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Year End

Sports executives reflect on 2015

"What was the most interesting development in sports business — welcome or discouraging — in the past year?"

“Athletes are taking on increasingly greater roles as advocates for themselves and their communities, especially on

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matters of social justice. In 2015, athletes at all levels were emboldened and unafraid to address even the thorniest of issues. There was a time when athletes did not feel comfortable speaking out. Today, social activism is not only accepted, it is encouraged. When Kevin Love says ‘It’s on us’ to end sexual assault on college campuses; when LeBron James, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony say ‘Enough’ to gun violence, or when Chris Bosh, Elena Delle Donne and Skylar Diggins condemn bullying, athletes are lending the considerable weight of their convictions to causes in which they believe. In the NBA and WNBA, our players, with support from their unions, have taken a leadership role in addressing important social issues, supporting campaigns like My Brother’s Keeper, LeanIn Together, Wear Orange and Choose Kindness. And rather than running from potentially uncomfortable conversations, fans are engaging. Whether they agree or disagree with the players is not the issue. The conversation is what is important, and this past year athletes spoke louder, more clearly and with greater impact than, perhaps, ever before.”

Adam Silver
Commissioner, NBA



“Women did not just knock on some doors this year, they busted them open. Becky Hammon made history as the
Photo by: ESPN Images
first full-time, salaried assistant coach in the NBA … and won a championship in the NBA’s Summer League. Our USA women’s soccer team not only took back the World Cup title, but they did it with a record-breaking 25.4 million viewers, making it the most-watched soccer game in the U.S. ever — men or women. Add on Jen Welter (NFL), Sarah Thomas (NFL), and Justine Siegal (MLB) and it was a year of many firsts within men’s sports. But this is only welcoming if the near future shows we can progress past the firsts, when references such as ‘female broadcaster’ and ‘first female coach’ are naturally transformed into ‘broadcaster’ and ‘coach.’ I look forward to 2016 bringing the most welcoming change from this year: If you’re good, you’re hired.”

Jessica Mendoza
Analyst and reporter, ESPN



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“In our world, the most interesting development relates to the various governance-related controversies that emerged in international sport in 2015, beginning with the exposed corruption within FIFA and continuing with the systematic doping revealed in the recent (World Anti-Doping Agency) report. For a values-based movement like ours, these are especially troubling. But the bright light that is now shining on these behaviors will strengthen international sport and ultimately provide a more level playing field for clean athletes, so I would say the developments are discouraging and welcome at the same time.”

Scott Blackmun
CEO, U.S. Olympic Committee




“The most interesting development in sports this year has been the
Photo by: Orlando Magic
emergence of daily fantasy. Not in many years have we seen an industry come on the scene and have such a widespread effect on our sports industry, reaching from ownership through operations. The amount of investment that the industry has made through marketing partnerships alone, represents the largest incremental increase by a single industry in perhaps decades. … Additionally, the equity investment by leagues and owners into the individual companies in the space has also been widespread, from leagues to individual team owners alike. … Of course the legal discussion around the space has also had an impact on sport as daily fantasy companies have been forced to re-evaluate the specifics of how they operate and for appropriate regulation to be called upon the daily fantasy industry. Due to these legal inquiries and the discovery of how the industry will operate in a more regulated environment, this is a story and development on the sports industry that will continue to be front and center in 2016. However, make no mistake about it, the emergence of daily fantasy on the sports industry and its impact economically, as well in the cultural fiber of fans, is one … that will have a lasting impact in many ways on the sports industry for many years to come.”

Alex Martins
CEO, Orlando Magic



“One of the most welcoming developments in sports business this year came from the emergence of OTT (over-the-top) platforms across professional sports leagues. Fans are looking for more content, greater access and exclusive programming at their fingertips. [UFC] capitalized on this evolving trend by expanding its digital subscription service, UFC Fight Pass, producing more original content while growing an already robust fight library and giving fight fans what they were looking for. Another great success in this area came with Yahoo! Sports’ live-streaming of the NFL’s London game between Buffalo vs. Jacksonville. This new viewing experience is a real game changer.”

Lorenzo Fertitta
Chairman and CEO, UFC



“If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound? If an NFL player does
Photo by: Pro Football Hall of Fame
something good, does the media care? When Carolina Panther Thomas Davis accepted the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award during the NFL Honors show on the eve of Super Bowl XLIX, he sounded a clarion’s call to athletes in a season dominated by Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson controversies. Davis mesmerized millions of television viewers with a tear-filled plea, ‘To the guys in this league, I just want to say let’s take charge … let’s step up and be a village of guys that make a difference; let’s change this world. We’re well-compensated for what we do. Let’s show these kids how much we care about them. Let’s give the media something positive to talk about.’ The courage and leadership of Thomas Davis is my top highlight for 2015.”

David Baker
President, Pro Football Hall of Fame



Photo by: Marc Bryan-Brown
“In 2015, the rapid emergence of daily fantasy providers as major licensees, team sponsors and media buyers would have been enough to qualify as the year’s most interesting business development. The decision by sports leagues and media entities to structure groundbreaking equity deals with the providers further bolstered that case. But the stunning rise of daily fantasy has now been eclipsed by the backlash of ongoing legal challenges and attacks that could undermine their many lucrative commitments to teams, leagues and networks. Stay tuned, because in 2016 we will learn whether fans can pay to play and whether FanDuel and DraftKings are here to stay (or not).”

Michele Roberts
Executive director, NBPA



“The threat of cord-cutting and the resulting escalation of ‘unbundling,’ particularly in the sports business, has
become synonymous with angst. But with technology as the driving force, audiences and rights holders are not the only ones who stand to gain. The reality is sports is predictable and defensible in a world where nothing else is. Sports is the only piece of the media business where you don’t have to guess what people like. And once you have what they like, you can have it exclusively. If you’re trying to reach 18- to 34-year-olds through general entertainment comedies, you’re guessing whether your constituents will like them or not. But if you want to target football fans, you know what content to get. That remains true whatever the platform and distribution mode and that’s why the value will only continue to increase. Just ask Bill Simmons; his tide took him from digital platforms like Twitter to a podcast — and now readying to debut on our most primal sports medium, television.”

Casey Wasserman
Chairman and CEO, Wasserman Media Group



Mary Wittenberg’s year took her to Virgin Sport, a new division of Richard Branson’s empire.
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“2015 heralded a new era in sports business. Hopefully, we have witnessed not only the fall of FIFA and IAAF (former) executives, but the fall of an outdated way of doing business. The future should hold our sports organizations and leaders to the highest levels of accountability, transparency, good governance, and best practices. Let’s embrace, not shun, whistleblowers of illicit activities like doping that threaten the sanctity of the field of play. While the bright lights of spectator pro sports flicker with each controversy, the allure and growth of the ‘people’s sports’ and the rise of the ‘Fit-lete’ offer a healthy balance to society and sports business. ‘Mass participatory sport’ continued to grow in 2015 with the creation of a world ‘majors’ of cycling to mirror the World Marathon Majors of running; the record high sale of Ironman, now poised to stoke the fire of fitness and sport in China; Fitbit and SoulCycle going public and the thriving success of ClassPass, all while traditional running, cycling and obstacle events matured, achieving sustainable levels of growth. At this rate, the number of kids who want to grow up to run a marathon may one day rival those who want to grow up to ‘be like Mike.’ And that just might be the ticket to a balanced world of sport that can be stronger than ever.”

Mary Wittenberg
Global CEO, Virgin Sport



“From the standpoint of athletes, one of the most important developments in the sports business during the last year
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has been the increased willingness of courts to respect their legal rights. We saw this in cases ranging from the O’Bannon verdict, holding the NCAA in violation of the antitrust laws in its rules forbidding any financial benefits to athletes for the use of their names and likenesses, to the Brady and Peterson decisions, striking down high-profile NFL commissioner discipline in violation of the players’ CBA rights, to the massive concussion settlement agreed to by the NFL for retired NFL players suffering long-term head trauma effects. The importance of legal protections for athletes is also spreading to other sports, such as mixed martial arts and even the rodeo, where recent class actions have been filed. I believe this trend is going to continue in future years and profoundly impact the sports business landscape.”

Jeffrey Kessler
Partner, Winston & Strawn



“The continuing proliferation of content distributed solely over-the-top and the continuing growth, particularly within millennials, of ‘cord-cutters’ and ‘cord-nevers.’ The recent news about ESPN’s subscriber losses exemplifies this trend, as does the NFL’s distribution (outside of the home markets of the participating clubs) of the Jaguars/Buffalo game solely on Yahoo, and UFC’s and WWE’s distribution of over-the-top offerings. It will be interesting to watch over the next several years whether OTT consumption patterns level-off or accelerate and whether the cable bundle, in its current form, remains intact. In this changing media landscape, sports content providers will face opportunities to sell rights to an increasing pool of viable buyers, and risks as to whether traditional content acquirers will continue to pay increasing rights fees. It is an interesting time in sports media, and I am confident that those who innovate will thrive.”

Doug Gibson
Partner, Covington & Burling

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