Russia

Winter Sports

The organising committee of Sochi’s 2014 winter Olympic Games has said that it expects to record an operating profit of around $261m (€191.9m).
Media

This third annual survey of global sports media consumption by Perform, KantarSport and TV Sports Markets takes our research wider and deeper than before. Wider, because the number of territories covered has increased from 10 to 14, with the inclusion this year of important growth markets such as India, Indonesia, Japan and Turkey. Deeper, because we have asked questions designed to burrow down into new areas, such as consumers’ second-screen activities, that have not been properly examined until now.
Media

This second annual survey of global sports media consumption by Perform, KantarSport and TV Sports Markets confirms many of the trends highlighted in the first report in 2011 and brings into even sharper focus some of the changes in consumer habits that anybody working in the sports media industry needs to be attuned to.

Ice Hockey

Organisers of the Champions Hockey League (CHL) are in talks with Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) over the possibility of its teams taking part in the 2015-16 edition of the pan-European club ice hockey competition.

Football
Events

Kostiantyn Yelisieiev, Ukraine’s ambassador to the European Union, has called for Russia to face serious EU financial sanctions and lose the hosting rights to the 2018 Fifa World Cup national team football tournament over its annexation of Crimea.

SportAccord Convention has announced it is closing in on a decision over the host of its 2015 event, adding that “strong interest” has been received from multiple Brazilian cities to stage a future edition of the Convention in the country for the first time.
Business

Sports venues and hotels that were used during Sochi’s hosting of the 2014 winter Olympics have been granted a tax break by the Russian city’s regional government in an attempt to save on costs following the Games earlier this year.

Motorsport
Business

The International Motorsport Federation (FIA) and race promoters have maintained that Formula One’s inaugural Russian Grand Prix remains on course for its October debut in Sochi, despite ongoing concerns about the crisis in Ukraine.

Motorsport

Russian Grand Prix organisers have denied reports that Formula One’s inaugural race in the country is in danger, while Azerbaijani officials have rejected suggestions that Baku could step in to replace Sochi on the 2014 calendar.

Ice Hockey
Business

The Kontinental Hockey League will add a team based in Sochi, the host city of the 2014 winter Olympic Games, operators of the European ice hockey tournament have confirmed.
Business

Vladimir Katrenko, a director of the Russian state Audit Chamber, has said there is an “urgent” need to improve the legacy plans for the venues of the Sochi 2014 winter Olympic Games.

Skating

Sochi has submitted a bid to host the International Skating Union’s (ISU) 2017 World Figure Skating Championships as the Russian city looks to build a tangible legacy from its staging of this year’s winter Olympic Games.

Athletics

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Council has selected Kazan as the host of the 2016 World Junior Championships.
Business

The Superbike World Championship (WSBK) has announced that the Russian round of the 2014 motorcycling series has been cancelled due to ongoing political issues in the country.

Motorsport

Russian sports car manufacturer Marussia Motors has relinquished ownership of its self-titled Formula One motor racing team and has ended its car making operations.

Para Sport
Business

The organising committee for the Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Games recorded a profit of around five billion rubles (€103.2m/$142.3m), according to president and chief executive Dmitry Chernyshenko.

The biggest marketing successes from the 2014 Sochi winter Olympics.
Events

Sir Philip Craven MBE, IPC (International Paralympic Committee) President, writes exclusively for SportBusiness International.