Welcome to Worth Knowing, the definitive sports industry newsletter from Leaders – this is David Cushnan, making a list, with James Emmett and the Leaders team checking it twice.  

If you’re engaged, as we are, in some company Secret Santa organised fun over the next couple of weeks, why not save yourself a few quid and simply send whoever you’ve drawn this link. 

Matt Porter, CEO of the Professional Darts Corporation, joined us on this week’s podcast, the night after the Matchroom Christmas party and just before the World Darts Championships begin at London’s Alexandra Palace. Topics include: Netflix filming, Luke Littler, darts around the world and fancy dress. 

5 things Worth Knowing you need to know this week

 

1)  Saudi Arabia will be confirmed as host of the 2034 Fifa men’s World Cup next week. The bid – the only one for the tournament – has received an average score of 4.2 out of five, across all elements following a Fifa evaluation. On human rights, Fifa said the tournament represented a ‘medium’ risk, but added that it had ‘good potential to act as a catalyst for reforms’. The 2030 hosts – Spain, Portugal and Morocco – will also be confirmed. 

 

2)  DAZN has acquired global media rights, for around US$1 billion, to next year’s Fifa Club World Cup in the United States – it’ll make coverage available for free.  

 

3)  The Premier League has reportedly agreed a wide-ranging partnership with Microsoft, who will replace Oracle as a key technology provider. 

 

4)  The Six Nations has unveiled its rebrand, to mixed reviews. 

 

5)  The Qatar Investment Authority has acquired a substantial minority stake – believed to around 25% - in the Audi F1 team project, which will launch in 2026 when Audi completes its takeover of the Sauber team. 

1)  What’s the best sponsorship deal signed in 2024? 

Your thoughts welcome; Ricardo Fort’s are, as usual, on point.  

 

2)  Have we overestimated the athlete-led production house? 

News that LeBron James’ SpringHill, which recently announced a merger with James Corden’s Fulwell 73, lost US$28 million last year certainly gives pause for thought. Perhaps the trend for athlete-led production companies isn’t because they’re necessarily good at what they do, but because they’re good at raising money. 

 

3)  Can I see more of your large language model? 

We’re thinking about how we cover AI at our various Summits, events and gatherings in 2025 – some questions we’re pondering: does the industry want to hear about specific use cases, around big bucket item like fan engagement or broadcast production, even if they might be quite dry and certainly less visible? Is a bigger picture, more macro approach actually that useful or valuable? Where does AI actually sit in sports organisations’ endless long-term priority list? Are organisations looking at it primarily through a risk prism or as a genuine opportunity? Is 2025 a year when decisions will start to be taken by the industry on reallocating tasks previously handled by humans? And what might the impact of that be? Would love your thoughts on overall approach – and any recommendations for the most dynamic speaker or presenter you’ve seen on the topic (for my money, this three minutes of Ben Affleck discussing AI and the future of the movie industry is worth the watch).  

 

4)  What percentage of brand advertising spend is on gaming? 

It’s 5% - but expect that to grow, given the wealth of opportunity (and the handy entry point to a new world being provided by Roblox) as agencies tap into a gaming space with a total market value of US$184 million and nearly 3.5 billion people.  

 

5)  What’s sport’s most interesting rights holder investment dynamic? 

Is it a) rights holders investing other rights holders (see the NFL’s plan to invest in Liga MX’s new commercial rights arm) or is it b) rights holders investing in tech firms (see the latest activity at FC Barcelona’s Innovation Hub).   

Fifa World Cup 2034 bid evaluation report (60 mins) 

Fifa World Cup 2030 bid evaluation report (60 mins) 

DAZN to broadcast Fifa Club World Cup globally (3 mins) 

Six Nations unveils brand refresh (2 mins) 

Qatar invests in Audi F1 (7 mins) 

LeBron James’ media company lost almost US$30 million last year (3 mins) 

Agency holdcos express confidence in gaming for 2025 (4 mins) 

Liga MX teams to vote on formal investment from Apollo, NFL (3 mins) 

FC Barcelona presents the mascot CAT (2 mins) 

Bruin Capital launches soccer representation agency  (3 mins) 

Group: George Pyne’s Bruin Sports Capital has moved into the football agency space, launching AS1, an amalgam of new acquisitions Nomi Sports, Position Number, Promoesport and Football Division Worldwide. SBJ reports the deals value the new AS1 at US $310 million. 

 

Watch: Ahead of the start of the new season this weekend in Brazil, Formula E has signed a deal with ITV for free-to-air coverage in the UK. 

 

Race: F1 has extended its deal to stage the Italian Grand Prix at Monza until 2031, but the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort will drop off the calendar after the 2026 edition. 

 

Post: The NHL has renewed its partnership with IMG, who will continue to manage the league’s international social media strategy (28 channels across eight markets). 

 

Drink: Add Kseniia Morozova to your contacts list – Ukrainian vodka brand Nemiroff’s Head of Brand Marketing is doing a deal a week at the moment with Premier League clubs, with Fulham the third and latest to sign an agreement. 

 

Grapple: London’s Royal Albert Hall will host The Grand Sumo Tournament next October, after striking a deal with the Japan Sumo Association and promoter Askonas Holt – it’s the first time in 20 years the tournament will take place outside Japan. 

 

Deposit: Bank of America is Fifa’s latest partner for next year’s Club World Cup. 

 

Meow: Meet CAT – an indigenous feline of Catalonia and the new mascot of FC Barcelona, created by the club’s Identity division. 

Hiring

 

•  New Zealand Rugby is hiring a UK-based Head of Commercial Development. 

 

•  Sportradar is looking for a Vienna-based Director of Strategic Sourcing to ‘define the procurement strategy for our strategic suppliers and establish and implement a cost optimisation programme across Sportradar’. 

 

Hired

 

•  The Washington Commanders have appointed Mark Clouse, formerly the CEO of Campbell’s soup company, as its new President. 

 

•  Kristi Coleman, the President of the Carolina Panthers, has been promoted to run ownership group Tepper Sports & Entertainment.  

 

•  Liz Moore has been named Interim Commissioner of the LPGA Tour, with Mollie Marcoux Samaan vacating the Commissioner role. 

 

•  Fifa has named former US Women’s National Team coach Jill Ellis as its new Chief Football Officer.  

 

•  Craig Stimmel has joined Nascar as SVP and Chief Commercial Officer. He joins from the Las Vegas Grand Prix organisation and will be based in New York. 

 

•  Elie Barnes is the new Chief Marketing and Digital Officer at Bremont Watches. 

 

•  Sponsorship sales intelligence company Caytoo has appointed Rich Wigley as its first Head of Business Development. 

 

•  Telstra Broadcast Services (TBS) has named Karen Clark as CEO. 

Saudi Arabia will next week be formally awarded the 2034 Fifa men’s World Cup, officially beginning a planning phase that will be one of the sports industry’s biggest plotlines over the next decade, in much the same way as Qatar came to dominate conversation between 2010 and 2022. Here are five areas where, according to the bid evaluation, existing international sports industry expertise might be required. 

 

Architects and stadium operators: 15 stadiums proposed by the bid, including 8 planned new builds and another three under construction. Fifa said the 'high ambition for innovation, together with the overall scale of the stadium projects, creates a slightly elevated risk profile' - the proposed Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium is located within the Qiddiya development, while NEOM Stadium will be built within the under-construction THE LINE project. The tournament will be clustered, with eight stadiums in and around Riyadh, and four more in Jeddah.  

 

Hospitality expertise: 72 team base camp hotels and training bases, 60 venue-specific hotels and two referee base camp hotels have been submitted as part of the bid - Fifa says the hotels are of a 'good' standard and the training sites are of a 'very good' standard. For wider accommodation, the Saudi bid has secured contracts with an 'extensive portfolio of hotel properties' - some 390 sites and over 65,000 hotel rooms. The Ministry of Tourism is embarking on a comprehensive review of hospitality training, to ensure the local workforce is sufficiently prepared. 

 

Live event producers: 10 potential fan festival sites - two in each of the five host cities, including five existing sites such as Jeddah waterfront, where the Saudi Grand Prix takes place. The bid also has ambitions for further fan sites outside the host cities. 

 

Operational planning and transport logistics: Plans are afoot to introduce high-speed rail and 'enhance public transport', as well as an increase in airport capacity at key hubs in Riyadh and Jeddah. A planned new NEOM International Airport is projected to be processing a further 12 million passengers by 2034. The five host cities are all accessible within a three-hour flight of each other. On the ground, Riyadh is making investments in its public transport network, including a driverless metro system - six lines are expected to be operating by 2030, with a daily capacity of 3.6 million. The plan for Jeddah is bus-heavy, with shuttles planned to link the stadiums to the city centre. 

 

Specialist security: Fifa rates the level of risk around security and safety as low, but does stress that effective public-private partnerships will be essential and need to be expanded around stadiums and venues. 

Who? Angelo Binaghi

What? President, Italian Tennis Federation 

Why? Binaghi has run Italian tennis since 2001, but 2024 has brought previously unimaginable highs – Italy has reached a position of dominance on court, winning both the Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup last month and with Jannick Sinner and Jasmine Paolini having standout years, and off it. This week, Binaghi signed a deal with the International Tennis Federation to host the Davis Cup final eight tournament for the next three years, beginning in Bologna next year. He’s also recently solidified a relationship with the ATP – an organisation also under Italian stewardship – to host the season-ending ATP Tour Finals, currently sited in Turin, in Italy until at least 2030. 

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