{"id":1029,"date":"2017-07-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-12T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/sport-business\/reports\/leaders-digest\/"},"modified":"2022-03-18T12:22:30","modified_gmt":"2022-03-18T12:22:30","slug":"leaders-digest","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/sport-business\/articles\/leaders-digest\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaders Digest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n Jul 12, 2017 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Category<\/div>\n Strategy & Commercialisation<\/a> <\/div>\n
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Charting the money, the moves and the media across the global sports industry.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

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The under-the-radar creep of Amazon Prime.<\/h4>\n

Welcome to another edition of the Leaders Digest, providing a week\u2019s worth of compelling sports industry links to click on or read around.<\/p>\n

As ever, feel free to get in touch at james.emmett@leadersinsport.com<\/a> or @JamesEmmett<\/a> on Twitter. Scroll down for previous editions of the Digest, and to sign up to receive the Digest in your inbox every Wednesday, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4 questions, answered<\/u><\/p>\n

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  1. Amazon Prime\u2019s complete takeover of anything and everything to do with our purchasing, leisure and entertainment habits \u2013 a question of if or when?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    When<\/a>.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. What\u2019s the last thing you expect to read about sports industry originator Mark McCormack (1930 \u2013 2003)?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      A good Mark McCormack story is the trusty rifle of any self-respecting sports businessman\u2019s conversational arsenal, especially if you\u2019re a sports businessman who works at IMG, the agency McCormack founded. It\u2019s safe to say there isn\u2019t a McCormack story that could surprise me anymore. But on a sun-kissed \u2013 and gratefully undertaken! \u2013 visit to IMG\u2019s Wimbledon set-up this week, one McCormack story teased my credulity. It seems the great man has penned another book – too good to be true, surely even for him?! And indeed, on closer inspection, Beyond Harvard<\/em><\/a>, the follow-up to What They Don\u2019t Teach You at Harvard Business School<\/em>, is a posthumous collection of further street smarts from McCormack, compiled on his behalf. I\u2019ll be stocking up on my conversational arsenal. Will you?<\/p>\n

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      1. Are you going to make a habit of exchanging hospitality invitations for book plugs?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        I appreciate that it looks that way. Depends on the book, I guess.<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. What has this Olympic bidding race been good for?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          As the IOC, LA and Paris reach fait accompli on the award of the 2024 and 2028 Games \u2013 everyone\u2019s a winner \u2013 it\u2019s time to reflect on the highlight of this Olympic bid campaign: first there was the LA team\u2019s adoption of the sun as a totem for their effort. The #FollowTheSun hashtag drew a marvellous and ongoing response from wily old sports bid campaigner Mike Lee, whose counter-adoption of the sun with his own #CelebrateTheSun hashtag has proved the inspiration for a stream of positive-energy tweets<\/a>, no doubt to the irritation of his opposite numbers in LA. If Lee is indeed hanging up his bid boots after this campaign for a new life in academia, he\u2019ll be missed.<\/p>\n

          Hot Money<\/u><\/p>\n

          Social giants at the Fox\u2019s den<\/strong><\/p>\n

          Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat are sniffing around the offices of 21st<\/sup> Century Fox<\/a> having caught the scent of 2018 Fifa World Cup highlights packages. Should one or more of the social giants materialise as digital highlights partners for Fox, it would more or less cement this type of rights holder-broadcaster-social platform model as the establishment move.<\/p>\n

          Hire and hire<\/strong><\/p>\n

          A couple of interesting market moves to report on \u2013 yes, I\u2019m going to chalk them down as interesting: firstly Ron Gourlay, erstwhile of Chelsea, has taken on the role of CEO at second tier English soccer side Reading<\/a>, while John Kristick has waved goodbye to the ESP venture he\u2019s been spearheading for WPP to pick up a new role tapping a ball into an unguarded net<\/a> on behalf of the joint 2026 Fifa World Cup bid by the US, Canada and Mexico.<\/p>\n

          The UFC one year on<\/strong><\/p>\n

          All you doubters out there, watch out for your asses, Dana White has got a message for you. One year on from the UFC\u2019s sale to WME | IMG, and Darren Rovell delivers his report card on progress<\/a>, as well as White\u2019s message.<\/p>\n

          Techno techno techno<\/u><\/p>\n

          Green and purple reign <\/strong><\/p>\n

          Alex Willis and Wimbledon get a lot of plaudits for their work in digital content creation and distribution. There\u2019s a reason for that \u2013 and it\u2019s neatly encapsulated in this illuminating SportBusiness case study<\/a>.<\/p>\n

          Google AMP it up<\/strong><\/p>\n

          Seven League get a fair number of pats on the back too. Again, deserved, and here\u2019s a little insight from the world of mobile search and the Newcastle United website<\/a> that goes a small way to showing why.<\/p>\n

          Eye on China<\/u><\/p>\n

          Jumble sale<\/strong><\/p>\n

          Wanda is selling off $9.3 billion of assets in an effort to cut its debt mountain down to size<\/a>. Wang Jianlin looks set to double down on his sports and entertainment portfolio at the expense of property development.<\/p>\n

          eSports corner<\/u><\/p>\n

          Watching over Overwatch<\/strong><\/p>\n

          The conception and development of Blizzard\u2019s new Overwatch League has not been without its controversy or critics within the esports world, but the publisher is shooting squarely for the big time with reported franchise fee asks of $20 million. According to the latest reports, agreements for six franchisees \u2013 in LA, San Francisco, New York, Boston, Shanghai and Seoul \u2013 have been reached<\/a>. Robert Kraft and Jeff Wilpon are among the high profile names thought to be signed up.<\/p>\n

          Stateside view<\/u><\/p>\n

          A brisk trip across the three most read stories on SportsBusiness Daily this week:<\/p>\n