A - Athlete remuneration : Some threads to pull at: the ongoing college sport debate in the US, Olympic athletes on the road to LA28, female footballers. A savvy generation of athlete creators being asked to actively promote their sports - and who know their value. But who pays? B - Bargaining: The WNBA players’ (Caitlin Clark and friends) decision to open up negotiations on a new deal will play out in 2025.
A league still totting up losses, but on the rise; money flowing into teams, growing mainstream appeal - a lockout now would be a momentum-killer. C - Club World Cup: Fifa President Gianni Infantino’s pet project, mocked & dismissed by many, but likely to be a handy ramp-up for soccer in the US pre-2026 and well received by competing clubs & fans outside the fatigued European elite. DAZN’s free-to-air global deal is a future case study.
D - Dublin (hosting the Lions, talking to the NFL) and other cities to keep tabs on: Kigali (F1 talks, big ambitions); Madrid (NFL/F1 incoming); Greater Bay Area/Macau (NBA’s return to China), Milan (a year out from the Winter Olympics); Tirana (hosting the start of the Giro). E - Exit strategies: Private equity money has sloshed about sport for years now and the major players - Arctos, Silver Lake, CVC, RedBird - are well established, but is 2025 when the industry starts to ask a billion dollar question: what happens when (not if) they cash out? F - Ferran (Soriano): Manchester City v Premier League is the year’s biggest fixture.
