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2012 Year In Review

World Cup, Olympic Preparations Highlight Top Stories In South America

The SBD Global staff compiled the top sports business stories globally of '12, in no particular order. Here are the top stories from South America.

GETTING READY FOR 2016 RIO GAMES: Rio de Janeiro took many strides this year to prepare to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. Here are three storylines that dominated the headlines.

  • INVESTMENTS: The Brazilian federal government invested between R$250M ($123.4M) and R$300M ($148.1M) in ‘12 for sporting projects in preparation for the 2016 Rio Games. It also launched a program to guarantee more medals for the country. The program will see an estimated investment of R$1B ($495M) until '16.
  • OOPS: The Rio LOC revealed that the Joao Havelange stadium will host the Rugby Sevens competition after the São Januário stadium missed its deadline to send the necessary documents to the LOC.
  • RESTRUCTURING: Rio 2016 LOC revealed an internal restructuring process with the goal of increasing the committee's capacities in different areas of the project, as well as improving internal procedures and coordination between all areas. Sidney Levy was appointed the organization’s CEO and Leonardo Gryner became the COO.
GETTING READY FOR THE 2014 WORLD CUP: Before the Olympics come to Brazil, the country will host the 2014 World Cup. Here are four storylines that rose to the forefront.

  • CONSTRUCTION FEARS: Throughout the year, a number of important names took shots at Brazil’s progress in stadium construction. Pelé said that he was "preoccupied by the delay in 2014 World Cup stadium constructions." FIFA General Secretary Jérôme Valcke said Brazil “needs a kick up the backside.” But things have improved and as of December things appear to be on track with Brazil Deputy Sports Minister Luis Fernandes saying "There is no threat whatsoever to any of the 12 host cities not being ready in time. We are confident that all the host cities are confirmed, and there are no threats to any of them."
  • INVESTMENTS: The Brazilian government revealed it is spending $903M to upgrade the security structure for the World Cup. Brazil's Audit Court revealed the cost of construction for the event increased by 14.7% in relation to the original estimates. A total of $13.3B will now be spent on stadiums and infrastructure for the event.
  • TICKET CONCERNS: Following the empty seat dilemma of the London Olympics, FIFA revealed fans will have the opportunity to sell unwanted tickets online during the World Cup in Brazil to ensure that as many seats as possible are filled in stadiums.
  • MEET FULECO: Brazil selected an endangered armadillo named “Fuleco” as the mascot for the 2014 World Cup. More than 1.7 million people in Brazil voted on the name, which beat out Zuzeco and Amijubi.

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

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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