Sport’s human rights procedures a ‘black box’ with no transparency, campaigners say
Over the last five years, sport’s major governing bodies have integrated human rights into their decision-making processes. But for human rights campaigners, there is a lack of transparency around these processes which makes it impossible to assess how they are being applied, or indeed if they are being adhered to at all. Frank Dunne reports.
Mediapro fights back after Ligue 1, Serie A setbacks and Covid
In his first major interview since the collapse of the media rights deals for France’s Ligue 1 and Italy’s Serie A, Mediapro founder Jaume Roures strongly defends the company’s approach in both markets and insists that neither deal fell through on concerns about Mediapro guarantees.
Innovation, community and a commitment to youth: How Italy’s Lega B became European football’s surprise success story
Frank Dunne takes a look at Italy's Lega B which, against a backdrop of financial crisis and a soft sports-rights market, is thriving.
Nent’s ambitious expansion plans are good news for rights-holders but highly risky
The Nordic Entertainment Group (Nent) plans to become Europe’s number one streaming service. If successful, its Viaplay OTT brand could soon be as ubiquitous as Sky or ESPN. But scaling in Europe on a market-by-market basis is an expensive and highly risky strategy.
Fiba’s Zagklis: Inclusion of 3×3 at Tokyo will grow grassroots basketball
3x3 basketball will make its debut at the full Olympic Games in Tokyo, after a successful trial period in the Youth Olympics. Fiba’s secretary general Andreas Zagklis tells Frank Dunne why 3x3 and the Olympics were made for each other.
Vero’s Jasani: how to win a campaign for inclusion in the Olympic Games
The campaign of the International Surfing Association for inclusion in the Olympics was led by ISA president, Fernando Aguerre. Vero Communications worked to strengthen the federation's relations with key figures in the Olympic movement. Vero managing director Sujit Jasani tells Frank Dunne what goes into building a successful campaign.
IGF’s Scanlon: Phenomenal broadcast coverage in Rio helped broaden the appeal of golf
Golf returned to the Olympic Games in Rio after a hiatus of 112 years. Several of the sport’s top players decided not to take part, generating some negative media coverage, but the International Golf Federation’s executive director Antony Scanlon tells Frank Dunne why Rio was an ‘outstanding success’ for the sport
Inclusion in the Olympic Games remains the holy grail for even the most established sports
Inclusion in the Olympic Games programme can be transformational for a sport, so international federations will spend years and hundreds of thousands of dollars battling to get accepted by the IOC. For those that make it, the rewards are substantial in terms of funding, visibility and increased participation. Frank Dunne reports.
World Rugby’s Gilpin: Rio was not just a game-changer for sevens but for rugby as a whole
The seven-a-side format of rugby was accepted by the IOC in 2009 and made its debut at Rio 2016. World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin discusses how the sport's inclusion opened up new markets, while looking ahead to Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024
Szymanski: Relegation causes most of football’s financial problems, but I wouldn’t get rid of it
SportBusiness has conducted a series of interviews with senior figures from European football, asking them to define a ‘sustainable’ economic model for the game on the continent. In the fourth article in the series, football economist and author Stefan Szymanski argues a degree of financial instability is an inevitable part of European football.