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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: May 6, 2024

Takeaways from a big sports weekend including The Kentucky Derby and F1's Miami Grand Prix; Caitlin Clark's WNBA preseason debut; a new RSN set to form in Chicago.

Learfield's Cory Moss, MASN/ESPN's Ben McDonald, and Canelo

On this week’s pod, SBJ’s Austin Karp has two Big Get interviews. The first is with Learfield's Cory Moss as he talks about his company’s collaboration on EA Sports College Football. Later in the show, we hear from MASN/ESPN baseball analyst Ben McDonald on how he sees the college and professional baseball scene shaking out. SBJ’s Adam Stern shares his thoughts on the upcoming Canelo-Mungia bout on Prime Video and DAZN.

SBJ I Factor: Molly Mazzolini

SBJ I Factor features an interview with Molly Mazzolini. Elevate's Senior Operating Advisor – Design + Strategic Alliances chats with SBJ’s Ross Nethery about the power of taking chances. Mazzolini is a member of the SBJ Game Changers Class of 2016. She shares stories of her career including co-founding sports design consultancy Infinite Scale career journey and how a chance encounter while working at a stationery store launched her career in the sports industry. 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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