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| Photo by: Getty Images |
Rio beats the odds
For years, headlines predicted doom for the Rio Olympics. Then nothing happened. The Zika virus was a non-factor, every medal was awarded on schedule, Rio’s new subway and sports venues were ready for action, and waterborne illnesses barely registered despite the pollution. To be sure, the Games were rough around the edges, and it will be a long time before the IOC returns to the developing world. But Rio 2016 avoided catastrophe, and the Olympic movement’s sigh of relief is still going.
Disney gets technical
Disney’s $1 billion investment for a one-third equity stake into BAMTech, with a path for Disney to eventually gain a controlling stake, shook up the fast-changing sports media landscape on multiple fronts. At once, the deal sharply accelerates the growth prospects for the MLBAM subsidiary, paves the way for the debut of an ESPN-branded, over-the-top network, and provides Disney with a key foothold into digital content development and distribution.
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| Photo by: Getty Images |
Athletes as advocates
Athletes turned the playing field into a cultural platform, highlighting social issues ranging from poverty to police violence. While they drove discussion they also sparked a fierce debate over whether their actions were more of a divisive distraction than a meaningful approach to society’s ills.
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| Photo by: Getty Images |
Cubs win! Cubs win!
The Cubs’ annual refrain of “wait till next year” finally became this year as the club broke its infamous 108-year championship curse with an epic seven-game World Series win over Cleveland. Chicago’s march to the title drew baseball’s largest TV audiences in a generation, sparked the industry’s largest hot market ever for championship merchandise, and validated a patient, multiyear rebuilding plan led by Cubs owner Tom Ricketts.
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| Photo by: Los Angeles Rams |
Back in L.A.
The Rams won the golden ticket to move to Los Angeles, as the balance of power shifted among NFL owners. Since then, the team has quickly moved to cement itself as L.A.’s team. While on-field results are poor, the team has created buzz, which it needs to carry through another few years in the Coliseum before its planned stadium in Inglewood is completed.
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| Photo by: Getty Images |
Cleveland celebrates
The Cavaliers beat the Warriors and Cleveland celebrated like it was 1964. That’s how long it had been since a city team had won a championship, and the Cavs did so in dramatic fashion, overcoming a 3-1 series deficit. The thrilling seven-game NBA Finals rematch caught the nation’s attention, drew record viewership on ABC and cemented LeBron James’ superstar legacy.
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| Photo by: Getty Images |
NHL bets on Vegas
The NHL will be the first major pro league to roll the dice on the Las Vegas market, approving Fidelity Chairman Bill Foley’s expansion bid — and $500 million expansion fee — in June. With other leagues and teams rumored to be interested in the city, many eyes will be on the Vegas Golden Knights when they hit the ice in the 2017-18 season.
Esports in the spotlight
To many industry observers, 2016 was the year esports finally hit the mainstream, and there was no more prominent new entry into the burgeoning space than the ELeague. A partnership between Turner Sports and WME-IMG, the new venture featured prime-time national TV broadcasts on TBS, sponsorships from major consumer brands, and live streaming of competitions on Twitter and Twitch. Initial TV ratings were not stellar but served to support what remains a digitally native sport and reached young male audiences in largely unrivaled ways.
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| Photo by: Getty Images |
A knockout deal
WME-IMG’s $4 billion purchase of the UFC sent jaws dropping and raised the question of how the company will justify the price. Late in the year, part of that question was answered. WME-IMG told networks it wants $450 million a year for the UFC’s media rights, nearly four times the amount the UFC now receives. Will networks pay up?
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| Photo by: Getty Images |
Ratings take a hit
The NFL’s prime-time packages are down double digits. So were the Summer Olympics. MLB’s premier “Sunday Night Baseball” package posted its lowest viewership numbers in at least a decade. While some sports programming drew impressive TV audiences (thanks Cubs; thanks LeBron), many more under-delivered. Did the overheated presidential election siphon off the viewers? Or is cord cutting starting to take hold? Everybody’s looking to see what 2017 brings to determine the answers to those questions.
