Features
Football clubs wake up to the power of FIFA and Pro Evo
The recent round of video game licensing deals signed by clubs and leagues with EA Sports and Konami show how complicated the video game licensing business has become. Callum McCarthy examines whether it is better to sell rights collectively or go it alone.
Ice cream and Kimekomi dolls | Developing a licensing programme for the Rugby World Cup in Japan
IMG Licensing says it has secured contracts with 25 Japanese licensees and 21 global licensees for this year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan. Ben Cronin reports.
Tom Hill, World Rugby | Dual award of 2015 and 2019 World Cups helped mitigate Japan risks
Tom Hill, chief commercial officer, World Rugby speaks exclusively to SportBusiness about the commercial programme for the 2019 World Cup in Japan
‘Brown as a bear’: Shock, awe and despair as prized autographs ruined by defective baseballs
Browning has marred thousands of once-valuable autographed baseballs, with the precise cause of the damage still unknown. Dennis Tuttle examines the impact on the baseball collectibles market
Mickey Mantle: In death, still king of the collectors’ world
Dead since 1995, the revered Hall of Famer still commands a lofty position among baseball memorabilia collectors
Esports and the city: How smaller European cities are transforming their image via video games
Callum McCarthy looks at the various ways in which lesser-known European host cities are benefiting from staging a variety of international esports competitions.
ICC targets younger audiences with digital-first, data-led broadcasting approach
Adam Nelson reports on how the International Cricket Council revamped its broadcast coverage ahead of the 2019 Cricket World Cup, focusing on storytelling to attract new audiences and break digital engagement records
Washington Wizards seek to break the industry mould, find wins with new leadership structure
Struggling NBA team looks well outside basketball for new ideas and approaches in its senior leadership
Major League Rugby takes slow and steady approach in attempt to crack US market
Bob Williams looks at the development of Major League Rugby in the US, and how the league is looking to avoid the mistakes made by previous organisations' attempts to successfully break the sport in the US market.
NHL leverages Ovechkin’s pulling power to expand footprint in China
In order to develop their presence in China, the NHL have sent Alexander Ovechkin on a one-man ambassadorial trip to Beijing this week. Bob Williams talks to David Proper, executive vice-president of media and international strategy, about how ice hockey's governing body is leveraging its players' star power.
LaLiga and Bundesliga aim to make inroads on Premier League’s Asian dominance
The Premier League has long been the top international football league in Asia. As the 2019-20 season begins, SportBusiness Asia spoke to the Asian offices of Spain’s LaLiga and Germany’s Bundesliga about their work to challenge the English league’s position.
PGA Tour Superstore revolutionizes sports retail sector as Home Depot of golf
Following the decline of a number of US sporting goods chains, Bob Williams talks to Dick Sullivan, president and chief executive of the PGA Tour Superstore, which has expanded from 10 stores in 2010 to 41 locations in 16 states, about what is behind the success of the chain.
Milwaukee Bucks get aggressive to avoid second-year letdown at Fiserv Forum
The Milwaukee Bucks are looking to host a range of events in the coming year, including multiple concerts and the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Eric Fisher talks to the Bucks president Peter Feigin about how the NBA team plans to leverage the Fiserv Forum as a venue for more than just basketball.
“Women’s football is about so much more than what happens on the pitch” | Fifa’s Sarai Bareman
SportBusiness speaks to Fifa's chief women’s football officer, Sarai Bareman, to get her reflections on the 2019 Women's World Cup in France and hear how she is hoping to leverage the momentum gained from that event to further develop women’s football around the world.
The challenge facing the next Premier League chief executive: media-rights growth has stalled
The search to replace Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore, who announced his resignation over a year ago, has proved arduous. Frank Dunne looks at the issues surrounding media-rights growth and the challenges Scudamore's succesor should expect.
MLB aims to ‘democratize’ esports with inclusive push around Home Run Derby VR game
Major League Baseball's developing esports strategy, much more inclusive and based on a game title much simpler to play, veers heavily from other major US sports properties
FFA embraces ‘challenger brand’ status as A-League spin-off heralds new dawn for Australian soccer
Australian football entered a new stage in its development earlier this year with the announcement that the A-League and W-League would be spun off from Football Federation Australia. The FFA's chief commercial and marketing officer Luke Bould talks Adam Nelson through the implications of the move and how the body is set up to weather the change.
Falcons and Rays go cashless to take fan experience ‘to an even higher level’
Cashless deployments in Atlanta, Tampa point the way toward likely broader adoption across the sport industry.
Minor League Baseball seeks to move national sales to “biggest levels in the market”
After more than three years of steady growth building a national sales operation, the affiliated minor leagues of baseball has growing ambitions