What's missing from the IOC's grand vision; Humanwashing; Arise Sir BOGOF; XG Succession; Nike, Drake and cricket; The Least Dance; Sportel uncovered; CEO as new manager; Sport as safe harbour
Overthinking the sports business, for money
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Hop aboard the CEO merry go round
David ‘Dave’ Cushnan had a good stat on What Just Happened, our news analysis pod on Friday.
The context was the arrival to Newcastle of David ‘Dave’ Hopkinson as the new CEO.
That made 15 clubs in the league with a new CEO in the last three years [must remember to check this stat]. The following day number 16 arrived at Crystal Palace. [see note about checking that stat above].
Anyway, you get the point. The turnover of CEOs now mirrors that of managers.
One reason is the rise of Swiss Ramble, Kieran Maguire and a generation of superstar football accountants-cum-influencers which means that the questions are now more about amortisation than the high press.
These need an answer that comes from above the dugout.
With that comes the credit and blame when things go astray on the pitch.
That’s the difference between the commercial job and the big chair. Blame.
Sir Jim as BOGOF
It’s fitting then, as the ultimate cost cutter has merged the job of owner and human shield. From the Glazers’ pov Sir Jim Ratcliffe comes as a buy one get one free deal.
It’s odd that we don’t mention the Glazers much anymore.
Manchester United’s majority shareholders haven’t been seen in public since Sky News chased Avram around a Florida car park demanding to know if ‘Man Utd fans are just customers to you?’, which is a bit rich after thirty years of Sky turning football fans in to customers, but we’ll let that slide.
In the Glazers’ place is Britain’s own 1%-er, Sir Jim of INEOS, who paid Avram and the bros a cool £1.25bn for a 27.7% stake, to be in charge of the football side of the business.
Since that moment, Sir Jim has become the Glazer’s comms guy.
This week, the story of INEOS Energy’s possible exit from the UK was filtered through the United lens, referencing the tax handouts expected from the club for their new stadium project and its associated transport infrastructure.
Tricky thing football. Its popularity comes with a downside of huge media interest.
Five things the IOC is worrying about
Kirsty Coventry’s to-do list was shared this week.
It’s hard not to view this list through a culture war lens, given the Games Goes To Trumpland in ‘28.
The new IOC comms chief is James Pearce, formerly of the BBC. Pearce now gets to go to bed at night with a sense of impending dread over his boss’s next visit to the Trump game show that is the Oval Office press conference.
To this end, it’s interesting to note the absence of an explicit reference to the climate crisis as a topic worthy of Kirsty Coventry’s attention.
It will be doubtless argued that it falls within the host city selection process review. A theme that cuts across topic areas. Etc.
Makes you wonder though, whether this list would’ve been the same this time last year, before the new era of ‘drill baby drill’ politics.
By comparison, FIFA’s president has few such qualms.
Gianni Infantino has taken FIFA all-in on a MAGA World Cup next year, seemingly using the Oval Office as an AirBnB.
The 48 team expanded World Cup is a middle finger to the green lobby - more fans, more journeys, more everything.
Bach overtures
The former IOC president made sure to take the credit for the last mega NBC deal, the press release going out a few days before his leaving party.
The host cities are sorted till the middle of the next decade.
So, what’s left for Coventry to do that is BIG.
Climate?
That’s the one big subject the IOC could make a priority, not with white papers and task forces, but with real, painful actions. It is the one sports body with the power to take a genuine global leadership position on this topic because it’s one of very few bodies with a long term view. That’s rare today.
Who has the incentive to plan beyond five years?
National and local politicians? No.
Shareholder owned businesses? No.
Individual Olympic host cities? No.
So we’re left with a few oil states and a couple of billionaires.
And the IOC.
Fewer, bigger things
Time for an idiotically naive thought experiment.
What if, the Olympics only had one job
What if, the Olympics was given just one job to do: to square the circle of hosting massive global sports events which enrich rather than deplete the planet’s resources and reduce rather than contribute to global warming.
One job. Twenty years. In IOC parlance, that’s roughly two TOP partner cycles and a few media rights renewal terms.
Park everything else. Just do that.
What decision would be made today?
How would this objective shape the other bullet points listed above.
Sports programme? Choice of hosts?
TOP programme…?
In a previous podcast I asked James Williams this question.
He was Coke’s Olympic bloke for several games.
He came on the podcast in the run up to Paris 2024.
What he said opened my eyes to the IOC’s relationship with this issue.
You’ll recall that the marketing around Paris was that it was to be ‘plastic free’.
A laudable ambition, but a job that should not fall to one individual host city.
Hold this passage in your mind:
The IOC is currently very good at making this (environmental sustainability of the Games) the Local Organising Committee’s problem rather than them (the IOC) building a long-term solution to the problem.
And a good example of that is Paris. They came out, they went, you know what? We want to make this the plastic-free Games, and all credit to Paris, you know, it's a lofty goal.
The reality is, is that realistic? Now if the IOC really wanted to make fundamental changes in sustainability, they need to write a 10 year plan that takes in all of the Games in that 10 years and go each time we are going to reduce our plastic by 25% every single games, because then by the time we get to LA we are now plastic free.
So the difference is, is now Paris is having to roll back some of these big kind of targets and go, you know what, sorry, we can't deliver this… 'because'.
So…we’re back to long term planning and prioritising objectives.
The problem is money.
Taking a leadership position must involve pain. Otherwise it’s noise.
For example, back to that TOP bullet point in Kirsty Coventry’s list.
If climate change is really an objective, then Coca-Cola – ‘the world’s biggest plastic polluter’ in all global Break Free From Plastic brand audits - can’t be allowed to use the Olympic Games as its marketing platform.
Give up Coke money?
As Sir Humphrey used to say, that’s a brave decision minister.
A Saudi Olympics?
Fine, but…I may stop recycling the milk cartons.
All of which is a long way of saying signals are important and climate should have its own bullet point.
See also:
Jack Buckner: The Olympics is in more trouble than most people think
‘Safe harbour’
Oi, Sovereign Wealth! Is there an ROI model or not?
Make up your mind ffs.
(From Bloomberg’s interview with Ted Leonsis):
Qatar said: “We want safe harbour; we don’t want an exit,” Leonsis said. “Very patient capital. And a lot of capital. We know that some of the funds running around in sports it’s $3 billion, it’s $5 billion. Sovereign wealth funds have trillions of dollars.”
Cricket is an old man’s game…hold that thought
Succession
Big news in podcast land.
As Maggie Murphy heads off to run Aston Villa Women, we’re thrilled to welcome Charlotte Thomson as a future co-host of Expected Goals.
See you at SPORTEL
Listen to this week’s preview and then buy a ticket via the link below.
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Human washing
Two stories of fantastic ineptitude. But who or what’s to blame?
Human designer or AI?
Occam’s razor suggests it was ChatGPT, hallucinating as it tends to do, making - in this case - hilarious but low stakes errors.
Two outcomes.
We're about to enter a period of human washing, where companies try very hard to appear that there were actual people at the controls. We need someone to blame, see story above.
Our children will become alert to what is AI and what is ‘real’, in the same way they are very sharp on spotting product placement in films.
While we’re on designers…
Red Bullish
Let there be no doubt that a caffeine drenched sparkly drinks firm has bought Newcastle’s rugby team.
When you own the thing, there’s nobody on the other side to answer the client’s first creative question: Can you make my logo bigger?
Next up…coming to a Leeds United shirt near you.
The Least Dance
I like Rory McIlroy etc, but is there enough source material for a seven part documentary?
I’d pay for a genuine, non-PR’d version of Tiger’s version. That’s the life story I want to watch.
Welcome to this week’s new podcast listeners
Carpentersville! I wanna go there one day.
The "Olympics" is a complex event with so many players. Each competition is sponsored by the international federation, the venues are governed by the organizing committee, the athletes managed by individual NOCs. The IOC, and especially the IOC president, can be as in the weeds or far removed as he or she chooses on any given issue. Each one will choose their issues.
I disagree that Coventry is not focusing on climate change but she is being very strategic in not using those words. By addressing the sports program and host selection, climate change will be a top issue on at least two fronts. Smart on her part to bury the lede and not raise the hackles of the climate deniers when she has to manage dodgy politics on multiple fronts.