SBD Global's Year In Review takes a look at some hits and misses from the past year.
HIT: In '17, FIFA voted unanimously in favor of expanding the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams, beginning with the '26 tournament, with the FIFA Council approving a format consisting of 16 groups of three. The competition will be staged over the same month-long time period as previous editions, with no team playing more than seven matches throughout the event. FIFA President Gianni Infantino said, "Sixteen more countries, some of which will never have dreamt of participating in the World Cup, will have the chance to participate." In May, the council confirmed how the automatic places in the tournament field will be divided for future events, notably increasing Europe's allocation from 13 to 16 slots.
MISS: Organizers of the Six Nations suffered through an embarrassing saga in their bid to find a title sponsor to replace RBS, which stepped aside after last year's edition following a 14-year partnership. The tournament sought a £100M, six-year deal, which would have amounted to a £6M annual increase on the RBS tie-up. In January, Six Nations CEO John Feehan said, "The Six Nations is the biggest sponsorship in world rugby by a country mile. We've been in contact with well over 150 companies and we're in a very good place." As the year progressed, however, Feehan's statement was invalidated. Citing the uncertainty surrounding Brexit as a possible explanation, the Six Nations failed to garner the interest it expected and was forced to sign a one-year agreement with NatWest, a subsidiary of RBS, in November. The short-term sponsorship is understood to be for several million pounds less than what RBS originally offered to continue the organizations' arrangement.
HIT: The Australian Football League was the star of the year Down Under in respect to labor negotiations. In June, the league and its players agreed to a six-year, A$1.84B ($1.43B) deal that for the first time directly tied wages to the AFL's revenue. More than 99% of the players approved the deal, which increased their earnings by 20% in '17 and will continue to escalate salaries through '22. AFL Chair Richard Goyder said, "This is a great outcome for our industry, delivering certainty and stability, respecting our players and allowing the AFL to invest in the future." Seconding Goyder's sentiments, AFL Players' Association President Matthew Pavlich added, "For the first time, players are now genuine partners of the game."
MISS: All of the praise heaped upon the AFL for its deal was in stark contrast to the bitter wars of words exchanged throughout pay negotiations in Australian cricket and rugby league. Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers' Association were involved in a prolonged dispute that eventually resulted in a five-year, A$500M ($388.8M) pay agreement. Contentious issues in the negotiations included revenue-sharing, women's wages and money for facilities. ACA CEO James Sutherland said after the agreement, "There's no denying that the debate itself has at times been difficult, and even acrimonious. Relationships within the game have been tested, and I know that's been a bit of a turn-off for some fans." Cricket's rugby league counterparts also experienced a pay dispute before reaching an eleventh-hour agreement in November, avoiding the rescission of an A$80M ($62.2M) offer. The months-long saga between the National Rugby League and the Rugby League Players Association was a stain on both groups, as threats of boycotts and legal action plagued the negotiations.
HIT: While Asia prepares to host the next three Olympics, the IOC spent '17 looking beyond Beijing 2022, as it awarded the 2024 and 2028 Summer Games simultaneously in September. Paris will play host to the global spectacle in '24, before passing the torch to L.A. for the '28 edition. The concurrent awarding of hosting rights was a first-of-its-kind decision made with an eye toward providing certainty for sponsors looking to make long-term investments in the Olympics. In exchange for ceding the '24 Games to Paris, the IOC agreed to advance funds to L.A.'s organizing committee. Upon the award's confirmation, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said, "What does history feel like? It feels like this. For me, it's not just the happiness of the win but the joy of beginning."
MISS: British Cycling was mired in turmoil throughout the year, as an investigation into its climate revealed a "culture of fear," female cyclists claimed the body's execs used sexist and inappropriate language and it was unable to properly account for a mystery package delivered to cyclist Bradley Wiggins during the 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné. The probe carried out at the beginning of the year criticized the organization for not providing sufficient care and bullying its riders. The issues mounted as Wiggins was investigated for possible doping as a result of British Cycling and Team Sky's doctors failing to keep proper medical records and not being able to confirm the contents of a jiffy bag he received during the '11 race. The transgressions led to an overhaul of leadership and medical practices at the national governing body.
HIT: It was a banner year for women across the globe, as athletes received pay increases and improved conditions, women's leagues became professional and Raelene Castle was appointed as the first female CEO of a major Australian sporting code. Female athletes across the Australian Football League Women's, W-League and Scottish Women's Professional League all received financial boosts in '17. AFLW players were awarded a 23% increase ahead of the league's second season, W-League players will more than double their average wages as the result of a new deal and the SWPL will for the first time be able to award prize money after receiving a six-figure sponsorship from the Scottish Building Society. In the U.K., women footballers got approval for a full-time professional league, the Women's Super League, which is set to begin in '18-19. Norway led the charge this year in terms of equality among its footballers, reaching an agreement to pay its women's national team players the same wages as its men. Castle capped off the year in December by taking over as CEO of Rugby Australia. Castle: "While the female angle is not for me to make a focus, I am proud to be the first female CEO of a major rugby country."
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Andrew Forrest, center, made a push to save Super Rugby side Western Force's place in the competition.
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MISS: Prior to appointing Castle, Rugby Australia -- formerly known as the Australian Rugby Union -- faced public backlash for its handling of former Super Rugby side Western Force. The Perth-based Force were culled from the league despite promises of financial backing from mining magnate Andrew Forrest and fan outcry to save the franchise. Regardless of an offer of A$50M from Forrest to relieve the financial burden of the club, the Western Force were axed in favor of keeping the Melbourne Rebels. A senate hearing was called following the decision, in which the ARU was forced to answer questions concerning backroom deals that were made with the Rebels. ARU COO Rob Clarke said, "I absolutely empathize with the emotion of the Western Force and their supporters, but any allegations that have been made are totally baseless and I have nothing more to say on the matter." Forrest has since launched the Indo-Pacific Rugby Championship, allowing for the possibility of the Force to be revived.
HIT: The Indian Premier League enjoyed the spoils of increased fanfare and, in turn, investment during '17. Advertising inventory was sold out ahead of the season, with league sponsor Spykar Lifestyle COO & Dir Sanjay Vakharia saying, "IPL is a perfect combination of sports and entertainment." That opinion was evidently shared by Chinese smartphone maker Vivo, which in June agreed to a five-year, Rs 2,199 crore ($330.5M) title sponsorship of the IPL. In September, Star India paid $2.6B for the broadcast rights to the league for the next five years, effectively quintupling the value of the competition since its previous deal with Sony. Star India Chair & CEO Uday Shankar said, "The IPL is a very powerful property. We believe that a lot more value can be created for the cricket fans on broadcasting and digital platforms and we would remain very committed to make sure that the growth of sports in the country is driven by the power of cricket."
MISS: The Chinese government cracked down on what it deemed "irrational spending" in '17, following record contracts in the Chinese Super League and a surge of investment in overseas properties including football clubs. In January, CSL side Shanghai Shenhua made aging Argentine forward Carlos Tevez the world's highest-paid player, on the heels of Shanghai SIPG signing Brazilian int'l Oscar to a then-record contract. The months to follow saw a flood of Chinese investment in foreign football clubs including AC Milan and EPL side Southampton. In August, China's state council announced a flurry of restrictions on expenditure, as it attempted to curb the siphoning of cash out of the country. Chinese regulators placed limitations on offshore private investors such as Dalian Wanda, which sponsors Atlético Madrid's Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, amid fears that increased capital outflows related to overseas real estate could be harming the nation's financial stability. Morgan Stanley Chief China Economist Robin Xing said, "Policy makers are also concerned about the potential investment loss and financial risk related to the takeover of 'trophy assets,' a lesson they might have learned from corporate Japan in the late 1980s."
