Merry Christmas From Sport Industry Group
As 2017 draws to a close, Sport Industry Group looks back on a few moments from sport during a formative political year that included the confirmation of Brexit and Donald Trump’s first full year at the head of the United States of America, as well as social campaigns with genuine impact, such as #takeaknee and #metoo…
The year kicked off with Liberty Media officially taking over Formula One after bringing Bernie Ecclestone’s 40-year stint as head of the sport to a close, via an $8bn takeover, and ended with a huge $52bn mega-deal that sees The Walt Disney Company acquire Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox.
Russia continues to be banned from competing at the Olympic Games, although Russian athletes who can prove they are clean will be allowed to compete in South Korea at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang next year, under a neutral flag. This follows an investigation into allegations of state-sponsored doping at the 2014 Games hosted by Russia in Sochi.
As the FIFA World Cup prepares for competitions in Russia and Qatar, further surprises saw the World Rugby council ignore the recommendation of South Africa by an independent evaluation report to announce France as the host of the 2023 Rugby World Cup. July also saw two Olympic Games confirmed, with Paris awarded the 2024 edition, and LA taking the following competition in 2028, while Wembley Stadium will host an additional four matches – on top of the semi-finals and final – of Euro 2020.
Closer to home, it was just this month that the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan took control of the London Stadium, citing devastating loses financially to a stadium that only five months earlier played host to a record-breaking IAAF World Championships. The stage was set for Usain Bolt to claim the victory in his final races on the world’s stage as he made plans for retirement. However, the script-writers were already busy planning for Christmas, with Justin Gatlin taking gold in the 100m, and a supreme Great Britain relay team winning gold in the men’s 4x100m.
The result ‘s fans were waiting for.
4x100m in a British record. The future is bright #BeTheNext sprinters pic.twitter.com/GhFxR98caG
— IAAF World Champs (@IAAFWorldChamps) August 12, 2017
Staying in the capital, the NFL returned – and brought some friends – for four games in the UK in 2017, with even more to follow in 2018. Jacksonville Jaguars’ Hussain Naqi spoke to Sport Industry Group about returning to the UK once again in October. The sport began the year with a shock, after witnessing Tom Brady’s New England Patriots come back from 28-3 against the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl to win 34-28 in overtime.
Across London, any doubters of Anthony Joshua and his ability to take a punch were put to bed after picking himself up from the floor in front of a sold-out Wembley Stadium against heavyweight legend, Wladimir Klitschko.
Winning wasn’t the only thing Joshua did this year, expanding his personal portfolio with the likes of JD, Under Armour, Lucozade Sport, Jaguar Land Rover, Sky, Beats, and Bulk Powders.
As the world prepares for the FIFA World Cup in Russia next summer, some could assume ‘the year of the lion’ referred to the men’s team’s unbeaten qualification campaign. However, it was the victorious youth sides and the women’s team who celebrated success in 2017 – winning the FIFA Under 17 World Cup, the UEFA Under 19 Championships, the FIFA Under 20 World Cup and reaching the semi-final of the Women’s European Championship.
2017: the year of the lion! pic.twitter.com/MWVSGj6iB2
— England (@England) December 18, 2017
The Lions will continue to hope for success as UEFA confirmed the new format for the Nations League set to be played every two years in between European Championships and FIFA World Cups.
England also tasted World Cup success at a sold-out Lord’s, as the women’s cricket team secured the 2017 World Cup in dramatic fashion, thanks to Anya Shrubsole’s match-winning spell of five for 11 to beat India by nine. The team didn’t stop there, drawing the series against Australia in the Women’s Ashes. The men could not continue the winning momentum though, with the destiny of the famous urn already decided after just three Tests.
As discussed at the Deltatre Sport Industry Breakfast Club, ECB leadership celebrated a terrestrial future for the sport, after signing a £1.1bn rights deal with Sky Sports and the BBC from 2020.
Meanwhile, pay-TV rivals BT Sport and Sky Sports agreed to share content on each other’s platforms, in a bid to rise to the growing threat of streaming competition from the likes of Facebook and Amazon, with the latter spending a reported $50m to acquire streaming rights for the NFL’s Thursday Night Football, and a £10m-per year deal for the ATP World Tour rights.
In years gone by, Jim White donning his yellow tie and shouting at Big Ben while reporters roamed empty training grounds was enough to announce big-money transfers. This year, however, saw clubs flex their creative muscles via social media to announce their summer signings.
Are we doing this right? #saintsfc pic.twitter.com/TaByabGqci
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) July 13, 2017
PSG crushed the previous world transfer record, securing Neymar’s services from Barcelona for a cool €220m, while Lukaku swapped Everton blue for United red for €84.8m and Morata heading to Premier League champions Chelsea for €78.9m, leaving many fans to question what exactly Financial Fair Play is doing. Meanwhile, striker Toni Duggan became the first England player to join Barcelona since Gary Lineker in 1986.
Elsewhere, does Lewis Hamilton ever get bored of winning? The 32-year-old claimed his fourth Formula One title to become Britain’s most successful Formula One driver ever.
Michael, equalling your pole position record in Belgium this year meant so much to me and was a true honour. Praying for you and your family all the time #KeepFightingMichael #Legend @schumacher pic.twitter.com/iUTCoUyWsd
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) December 17, 2017
Santa isn’t the only one with a lot of travelling this year, as the British & Irish Lions headed to New Zealand to secure a series draw in the All Blacks’ backyard, while Eddie Jones finally lost his unbeaten run with the England team after 18 victories and a Six Nations title. Where the men missed out on the grand slam, the women’s side thrashed Ireland 34-7 to take the title, in a remarkable year of success for many of England Women’s sporting teams.
Grand Slam?
Satisfied?
Gunning for the World Cup?
How the Red Roses won the Six Nations in style pic.twitter.com/ikqiZPkHy5— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) March 19, 2017
Bringing an end to 18 months of “will they, won’t they” questions, Floyd Mayweather Jr. put his undefeated record on the line against UFC superstar Conor McGregor in August. Mayweather won the match after McGregor tired out in the later rounds, but with both men earning untold millions that are still coming in, did anybody really lose?
A changing sports landscape also saw the rise of esports into the mainstream, with agencies creating dedicated divisions and sponsors flocking to the $1bn+ industry, with a variety of new competitions and teams also formed around existing rightsholders, from Gerard Piqué and Fernando Alonso, to QPR and McLaren, to name a few.
2017 saw continued success for old favourites across a multitude of sports including Mo Farah, Chris Froome, Elise Christie, Justin Rose, Adam Peaty, Bianca Walkden, and so many more, in a golden age for British sport and beyond.
In a year with as much bizarre unpredictability as Antoine Griezmann’s fancy dress choices, what will 2018 have in store for the sport industry? As ever, stay in touch via @SportIndustry, and keep up to date with the Sport Industry Daily.
The Sport Industry Daily will return on Wednesday 3rd January. Until then, from all of the team at Sport Industry Group, we wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.
In a giving mood this Christmas? Check out some of the incredible programmes using sport for positive social change being supported by the Beyond Sport Foundation, celebrating ten years of work with over 180 organisations around the world. Read more here.
