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Sports Business Awards

Sports Breakthrough of the Year

Photo by: ELEAGUE


ELeague


STYLE POINTS:


Turner Sports and WME-IMG turned a rare trick with ELeague: Bring a beloved esports property — “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” — onto linear television with a concurrent sales, sponsorship and promotional push, while not alienating core fans and participants.


Photo by: FANATICS


Fanatics


STYLE POINTS:


Webster’s defines breakthrough as a “strikingly important advance.” What Fanatics has done in consolidating sports licensing intellectual property, retail, e-commerce and manufacturing rights is beyond strikingly important; it has turned a sleepy sports licensing industry on its ear.


Photo by: ON LOCATION EXPERIENCES


On Location Experiences


STYLE POINTS:


The NFL hospitality business, On Location Experiences, entertained close to 50,000 guests across four days at the Super Bowl in Houston, creating unique on-site and off-site parties and concerts. The league’s official provider also offered unprecedented control and oversight of the NFL-licensed events.


Photo by: DALLAS COWBOYS


The Star in Frisco


STYLE 
POINTS:


The Dallas Cowboys’ new headquarters and practice facility is a tourist attraction, and the result is a new model for NFL teams to adapt in their markets. In Greater Dallas, the Cowboys formed a partnership with a local school district to share the use of a 12,000-seat indoor stadium for high school football games in Frisco.


Photo by: ZUFFA LLC


UFC 205


STYLE POINTS:


The biggest event in the history of the mixed martial arts promoter, and its first in New York, UFC 205 shattered records for gate revenue, attendance, commercial pay-per-view and social media impressions. Conor McGregor made history inside the octagon, becoming the first to hold multiple championships simultaneously.

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 18, 2024

Sports Business Awards nominees unveiled; NWSL's historic opening weekend and takeaways from CFP deal

ESPN’s Jay Bilas, BTN’s Meghan McKeown, and a deep dive into AppleTV+’s The Dynasty

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, ESPN’s Jay Bilas talks all things NCAA. Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown shares her insight into the Caitlin Clark craze. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn chats all things Bean Town. And SBJ’s Xavier Hunter drops in to share his findings on how the NWSL is making a social media push.

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SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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