Olympic Games

Brexit and the election of Donald Trump suggest a world that is rejecting globalisation. But sport can provide a counterbalance and an antidote to an an increasingly inward looking planet, says Kevin Roberts.

Technology may be shaping the future of sport but SnapRapid CEO Russell Glenister thinks there is a deeply ingrained conservatism towards tech start-ups in European sports organisations.

Stephen Cannon from the Atlanta Falcons and Scott O'Neil, CEO of the Philadelphia 76ers, were amongst the speakers when SportBusiness asked the questions at the Leaders Sport Business Summit.  

From Hamburg’s nein to the Roman ruins of Italy’s bid, why does the public appear to be increasingly sceptical of the benefits of its city hosting the Olympic Games? SportBusiness International investigates.

If a brand wants to sell to a mass market, sport delivers the eyeballs like nothing else writes Kevin Roberts. It’s why companies pay megabucks for spots around the Super Bowl, an event that is now routinely used to debut fresh creative work and which has, in the last decade or so, become a combative arena for the ad agencies, as well as competing teams.

In May, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach was unequivocal in his stance on doping. “Protecting the clean athletes is a top priority of the IOC,” he said. “Protecting the clean athletes means on the other hand zero tolerance against doping cheats and their entourage.” Two months later Bach, and the IOC, were faced with a headache that he and the Olympic Movement could certainly have done without.

So once again the experts got it right. It may have gone too close to the wire for comfort, but when it really mattered, Rio delivered as an Olympic host city. Once the cameras started to roll, Rio gave the world unforgettable images and indelible memories of some great sporting moments.

A two-year window of opportunity presented by hosting sport’s two biggest events in quick succession has turned into a damage limitation exercise for Brazil. SportBusiness International assesses the political and economic turmoil that has accompanied the build-up to this month’s Rio Olympics.

Kevin Roberts argues that the greater good of the Olympic Games would have been best served by a blanket exclusion of Russian athletes at Rio 2016. 

The turmoil of 2016 was difficult to envisage when Rio upset the odds to land hosting rights to this summer’s Olympic Games.

As the national broadcaster for the host country at the London 2012 Olympic Games, the BBC set the bar high.