, Inside the Games’ Nick Butler considers the way the organisation communicates and wonders whether, in 2017, there might be a more effective way for it to do so.

•  More essential reading on Formula One’s finances from Autosport’s Dieter Rencken, who has the inside line on how the sport’s revenues have been distributed among the teams this year.

•  A cracking read full of interesting stories on what life is really like as an NBA player agent, by Alex Kennedy for the USA Today’s HoopsHype site.

•  Paddy Upton, head coach of the Indian Premier League’s Delhi Daredevils, has peered into his crystal ball for ESPNCricInfo and predicted what cricket will look like in 2027.

•  A typically thought-provoking piece by Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim, considering the impact the shift from linear broadcast to OTT might have on college sports in the United States.

•  Some expert eSports commentary here from Seven League senior consultant Charlie Beall, in a piece published this week on SportsPro’s website.

•  And finally, professional consultant Dave Wakeman turns his attention, via this interesting LinkedIn article, to the big topics: Nascar, stories, community and humanity.

That’s your lot for this edition, but be sure to check back here next week for another list of recommended reading about the sports industry. Until next time.

This week’s sports industry reading list

Posted on by David Cushnan

Welcome along to the latest edition of my sports industry reading list, a guide to the pick of recent writing on the global business of sport. This edition features pieces from the last couple of weeks; as usual, there’s a mix of interviews, analysis, profiles, longer-form features and opinion from across the world wide web, published by newspapers, magazines, specialist sport websites and the sports trade media. You get the gist, I’m sure. Time to get to the good stuff. To business:

This week’s sports industry must-reads

•  The Financial Times’ Frankfurt correspondent James Shotter examines the relentless and controversial rise of RB Leipzig, the Red Bull-owned Bundesliga team which has just qualified for next season’s Champions League.

•  Last week marked the 23rd anniversary of the death of the great Ayrton Senna. This is an fascinating BBC piece, written by South American business correspondent Daniel Gallas, looking at the business of Senna in 2017 and the social impact his name – his brand – continues to have in Brazil.

•  Variety’s Andrew Wallenstein draws back the curtain on NBC’s promotional preparation for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games, which take place next February.

•  Sticking with the Olympics, the International Olympic Committee’s evaluation commission are heading to Los Angeles this week. Sportcal’s Jon Rest has produced this handy guide to the strengths and potential weaknesses of the American bid for the 2024 Games.

•  If you’re able to navigate the paywall, do make time for this piece on the growing concept of Premier League football tourism and the Premier League by the Times’ Alyson Rudd.

•  A well-argued piece by Anya Alvarez in the Guardian on the LPGA’s (daft) decision to use a Twitter poll to determine which of four professional golfers should gain a sponsor’s exemption slot at an upcoming tournament.

•  A piece from a few weeks ago that’s well worth your time: Redef’s Mike Vorkunov investigates the Philadelphia 76er’s move into the world of VC and the launch of its ‘Innovation Lab’.

•  SportBusiness Journal’s executive editor Abe Madkour put together this useful wrap-up of the main talking points from this year’s CAA World Congress of Sport.

•  And finally, one to place in the not-strictly-about-the-sports-industry-but-potentially-relevant-nonetheless file, from the pen of Mark Weinberger and published on the World Economic Forum website. Does the rise of virtual and augmented reality signal the beginning of the end for smartphones and TV?

That’s your reading sorted for this week. Do pop back next week for another list and in the meantime, should you feel inclined I can be reached at davidcushnan@gmail.com or on Twitter, @DavidCushnan. Until next time.