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This week’s sports industry reading list

Posted on by David Cushnan

Here comes another sports industry reading list, brought to you by [INSERT YOUR COMPANY’S NAME HERE – analytics available on request]. This is where I summarise the best of the week’s writing on the global business of sport, from sponsorship to media rights, politics to marketing and lots in between – anything, indeed, that I think might be even halfway relevant for someone working in the industry or just keen to dig into how sport is organised and funded. It’s been a busy week – it was great to bump in to one or two reading list superfans at SportsPro Live in London on Wednesday and Thursday – and there’s a bumper selection below, so let’s crack on. To business:

This week’s sports industry must-reads:

  • In a week in which the England & Wales Cricket Board added some more meat to the bones of its plan to launch a city-based Twenty20 tournament, this fascinating in-depth piece by David Hopps for ESPN CricInfo examines an uncertain future for one of England’s great cricketing counties, Yorkshire.
  • The NFL has confirmed that the Oakland Raiders are to move to Las Vegas. There’s been a slew of interesting pieces since Monday’s vote by the league’s owners, not least this, from ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, which suggests that this may be the relocation that ends the NFL’s multi-billion dollar era of new stadiums.
  • SportBusiness International editor Ben Cronin sat down with IAAF president Lord Sebastian Coe at the recent Leaders conference in New York. Plenty to discuss, as you’d expect; this is a piece well worth your time.

That’s this week’s reading list: standby for more next week, and in the meantime do feel free to drop me a line – davidcushnan@gmail.com – or share widely on Twitter. Until next time.

This week’s sports industry reading list

Posted on by David Cushnan

Time for another sports industry reading list, my handpicked selection of the best recent online content relating to the global business of sport. As usual, you’ll find below a mix of pieces from newspaper websites, dedicated sports business publications, blogs and sport-specific websites – and as usual the list includes profiles, features, analysis and, this week, even a couple of audio treats. To business:

This week’s sports industry must-reads

  • Just before last week’s decision by the IAAF to uphold the suspension of Russia’s track and field athletes, the Guardian’s Owen Gibson published this excellent profile of Lord Sebastian Coe and the daunting challenge of what Coe insists is his final major role in sport.

All feedback on what you’ve read or what you’re about to read is, as ever, welcome, either via email – davidcushnan@gmail.com – or on Twitter or LinkedIn. Until next time.

This week’s sports industry reading list

Posted on by David Cushnan

This is the sports industry reading list, your weekly (or thereabouts) guide to what you ought to be reading if your business is sport or you’re simply interested in how sport is organised, funded and governed around the world. As always, there’ll be a mix of profiles, features, interviews, opinion pieces and the occasional audio treat from a wide range of sources including newspapers, specialist websites, sports industry trade publications and social platforms like LinkedIn and Medium. Sounds good, right? That’s the intro. Now, to business:

This week’s sports industry must-reads

  • Sport, ultimately, is an events business and that’s underlined brilliantly in this extended, superbly illustrated multimedia feature on the official Juventus club website. This guide to the scale and complexity of a regular matchday at Juventus Stadium is packed full of interesting nuggets and well worth your time; it’s exactly what major sports teams should be doing more of.
  • A useful and timely piece here from Daniel Johnson of the Daily Telegraph on the most powerful man in Formula One, Donald Mackenzie, as his CVC Capital Partners celebrates (and I’m not sure that’s the right word at all) ten years of ownership.
  • Sticking with Formula One, if you have a spare hour or so you could do worse than listening to this podcast, hosted by Motor Sport magazine’s Ed Foster, featuring Ross Brawn and Nick Fry reflecting on the remarkable 2009 season, which culminated with Jenson Button crowned as world champion. Fry and Brawn were part of the management buy-out of the Honda team and this is a great insight into how Brawn GP came to be.
  • It’s been a terribly sad few days for the world of professional cycling. Following the death of Antoine Demoitié, who was hit by a motorcycle covering the Gent-Wevelgem race on Saturday, this commentary, by Neal Rogers of Cycling Tips, is a personal reflection on events and an examination of what the implications might be for the sport and how it is broadcast.
  • Staying on the West Coast, here’s something worth reading on the NFL’s team that’s preparing to land there. Regular readers will know that I love a logistics piece: here’s MMQB’s Robert Klemko with the fascinating tale of how the Rams are actually relocating and preparing for a nomadic few seasons as they wait for Stan Kroenke’s gleaming new stadium to be built.
  • There’s no doubt that Dick Pound is currently one of world sport’s most influential figures, given his role as chairman of the independent WADA commission which revealed the extent of Russian doping in athletics and the failures of the sport’s governing body. Here’s a typically excellent profile of the Canadian, by the New York Times’ Christopher Clarey.
  • With Major League Baseball’s opening day approaching, there’s been a fair few pieces in recent days chronicling the disputes between regional sports networks and cable operators, and the creaking broadcast model behind them. Joe Flint and Matthew Futterman, writing in the Wall Street Journal, examined the battleground featuring the New York Yankees, the YES network which airs its games and Comcast, which has blacked them out in a payment dispute since November.

That’s your lot for this week. As ever, you can reach me at davidcushnan@gmail.com or on Twitter: @DavidCushnan. Be assured, though: you will not find me on Snapchat.

This week’s sports industry reading list

Posted on by David Cushnan

Another busy sports industry week concludes, so it’s high time I picked out some of the best and most interesting writing on the sports business from the past few days – after all, that’s what you’re here for. But first, a word on SportsPro Live, the third edition of which took place at Wembley Stadium in London this week. I’m more than a little biased, of course, but I thought it was a terrific event, the best yet, and in an industry full to the brim with conferences it has set a standard in terms of tone and content. (I agree with much of this post by Johnny Murch of RedTorch, who was also at Wembley). I also know just how bloody difficult it is to organise a sports industry conference, so full marks to the whole SportsPro team for a job superbly done. (Incidentally, you can relive the whole thing here). Now, to business.

This week’s sports industry must-reads

  • Oh Formula One. An entertaining first Grand  Prix of the season last weekend was somewhat overshadowed by the dismal failure of the new elimination qualifying format, which shone a light on the sport’s tortuous political and governance structure and prompted the drivers to publish an open letter calling for change. Two standout pieces followed: Motorsport.com’s Jonathan Noble produced this typically incisive analysis of the sport’s current political landscape and Joe Saward published this superb piece on his blog.
  • With Beijing now confirmed as host of the 2022 winter Olympics, the Ski Asia website published this interesting piece, examining Thaiwoo Ski Resort in China, one of a huge number of  facilities springing up to meet the (apparent) demand for winter sports in the country.

That’s all for this week. As always, I’m contactable at davidcushnan@gmail.com and on Twitter: @DavidCushnan. Happy Easter.

 

This week’s sports industry reading list

Posted on by David Cushnan

Welcome to this week’s sports industry reading list – brought to you by [INSERT FUTURE SPONSOR’S NAME HERE]. This, as you will doubtless know by now, is where you’ll find my pick of the most interesting, revealing and downright good writing on the global business of sport from the past few days – sponsorship matters, political analysis, marketing musings and more. Without further ado, to business:

This week’s sports industry must-reads

  • The world’s most marketable and arguably most famous female athlete admitted failing a drugs test this week and millions of words, thousands of opinions and a reasonable amount of nonsense inevitably followed. If you’re reading this, there’s a fair chance you’ve read plenty on the subject already, but if you’re in the mood for more I’d recommend this opinion piece by the Daily Telegraph’s Paul Hayward and this by Nigel Dudley, which brilliantly deconstructs that remarkable press conference last Monday.
  • The Russian doping scandal rumbles on with the IAAF, world athletics’ governing body, not yet ready to lift the ban on Russian athletes, which continues to leave their participation at August’s Olympic Games in doubt. Essential background reading on the topic here by Inside the Games’ Duncan Mackay, who smacks the nail right on the temple with this piece on the high politics likely to be at play in the decisions to be made over the next few months.

That’s this week’s short but sweet list. Back here, same place, roughly similar time next week for more recommendations. In the meantime, you can email me at davidcushnan@gmail.com or find me on Twitter @DavidCushnan.

This week’s sports industry reading list

Posted on by David Cushnan

It’s time for my latest pick of the best writing on the global business of sport – the profiles, features, columns and interviews that have caught my eye over the past few days. Welcome along – and don’t forget to share widely with your friends and colleagues; there’s something for everyone here (assuming, of course, you’re interested in what’s happening across the global sports industry). To business, then, and this week’s bumper selection of great sports business pieces:

This week’s sports industry must-reads

  • There’s been a great deal of talk recently of the growing power of Europe’s major football clubs amid the current power vacuum at Fifa and Uefa. Oliver Kay picked up the topic for his always-readable Saturday Times column this week; it’s a strong piece (nestled behind the paywall) on the slightly chilling prospect of a future European league closed to all but the elite teams.
  • Renowned US team owner Roger Penske is celebrating his 50th year in motorsport and Automobile Magazine produced this terrific retrospective on the career of a hugely successful businessman, who’s also won just about all there is to win in Indycar and Nascar.
  • This is a really excellent Sheffield Star interview, conducted by Sam Fletcher, with World Snooker’s commercial director Miles Pearce on the sport’s rise in China and the possibility of the World Championships one day relocated from its current home at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre.
  • Reem Abulleil, covering the Australian Open for the UAE-based Sport360 newspaper, spoke to the tournament director Craig Tilley to get the lowdown on the commercial success of the first Grand Slam of the tennis year and an insight into Tennis Australia’s marketing strategy.

That’ll do it for this week. Do let me know if the reading lists are proving useful/interesting/a handy distraction, either via davidcushnan@gmail.com or on Twitter, where you’ll find me @DavidCushnan. Let’s reconvene here in a few days time.