1) Are fans part of the product or merely observing the product?
A longstanding question, but either way they’re paying for it. Fifa’s full men’s World Cup ticket rate card has been published and, in many corners of the planet, criticised heavily over the past few days, prompting a revised plan for select cheaper tickets on Tuesday. In the initial announcement, a ticket for June’s final in New York will cost roughly seven times what a final ticket at Qatar 2022 cost – and prices have swelled across the expanded 48-team, 104-game tournament, prompting various fan groups in various parts of the world to encourage national association to protest directly to Fifa. That won’t happen (not least given those same associations will ultimately be the beneficiaries of what Fifa is projecting will be increased revenues) and indeed Fifa has already trumpeted five million ticket requests (not sales) from over 200 countries. It’s an impressive figure but a crude estimate suggests 7.7 million tickets will need to be sold to ensure every single game is a sellout. That feels a bit of a stretch, particularly given the vast NFL stadiums in use, the vast geographic spread of the tournament if fans want to follow their team around, and a bloated group stage of 72 games, all to whittle 48 teams down to 32. The final result will not be as stark as the swathes of empty seats that marked the Club World Cup in the summer, but broadcasting World Cup games played in front of less-than-sold-out stadiums is certainly not what Fifa’s roster of media partners have bought into – and the ticket pricing strategy probably doesn’t help.
2) Have Disney just created the AI licensing model sports leagues should follow?
It’s the worst kept secret in sport that many, if not all, of sport’s major rights holders are in discussions with the major AI players about how their data and archive material can be ingested to feed the machine, and how the financial arrangements for that should work. It’s all a bit cloak and dagger for some reason, but Disney’s announcement last week that it has gone into business with Sora, OpenAI’s text-to-video tool, might turn out to be the new – and very visible - model to follow. Disney is licensing over 200 of its characters, across Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars, to Sora, allowing users to generate short social videos featuring them. In relaxing some of its IP guidelines, albeit with some carefully constructed protections built in, Disney is making a bet on AI-flavoured user-generated content – it is also investing $1 billion into OpenAI and will give Sora exclusivity on its characters for a year, in what may come to be seen as the ultimate AI test and learn process.
3) What do cabbages, bendy phone cases and letter writing have in common?
They've all been identified by the annual (and always interesting) Pinterest Predicts report as trends to watch out for in 2026. Also in: emotional comfort and belonging; curating not copying; and - whisper it - grounded optimism.
4) What happens when you email a bunch of CEOs to ask them what they’ve learnt about being in the hotseat this year?
Dave Hopkinson, CEO, Newcastle United
“I’ve learned that the job is not about you. As CEO, you’re a temporary custodian of something that belongs to a community—act accordingly.”
Mary Bekhait, CEO, YMU Group
“The pace of change is extraordinary - my job as CEO is about holding the horizon steady while everything else shifts.”
Ross Hutchins, CEO, International Tennis Federation
“Clarity of the vision with a simple and understandable roadmap to success for all to be on board with continues to prevail.”
Scott O’Neil, CEO, LIV Golf
“Actions matter more than words, but words still matter; a mission pure of intent with a talented team and with the right culture, there is no mountain too big to climb together…and, an ounce of humility goes a very long way.”
Kerstin Lutz, CEO, BJK Cup
“There is always a silver lining!”
Sophie Goldschmidt, CEO, US Ski & Snowboard
“I further learnt to not be surprised by the daily challenges that come up. They’re not going away and actually the better an organisation is doing, the bigger and more high profile the issues can become, along with bigger opportunities and positives. Keep the balance… don’t to get too ‘high’... or too ‘low’, as the rate of change and the unexpected is only increasing.”
Paul Barber, CEO, Brighton & Hove Albion
“More a reminder that listening remains an underrated skill and an even bigger asset.”
Corey Pellatt, CEO, Versus
“This year I learned how much weight the CEO role carries in the eyes of our team. As we’ve grown, the business has needed more structure and hierarchy – something that doesn’t come naturally when you’ve built a company of highly autonomous, do-everything people who care more about the work than titles. I’ve had to embrace the fact that my time, attention and support land differently now, simply because of the role I hold. Owning that responsibility has been a real moment of growth for me as a leader.”
Mark Bullingham, CEO, The FA
“This year just confirmed my view that hiring and then supporting brilliant people is so critical to success. I don’t believe we would have won the women’s euros with any other coach than Sarina [Weigman].”
Marina Storti, CEO, WTA Ventures
“Being a CEO is fundamentally about people, belief, and clarity. This year reinforced that success isn’t just about individual talent, but about building a team with shared belief, trust, and alignment behind a clear vision. It highlighted the importance of setting direction, empowering others, and being intentional about quality and standards—particularly in building a premium brand. Leadership at this level requires resilience, decisiveness, and the ability to bring others with you while staying anchored to the long-term strategy.”
Dave Nugent, CEO, Next League
"Every year I am a CEO I learn a little more about the same dynamic; running a company is a study in human behavior. Every person, regardless of seniority, comes to work with their own set of expectations, strengths and anxieties. Being an active listener and paying attention to the signals your team sends out is important. I think this year I learned that when to transition from manager to leader, and back again. These are very different skills and knowing when you need to inspire the team with vision vs. when you need to tactically manage a team to results can be tricky. Many may say you need to do both simultaneously, and in a perfect world it would unfold that way, but that is not my experience."
