Money Talks: How to build a sports business
Money Talks from The Economist
The Economist
4.4 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 20 July 2023
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Newspaper sports pages have - in recent years - often read more like business sections with reports of mergers, acquisitions and well-funded startups trying to steal market share. But those deals tend to be structured with the interests of team bosses and players in mind, rather than the fans. That got the “Money Talks” team wondering: where does the balance lie between commercial imperatives in sport and fan support?
On this week’s podcast, hosts Mike Bird and Alice Fulwood draft in The Economist’s resident sports geek Arjun Ramani to examine what makes a good sports business. The deputy commissioner of the National Basketball Association, Mark Tatum, tells them how to structure a league to keep fans engaged. And Chatri Sityodtong, the founder of martial arts league ONE Championship, explains how to make money from those fans. But Bobby Sharma, the founder of Bluestone Equity Partners, says the rules of the game are changing as younger fans turn to streaming services rather than cable.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | We owe tradition an awful lot, nostalgia makes you feel good, smell the wood paneling, breathe in the leather, taste the smoke, reminisce, feel safe. |
| 0:12.0 | Tradition means we can act without thinking, but the rules of business and society have changed. |
| 0:18.0 | Tradition is history, no more stuck in the past, businesses come and go, no foundation is unshakable, no business is bulletproof. |
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| 1:18.0 | In April 2021, the world of football or soccer, as it's known in some parts of the world, nearly changed forever. |
| 1:29.0 | 12 of Europe's biggest football clubs intend to break away to form a super league all of their own. |
| 1:35.0 | The founder members of the proposed European super league included the biggest names from the English, Spanish and Italian leagues. |
| 1:43.0 | Chelsea United, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter Milan among others. |
| 1:48.0 | Their plan was to break away from European soccer's governing body, UEFA, to create their own competition containing 20 teams. |
| 1:58.0 | The founding clubs and three others would be the permanent members facing no threat of relegation. |
| 2:05.0 | They claimed it would be good for football, giving fans the chance to see Europe sporting titans locked in a battle for supremacy. |
| 2:13.0 | The fans, pundits, ex-players and pretty much everyone else disagreed. |
| 2:18.0 | There's a sort of dismay and anger amongst all of us, isn't there? |
| 2:22.0 | Yeah, frustrated, angry, it's a nonsensical idea. It just shows that the owners of the clubs do not care about the supporters. |
| 2:30.0 | The league would break the sport's long-standing ecosystem while promising eye-popping paydays from media rights and merchandising. |
| 2:38.0 | Revenue should be funneled to the club's billionaire owners. |
| 2:42.0 | Former Manchester United player Rio Ferdinand summed up the public perception. |
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