The SBD/SBJ editorial staff compiled the top sports business stories of '16, in no particular order. Today, we present five of them.
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This summer's Rio Games went off largely
without a hitch |
RIO BEATS THE ODDS: For years, headlines predicted doom for the Rio Games. Then nothing happened. The Zika virus was a non-factor, every medal was awarded on schedule, Rio’s new subway and sports venues were ready for action and waterborne illnesses barely registered despite the pollution. To be sure, the Games were rough around the edges, and it will be a long time before the IOC returns to the developing world. But Rio ‘16 avoided catastrophe, and the Olympic movement’s sigh of relief is still going.
DISNEY GETS TECHNICAL: Disney’s $1B investment for a one-third equity stake into BAM Tech, with a path for Disney to eventually gain a controlling stake, shook up the fast-changing sports media landscape on multiple fronts. At once, the deal sharply accelerates the growth prospects for the MLBAM subsidiary, paves the way for the debut of an ESPN-branded, OTT network and provides Disney with a key foothold in digital content development and distribution.
ATHLETES AS ADVOCATES: Athletes turned the playing field into a cultural platform, highlighting social issues ranging from poverty to police violence. While they drove discussion they also sparked a fierce debate over whether their actions were more of a divisive distraction than a meaningful approach to society’s ills.
CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN! The Cubs’ annual refrain of “wait 'til next year” finally became this year as the club broke its infamous 108-year championship curse with an epic seven-game World Series win over the Indians. The Cubs’ march to the title drew baseball’s largest TV audiences in a generation, sparked the industry’s largest hot market ever for championship merchandise and validated a patient, multiyear rebuilding plan led by Cubs Chair Tom Ricketts.
BACK IN L.A.: The Rams won the golden ticket to move to L.A., as the balance of power shifted among NFL owners. Since then, the team has quickly moved to cement itself as L.A.’s team. While on-field results are poor, the team has created buzz, which it needs to carry through another few years in the Coliseum before its planned stadium in Inglewood is completed.
