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Year In Review

Year In Review: Stadium Collapse, Confed Cup Protests Top South American Headlines

The SBD Global staff compiled the top sports business stories for '13 by region to be published in the final four Global editions of the year. Here are the top stories from South America.

PROTESTS OVERSHADOW CONFED CUP: Social unrest stole many of the headlines from the on-field action during June’s Confederations Cup in Brazil, which will host the 2014 World Cup. More than 1.5 million Brazilians protested during the two-week tournament over public spending and the rising cost of public transportation. Many Brazilians expressed frustration with the combined $15B spent to host both the Confederations Cup and the World Cup.

NEYMAR JOINS BARCELONA: Brazilian star Neymar left Brasileiro Serie A side Santos for Barcelona in May, with the 21-year-old signing with the La Liga power for a reported €57M. Brazil’s Pluri Consulting estimated in June that the move increased Neymar’s market value from €55M to €67.4M. Neymar, who is considered one of the most valuable football players in the world, has a wide range of sponsors including Nike, Panasonic, Mentos candy, Red Bull and Volkswagen, among others.

WORLD CUP CONSTRUCTION: One of the most widely-criticized aspects of Brazil’s preparation for the World Cup has been the progress on the construction of the 12 stadiums that will host matches. Three of the venues -- in Cuiaba, Curitiba and Sao Paulo -- were expected to miss FIFA’s Dec. 31 deadline, with a Nov. 27 accident at Sao Paulo’s Corinthians stadium that killed two people complicating the issue. In addition to the stadium concerns, many have voiced fears regarding whether Brazilian hotels and airports will be prepared in time for the event.

GOAL-LINE TECH TO DEBUT AT WORLD CUP: FIFA confirmed in February that goal-line technology will be used at the World Cup to support match officials. FIFA later announced its selection of Germany company GoalControl as the official 2014 World Cup provider following the company’s trial during the Confederations Cup.

VIOLENCE MARS ARGENTINE FOOTBALL: Violent clashes between supporters of rival football clubs throughout South America, particularly in Argentina, have remained a major issue at the highest level of the sport. According to anti-violence organization “Salvemos Al Fútbol,” at least seven people were killed in Argentina alone this year, following 12 football-related fatalities in ’12 and a total of 182 in the last 40 years.

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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