đŹ Video of the Week
People who dislike football love to tell fans that footballers are âoverpaidâ and that football clubs are just sucking money away from âsilly fansâ with their expensive tickets and over-priced merchandise.
What if we told you that instead of being a greedy corporate machine, football was in fact failing to live up to its potential!
Be sure to check out this weekâs video where we break down how football is losing a lot of revenue to the likes of Nike and Adidas, and why Mickey Mouse might be there to save the day!
đ± Social Media Madness of the Week
Toto Wolff Parties the Pain Away!
We will assume that most of you are aware of the incredible scenes that took place at the final F1 race in Abu Dhabi last week.
The controversial early release of the safety car, that led to Max Verstappen overtaking Lewis Hamilton for the World Drivers Championship, has come to completely dominate social media. To think that both Harry Kane and Samuel L. Jackson have joined the discussion just shows how wide this news has spread.
Hamilton and his Mercedes team were quick to protest the race result and the social media silence from both suggested that they were struggling to come to terms with what had just happened.
Well not everyone seemed to be struggling⊠Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff appears to have decided that the best coping mechanism is to party hard and attempt crowd surfing across an Abu Dhabi nightclub.
This video appears to have been taken at the Mercedes party after winning their 8th constructors title. While everyone at Mercedes will be upset that Lewis lost the WDC under controversial circumstances, they certainly seem to be in high spirits about their constructorsâ crown.
In probably unrelated news Mercedes has withdrawn their intention to take their protest to appeal with the FIA disciplinary panel.
đ Story of the Week
The Future of Skating and Surfing Looks Bright
He was a skater boy
She said, "See you later, boy"
He wasn't good enough for herâŠ.
Well, the International Olympic Committee would disagree!
Skateboarding, sports climbing, and Surfing have been included in the initial program of sports for the 2028 Olympic games in Los Angeles.
The debut of skating at the 2020 Tokyo games raised a few eyebrows among the sports fans, with many not seeing how skating could fit with the more traditional Olympic sports. Despite this pushback, skating, and the other sports mentioned, boasted strong viewership among younger fans at Tokyo 2020.
Keen to grow its younger fanbase, the IOC has decided to make skateboarding, climbing, and surfing key fixtures of the Paris 2024 games and the LA games in 2028.
"The proposed inclusion of these youth-based sports is based on the success of Tokyo 2020, a commitment to innovation and also recognises the deep roots each of these three sports have in Los Angeles and in California," Explains IOC president Thomas Bach.
Itâs bad news however for weightlifting and boxing which have both been excluded from the 2028 Games initial programme. The IOC is concerned with corruption scandals and the IOC has told the boxing federation AIBA, that they must change their judging and refereeing system, increase financial transparency and diversify their revenues.
đ€Ș Weird Deal of the Week
Udinese Sign Official Meme Coin
We started this newsletter with the promise that we wouldnât spend the whole time talking about crypto⊠and we have failed spectacularly!
Crypto has been mentioned in almost every edition of this newsletter, but, there is a good reason for that!
Our main promise was that we would provide you with the most interesting sports business news, and Crypto seems to dominate that category.
From the naming rights of the Staples Center to a group of friends trying to buy an NBA team with Ethereum, Crypto is big news in the sports business.
Another crypto making some interesting moves in Kiba Inu. The self-titled meme coin has become the co-sponsor of Italian Serie A side Udinese. This fast-growing coin will be advertised alongside Dacia on the front of the teamâs jerseys until the end of the season.
Just to re-cap, this is a cryptocurrency based on a meme, that now sponsors an Italian Serie A side. Just to underline how normal this has become, Udinese is referring to Kiba Inu as their official Meme Coin.
While this sponsorship may surprise some, it is not without a clear goal.
"We are very happy to have found in Kiba Inu an innovative partner, with which Udinese Calcio will be able to further develop its international marketing activities with digital products,â explains Federico Zurleni, Chief Revenue Officer of Udinese Calcio.
âOur goal is undoubtedly to enter into innovative partnerships to be increasingly aligned with new trends, especially in the digital technology sector,â continues Zurleni.
âïž Deal of the Week
La Liga Sign Record TV Right Deal
Who said losing Leonel Messi might damage the commercial value of LaLiga?
We did!! ohâŠ
LaLiga has agreed to a pair of TV rights deals with telecommunications company TelefĂłnica and digital media rising star DAZN worth âŹ4.95 billion (US$5.58 billion) in total.Â
The contracts will run from the 22/23 season until the final game of the 26/27 season and represent a small but not insignificant increase in TV revenues for the league.
The previous deal, spanning from 2018 until the end of the 21/22 season, was worth âŹ2.94 billion. These new five-year contracts see an increase in LaLigaâs domestic TV revenues from âŹ980 million to âŹ990 million per season.
In contrast, the Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1, all saw a reduction in the value of their broadcasting deals when signing new deals over the last 12 months.