Kevin McCullagh, Asia office

IPO prospectus for parent company of the Infront agency and Ironman triathlon operator reveals strategy to focus on mass participation in China and predictions for the growth of the Chinese sports sector.

Documentaries going behind the scenes with sports teams and athletes are riding a wave of popularity. SportBusiness interviewed Mike Antinoro, senior vice-president at IMG Original Content, executive producer on series including Being Serena, First Team: Juventus and All or Nothing: Manchester City, to find out what’s behind the surge in interest and how the shows are put together.

The world’s population is ageing, with profound consequences for society and the economy. And yet serving older fans, participants and customers is barely mentioned in conversations within the sports industry. Kevin McCullagh spoke to sports marketers and ageing industry experts to find out why, and what opportunities may be being missed.

Title sponsorship is first and foremost a way of making consumers aware of a brand name, putting the brand into the mouths of fans as they talk about a team, competition or other property.

Over the last five years the hackathon has been adopted by several major rights-holders. Kevin McCullagh discusses the impact of hackathons on sports businesses.

US major leagues are tweaking their rules to make sure fans stay tuned in as concerns build about distracted audiences. Data is playing a critical role, with leading rights-holders employing sophisticated, data-led decision-making to make the changes.

SportBusiness spoke to Dimension Data chief marketing officer Ruth Rowan about the genesis and evolution of the partnership, which started in 2015 and will run to cover the 2019 Tour.

When Pearse Connolly set about revamping the marketing of Norwegian national team home matches he didn’t expect to use the Catholic church as inspiration.

Major League Baseball’s relatively small global footprint provides the league’s great challenge in international rights sales. But in its favour are a handful of markets where baseball is extremely popular and some of the most storied imagery in world sport.

Ferran Soriano is CEO of Manchester City FC and City Football Group, and winner of The SportBusiness Award at the 2017 Globe Soccer Awards. We caught up with him to talk about his approach to running a football club, his thoughts on football in the Middle East, and more.

Sport in Saudi Arabia is on the cusp of enormous change. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – the heir to the kingdom’s throne and one of the two most powerful men in the country along with his father, King Salman bin Abdulaziz – has targeted sport as one of the vehicles of his ambitious plan to transform the country.

Artificial intelligence and DIY content were the major themes at Mindshare’s Huddle 2017 conference. Kevin McCullagh reports from the event.