Once again, 2024 was a transformative year for the business of sport with a number of major sports properties and stakeholders adapting to changes and, in many cases, forging forward with boundary-pushing commercial deals and strategies.
As always, Sportcal was in constant dialogue with the major players across global sport to maintain a constant overview of the movements of the industry at large.
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In a year with major sports events such as the Paris Olympic and Paralympic games, and the UEFA European Championship in Germany dominating the headlines, here are the most insightful features each month from Sportcal across 2024.
January 25 – In The Boardroom with Wigan Warriors
In 2024, Wigan Warriors were a dominating force in both English and international rugby league, winning all four trophies available to them including the World Club Challenge. Ahead of that particular accolade, Sportcal spoke to Warriors chief executive Kris Radlinski about how the club is crafting its commercial outlook to capitalize on its success.
February 29 – In-depth with ICC media rights head Manoharan
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By GlobalDataIn February, the International Cricket Council was coming towards the end of its media rights sales process for the next multi-year cycle. After several years of exponential growth in media rights values, the body laid the foundations for its future with a slate of new broadcast partnerships in different global markets. To navigate through the deals, ICC vice president of media rights Sunil Manoharan spoke to Sportcal to assess the body’s progress.
March 21 – Explainer: Running a soccer club outside Europe’s major leagues
Although European soccer’s “top five” leagues continue to dominate, the introduction of the Europa Conference League, the continent’s tertiary international club tournament, has benefitted dozens of sides from Europe’s smaller competitions. One such team is Welsh champions TNS, who in 2024 picked up a league phase win in the Conference League for the first time. TNS chair Mike Harris talked Sportcal through the dynamics of running a club outside of Europe’s major leagues.
April 25 – Explainer: How MLS growth goes beyond the Messi effect
In 2023, Lionel Messi, widely considered the greatest soccer player ever, moved to the US’ Major League Soccer (MLS). A wave of interest in the league soon followed, however, MLS’ long-term commercial strategy stretches far beyond relying on the now 37-year-old Messi, as MLS executive vice president of partnership marketing Jen Cramer explained.
May 16 – Explainer: Do NFTs still offer value for the sports industry?
In January 2022, the non-fungible token market shot to prominence, but in the years since has seen a major decline, now holding only 23% of the value it once had at its peak. Despite this, sports properties in 2024 continued to make commercial tie-ups with NFT providers.
One property that is still invested in the market is ice hockey’s NHL, which is partnered with digital collectible platform Sweet. Sweet's CMO and VP of marketing Laith Murad and Jason Runnion explained to Sportcal the benefits that NFTs can still bring to sports properties, as well as the challenges the industry continues to face.
June 21 – Sportradar looks into the future with 4Sight
In 2023, sports data and technology firm Sportradar agreed a long-term partnership with Tennis Data Innovations, a joint venture between elite tennis’ ATP and its ATP Media commercial body. That partnership led to the launch of Sportradar 4Sight in 2024, a broadcast graphic enhancement solution that looks to revolutionize sports betting by integrating data points with sportsbook broadcasts.
In conversation with Sportcal, Sportradar head of fan engagement Patrick Mostboeck discussed 4Sight’s rollout and how it can change the future of sports betting.
July 26 – WBD Europe sports production head Young on Paris 2024 preparations
Media giant Warner Bros. Discovery holds Olympic broadcast rights in 47 European markets (across 19 languages), and that made for a phenomenal undertaking in terms of disseminating over 3,800 hours of Olympic action during Paris 2024. Ahead of the games, WBD Sports Europe’s group senior vice president for content, production, and business operations Scott Young outlined the challenges of the task for Sportcal.
August 12 – Home Run: How MLB is working to ensure continued success in Europe
This year, Major League Baseball staged its second London Series, when the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies played a pair of fixtures at the city’s London Stadium. Ben Ladkin, MLB Europe chief, spoke to Sportcal in the aftermath of that series to discuss MBL’s progress in Europe, the success of the series, and how it plans to grow even further in the future on the continent.
September 6 – Gloves up: Shalom on Boxxer’s growth and the sport’s outlook
The UK has always been one of the world’s most prominent boxing markets, however, in recent years territories like Saudi Arabia have drawn bigger cards thanks to the massive riches on offer there, which has been capitalized on by a number of the sport’s biggest promotions.
Ben Shalom, the founder of UK promotion Boxxer, has instead remained focused on the UK market, a strategy that has seen the brand’s commercial visibility grow massively in the years since its foundation. Shalom discussed Boxxer’s growth with Sportcal and meditated on the future of UK boxing.
October 2 – IMG bringing Saudi Pro League into focus
In 2024, the highly controversial Saudi Pro League maintained its presence at the center of global soccer business narratives with its continued push for international relevance facilitated by a surge in commercial partnerships. On the international broadcast front, in particular, heavyweight agency IMG was brought in to manage the league’s production and distribution.
In October, key figures from IMG involved with the Saudi Pro League illuminated how the agency is helping bring the SPL into focus.
November 22 – World Snooker Tour opens up path to globalization
The World Snooker Tour has cued up several strategies to globalize the sport across 2024, including the distribution of record prize money for its UK Championship, alongside the relocation of the World Grand Prix from the UK to Hong Kong. In November, WST chief executive Simon Brownell explained just how these strategies will push the sport forward into new global markets.
December 13 – Racing into a new era: how MotoGP is strengthening for the future
MotoGP is in a period of major flux with impending new ownership chief among its looming changes. However, the series has also consolidated several existing TV partnerships and promoter Dorna Sports has signed on to continue its stewardship of the series through 2060. Dan Rossomondo, Dorna Sports chief commercial officer, laid out for Sportcal how the series is navigating this transformative period while strengthening its foundations.
