Year End
Stories of the Year
From big headaches for the NFL to major deals for media rights
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| Photo by: Getty Images |
Goodell under fire
Ray Rice and Roger Goodell may forever be connected for reasons neither would have hoped for. The commissioner’s bungling of Rice’s punishment for striking his then fiancee shook the NFL like no crisis before, especially when video of the act surfaced. Out of the crisis came a new awareness of the horrors of domestic violence and a new NFL policy, but also a weakened commissioner.
A Cleveland homecoming
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LeBron James provided a homecoming for the ages, gracefully announcing in July his return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was a move made in sharp contrast to the 2010 “Decision” show when James announced he was taking his talents to South Beach. James’ return this summer not only has supercharged the Cavaliers franchise, but has helped to revitalize the city of Cleveland, which is seeking a rebound of its own.
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| Photo by: NBAE / Getty Images |
The $2 billion franchise
It was the team purchase that sent jaws dropping. Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (left) paid a record $2 billion to buy the Los Angeles Clippers from ousted former owner Donald Sterling, a price that reset the market value for professional sports franchises. From now on, all team sales will be compared in value to the Clippers deal as sellers look to leverage the value of their own franchises and reach for that high-water mark.
Russia’s big moment
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Construction came down to the wire, but Russia delivered on the Winter Games, spending $51 billion to essentially build an Olympic city from scratch. The events in Sochi went off without a hitch, but questions remain about their long-term legacy. Organizers aimed to reveal a new Russia to the world, but much of that goodwill vanished as quickly as the Olympic flame, as the country faced international scrutiny over its role in Ukraine.
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Society always on the record
Donald Sterling’s racially charged comments captured on tape and made public by TMZ forced the longtime owner of the Los Angeles Clippers to sell his team and touched off a debate among sports centering around race. Then, in early September as a Sterling aftershock, Atlanta Hawks owner Bruce Levenson self-reported to the NBA a racially charged email while announcing that he would sell his majority interest in the franchise.
Changing of the guard
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| Photo by: NBAE / Getty Images |
Leadership changes at the top U.S. sports leagues don’t come often, and even more rare is to have two moves in one year. Adam Silver took over as NBA commissioner, as David Stern smoothly set his succession plan in place. However, Rob Manfred needed six ballots, and plenty of lobbying from MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, before team owners voted him to be MLB’s next leader beginning in January 2015.
Going over the top
A year that started with no significant over-the-top sports services now has seemingly every sports media company testing the concept. WWE Network launched in February and NFL Now launched over the summer. 120 Sports engineered a summer launch as well with MLB, NASCAR, the NBA and NHL as content partners. And there’s ESPN, which doesn’t have a service up and running yet, but has been amassing OTT rights.
The big five get their wish
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Change is afoot in collegiate athletics, most notably within the NCAA’s governance structure. The NCAA’s board voted in favor of autonomy, which will permit the five largest conferences to essentially develop their own rules and methods for compensating players and adding benefits. Without the vote for autonomy, there was real concern that the largest schools might break away from the NCAA to form their own association.
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U.S. gets its soccer kicks
From watch parties to television viewership, the U.S. stayed captivated with the World Cup, providing a wide cultural embrace. ESPN and Univision posted record ratings and viewership for the event, and soccer dominated the conversation on social media and around the water cooler. While the debate lingered on whether the event will translate to more general acceptance for soccer in the U.S., the nation showed that for at least a few weeks in the summer, it was ready to play along.
Rocketing rights fees
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| Photo by: NBAE / Getty Images |
This was not the year that a sports rights fee bubble was going to burst. Some of the biggest sports properties signed deals worth huge increases. The NBA’s annual average haul nearly tripled in its new deals with ESPN and Turner. MLS signed deals with ESPN, Fox and Univision that pay the league an average of five times more than the league’s current deals. NBC committed $7.65 billion to extend its Olympic rights until 2032. Perhaps the current white-hot market is best illustrated by CBS paying the NFL $275 million for a one-year package of Thursday night games.
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| Photo by: Getty Images |
NASCAR puts the pedal down
Looking to fire up its season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup, NASCAR switched to an elimination-style format that resulted in more competitive racing and fueled interest from mainstream America. At a time when the sport has to keep pace with college and pro football, NASCAR held its own and generated excitement that will spill over to Daytona and a new season.
