Inside Track

SportBusiness' US editor looks at the meteoric business growth over the past year for several North American pro women's leagues and how they are closing the gap compared to their male counterparts

Nic Couchman, head of sport at Charles Russell Speechlys, examines the ways sports rights-holders have worked with private equity houses and considers the key features of successful investment partnerships

Alex Kelham, joint-head of the Sports Business Group at law firm Lewis Silkin, predicts how brands will seek to associate themselves with this year's Olympic Games through ambush marketing campaigns

Allen Soong, partner at California-based financial consulting firm Paladin, explores the expanding opportunities for more nimble sports organizations in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic

Former NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL senior executive Andy Dolich discusses the state of the Olympic movement and the challenges it faces in the build up to the delayed Tokyo Olympics

Murray Barnett, a sports media and commercial expert formerly of F1, World Rugby and ESPN, and director of new OTT consultancy D2C Sport, says sports rights-holders needs to be wary of getting the wrong advice when developing a streaming service

Former Jockey Club chair Simon Bazalgette, who now runs specialist sports investment advisory and consultancy firm GVS, argues the secondary ticketing market is at a crossroads following the CMA’s refusal to sanction viagogo’s acquisition of StubHub

Sam Yardley, executive vice-president, North America at Two Circles, explains why international fans are central to sponsorship growth for US major league teams

Catherine Forshaw, solicitor at independent law firm Brabners, examines the legal implications for event organisers of Osaka’s decision not to do press during the recent Roland Garros tournament and her subsequent withdrawal citing mental health issues

Luca Ferrari, head of the global sports practice for legal firm Withersworldwide, examines whether Uefa is within its legal right to punish the three clubs that have refused to repent their involvement in the breakaway European Super League

James Paul, head of sport finance at Blackstar Capital, discusses why investors will be regarding European football with interest in the coming months – even with the flattening of the ESL project

Luca Massaro, CEO of performance marketing agency WePlay, offers five marketing steps that will encourage fans back into stadiums once lockdown restrictions ease

Gareth Capon, chief executive of cloud video platform Grabyo, gives his assessment of the recent deal between NBCUniversal and Twitch to deliver a channel entirely devoted to the Olympics

The evolution of media consumption habits is presenting sports rights-holders with a dizzying array of new challenges. Dr. Christian Mueller, chief executive of Infront X, identifies the major changes content producers need to be aware of

Paul Hastings LLP attorney James "Bo" Pearl and law student Anna Alvarado explore the legal landscape around teams requiring Covid-19 vaccines to attend live events

Stephen Reid, managing director for Hill+Knowlton’s Sports Marketing, Entertainment, Culture and Sponsorship Team across the Middle East, Turkey, India and Africa, looks at the opportunities ahead for ‘hybrid’ hospitality activations