1) What’s the most influential Parent Teacher Association in all of sport?
It’s an odd question, I’ll give you that, but it’s one that reared its head in Bangalore this week. Satyan Gajwani, the highly rated Chairman of Times Internet and an incoming owner of Royal Challengers Bangalore, lives in California. It turns out his children go to the same Menlo School as those of Silver Lake honcho Egon Durban. And YouTube CEO Neal Mohan. And Google CEO Sundar Pichai. (All of them, incidentally, co-owners of the London Spirit Hundred franchise). That’s quite a powerful table at the annual PTA charity fundraiser.
2) Does India still want to host the Olympics?
With India in line to host the Centennial 2030 Commonwealth Games in Ahmedabad, the mood music around the full-fat bid for an Olympic Games – likely in the same city – seems to have shifted. The drum beat has gone down tempo. But walking the halls here in Bangalore and the enthusiasm for the project remains. Indian Sports Secretary Hari Ranjan Rao was happy to reiterate the government’s backing for the project –and the idea of becoming a regular host of top-level global sports events – too. He pointed to the National Sports Governance Act – passed last year – as a clear signal of intent and a framework for the professionalisation of all sport underneath cricket here in India. It’s the first piece of sports focused legislation passed by the Indian government for 28 years. That being said, the commercial landscape for sport here in India is still best described as topsy-turvy. Such obvious potential in an ever-growing middle class and rising GDP, but an uncompetitive media landscape that has put a spanner in the works of several major sports properties’ strategies of late. Romy Gai, FIFA’s top commercial operator, is believed to be flying into the country next week to try to get a last-minute media deal for the upcoming World Cup done. The IOC – despite having cricket on the Olympic programme now – is yet to do a media deal for the next cycle of Games. And even the IPL is facing a challenge with a lack of competition as it aims to go to the market again soon.
3) What happens when the CTOs of the NBA, NHL and MLB walk into a sports conference?
They talk about change, that’s what. Three of sport’s most whip-smart tech rock stars – the NHL’s Peter DelGiacco, MLB’s Sean Curtis and Krishna Bhagavathula of the NBA - gathered at SBJ’s Tech Week for a state-of-the-industry panel on Wednesday. They’re a trio charged with enhancing the fan experience, promoting and executing internal operational excellence and trying to make sense of and optimise how AI is utilised throughout their respective organisations – but all three have a clear sense of the need to bring their people along for the ride as they do so. DelGiacco argued that his biggest current constraint is the speed at which change is happening, and that organisations must be more careful than ever not to lock themselves in by making technology decisions that don’t incorporate flexibility and adaptability. Curtis identified a current challenge where hype cycles around certain technologies have resulted in a multitude of potentially confusing tools, requiring coordination and prioritisation. And Bhagavathula delivered the soundbite of a lively conversation when he pointed out that the pace of change in sports technology today is the slowest it will ever be.
4) What do sports media insiders consider to be great content?
Here in New York, we hosted another of our private, exclusive Attention Seekers workshops for some of the brightest sparks in the sports content and media universe. It’s all strictly off the record, but it’s always worthwhile getting a sense of what the industry experts are watching, the sports content they’re finding most compelling: Neymar’s Brazil World Cup call up; the various ways Augusta National spun up Rory McIlroy’s Champion’s Dinner menu; Victor Wembanyama’s reading list; World Fencing League; the WTA’s fashion strand; the Savannah Bananas; and Natty, the Washington Nationals’ new team dog all feature on what was a typically eclectic list. Talking of great work, the Leaders Sports Awards have been given a once over for this year – as well as contenders for this year’s Leaders Under 40 class, we’re on the hunt for the very best venue, marketer and activation.
5) How do you replace a CEO like Sally Bolton?
Wimbledon’s CEO since 2019 has announced she’ll step down from one of the plum jobs in British – and world – sport following this year’s Championships, and she’ll be hard to replace having steered the organisation through the Covid cancellation of 2020 and through the painstaking permissions process to secure the land upon which the All England Lawn Tennis Club intends to build 38 new courts and a new 8,000 seat stadium. Our Leaders in Focus extended conversation with her in 2024 helps paint a picture of the sort of leader she’s been. And the next phase of that £200 million expansion project, ever more important as the other three Grand Slams expand into third weeks, could well, as we mused on this week’s podcast, influence the identity of Bolton’s successor.
