The View From Asia: Cricket and India a commercial match made in heaven

On the eve of the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Unmish Parthasarathi traces the origins of cricket’s commercial success in India over four decades.

In his inaugural bimonthly column – ‘The View From Asia’ – for iSportConnect, the Singapore-based Founder & Executive Director of Picture Board Partners details the off-pitch players and off-tube stats in the world’s most populous nation that’s seen more than $10 Billion being committed over the last 12-months.  

On January 17th, India became the most populous country in the world, surpassing China. Much like the Middle Kingdom, India has witnessed rapid change through the ubiquity of the smart phone and the resulting change in the economics of attention. However, unlike China, India’s population today is younger and will deliver a demographic dividend into to the middle of the next decade. 

India also speaks two dozen languages and it’s common for those Metro inhabitants to be functionally trilingual. I grew up in 1980s Delhi – speaking Hindi to my friends, English at school, and Gujarati at home. This linguistic heterogeneity makes for a rare opportunity and a seemingly bottomless commercial cocktail when combined with the universal love for one Sport. 

And that sport is cricket. 

The “Gentlemen’s Game” was a colonial hand-me-down until 25th June 1983 when India unexpectedly beat the West Indies to win the World Cup at Lord’s – the Home of Cricket. Two years later, India won the World Championship of Cricket, beating arch rivals Pakistan at the haloed MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground). Fans began to believe that “1983“ (also the subject of a recent Bollywood movie) was not a flash in the pan. Their faith was not misplaced as India made the semi-finals of the fourth edition of the World Cup in 1987, an event that was played at home and televised nationally. 

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In 1992, the Indian government faced a foreign exchange crisis. The trade-off for a World Bank bailout was liberalising the economy which allowed the entry of foreign capital – and of foreign content. Satellite television began beaming live cricket into households. Day games on India’s 1996 tour of England attracted prime time viewership on television channels such as ESPN. TWI, the then media division of IMG (aka The Endeavor Group) also organised a five-match Friendship Series in 1997, between India & Pakistan. It was played at the Toronto Racquet & Cricket Club – the local start time of 930am was 530pm India and perfect for six-hours of unadulterated live action!! 

Over the next three decades, the value of India as a broadcast media market for Cricket exploded. 

  • In 2006, ESPN STAR Sports bought global rights to eight-years of events hosted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for a $1.1bn. 
  • In 2014, Star Sports renewed at a 80% premium for the following eight year cycle (2016-2023) for $2.1 Billion. 
  • Last August, Disney Star Sports paid a 3x multiple to renew, committing $3bn for four years (2024-2027). 

In two decades, the ICC’s media rights for India have appreciated ~10x. In the same period, the Rupee depreciated 50% against the Greenback. From the PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) perspective of an economist, the break-even on the local currency was 20x on a straight line basis.   

But cricket in India is a coin with two sides, and the second also traced its roots back to England.

In 2002, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) launched a new tournament format – the Twenty20, that cut match duration by half, making it time-friendly. By 2006, the tournament’s success prompted the ICC to include this new event format into their deal with ESPN STAR Sports. 

In September 2007, two things happened within a fortnight – the Indian Premier League (IPL) was announced and India beat Pakistan in a cliff-hanger final at the inaugural ICC Twenty20 in South Africa.  The resulting pay days for the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) media rights tender have been astounding:  

  • In 2007, SONY Entertainment Television, ESPN STAR Sport’s main competitor, won the global rights in partnership with World Sports Group (the Asian avatar of, and predecessor to, Sportfive) for $1bn over 10 years (2008-2017). 
  • In 2017, Star Sports won the IPL media rights for $2.5 Billion (2017-2022). This 5x multiple was justified as premium prime time content to evolve Hotstar, its OTT service, into a paid service. 
  • In July 2022, the BCCI secured $6bn in a global-first, splitting exclusivity by platform as Disney Star Sports won broadcast rights whilst Viacom Sport (owned by the Reliance Group) won digital. 

The latest IPL deal makes it the second-most expensive sports media property in the world, at $15 Million a match, behind the NFL. The one caveat is that an IPL season is 90-matches compared to 380-matches in the English Premier League which aggregates to a larger amount when annualised. 

But there has been more gravy to be had on the IPL train in the last 12-months – such as the sale of the ninth and tenth franchise for a total north of $1.65bn, and more recently, the five franchises to the Women’s IPL (WPL) were sold for $572mn. 

Cricket is a whole new ball game when it comes to India, a media market unlike any other in the world – it’s the lone BRIC worth building a house in! One notable international benchmark is the $71.3 Billion sale of 21st Century Fox to Disney, the Hotstar-Star Sports combine was reportedly valued at 20% enterprise value or $14bn. 

The Bottom Line: how market volatility is impacting sport – March 30

In this month’s iSportConnect Business Index Ian Whittaker, Founder and MD of Liberty Sky Advisors, and twice City AM Analyst of the Year, explains the moves in this month’s index and looks into how general stock market volatility is affecting sport.

The stock markets have been volatile in recent weeks as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the problems at Credit Suisse have dominated the headlines. As such, it has been a volatile month and that is reflected in the performance of the 30 names on our iSportConnect Top 30 stock list with a lack of uniformity even within sub-sectors. It is fair to say that Tech has probably been a beneficiary of the recent turmoil, part because of sector rotation as investor money came out of Banks and part because reduced expectations of interest rate rises is generally favourably to the sector as a whole. Apple is up nearly 7%, Tencent close to 5% and Amazon up over 3% against a S&P500 index that has barely risen. It is also being reflected in a healthy performance in the Games sector, with both Electronic Arts and Roblox performing well, although that reflects more a recovery versus previous lows than anything else. 

Elsewhere, there is no uniform picture to say the least and stock specific factors tend to be the main driver rather than sector rotation. Dentsu, for example, has benefited from growing positive sentiment towards the Agency space but Live Nation has been impacted by recent lawsuits and negative press coverage. The main US Broadcast groups such as Disney and Warner Bros Discovery have suffered over concerns on TV advertising in particular while Netflix has remain flat. In sports property, unsurprisingly, Manchester United was the strongest performer in Sports Property, given the two competing bids for the club. WWE remains an attractive property given its strong franchise. Elsewhere the performance of sports properties were less good but it is worth remembering that names such as Juventus and Dortmund can have limited liquidity which can cause its own issues. That is not the case in the sports apparel sector, Adidas has been pummelled mainly due to the Yeezy debacle and the lost inventory but has regained some ground as investors hope the new CEO can turn things around. Some of that sentiment may be reflected in the poor performance of Puma, which had been as somewhat of a “safe haven”.

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So, overall, there is no uniform picture for the numbers against a backdrop of a global economy where things remain uncertain but where the chances of a soft landing are increasing.

Let’s take a look at the index in full:

How to deal with passive churn

In case you’ve been asleep these past few months, you’ll know that we are facing a very complex economy. It’s in times like these that a CFO can sink or swim.

When the chips are down, the most important question is: what kind of a CFO are you?

Because if you are not doing everything to ensure a healthy stream of revenue, that’s a financial fail.

And you want to be the Chief Financial Officer, not the Chief Failure Officer.

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That’s why we need to talk about passive churn.

Passive churn is an epic fail

If a customer decides they don’t want or need your subscription anymore, and they cancel it, that’s a fail. If they move to a competitor because they are no longer happy with what your subscription provides, that’s also a fail. 

But perhaps the worst churn of all is the unnecessary churn that could easily have been prevented. That’s passive churn, which basically means “failed transactions.”

When the customer is satisfied with your subscription and wants to stay connected, but they can’t or don’t because of payment friction, it’s a failure that just did not have to happen. 

Deal with churn

The good news is that passive churn is solvable.

In a difficult economy, that 50% can be the difference between sinking and succeeding, between Finance Officer and Failure Officer.

Dealing with passive churn demands the right tech stack to identify and prevent passive churn, and the use of automated mechanisms to rectify failed transactions 24/7 and recover the maximum possible amount of lost revenue. 

Not just “reducing expenses”

When the economy is suffering, CFOs look for ways to cut, cut, cut. Every expense and salary is analyzed, and any ounce of fat trimmed to maximize the financial outlook. 

But reducing expenses isn’t enough. What about analyzing the income that is already owed to you, but not coming in for whatever reason? What about examining the customer relationship with every aspect of the subscription – including recurring payments and renewals – to make sure there is no friction, no disruption, and no excuse for passive churn?

Be revenue focused

The best CFOs take a proactive stance when it comes to passive churn. In these problematic financial times, it’s not just about saving money, but also recovering money. It’s about being revenue focused from every direction.

By Jesus Galloway, Chief Strategy Officer, Vindicia. To find out more about Vindicia click here

SEG3 announce comprehensive two day agenda

SEG3 is thrilled to announce its comprehensive program for the upcoming summit being held at the Emirates Stadium, London, on June 28th-29th, 2023. 

With web3 and immersive technologies offering the opportunity to transform the way organisations interact with their audiences and generate revenue, SEG3 will provide a meeting place for the sports, entertainment and gaming communities to learn and collaborate with the web3 community.

The conference will feature two packed days of interactive sessions, immersive experiences, and deep dives into the latest trends, developments and projects in the sports, entertainment, and gaming industries.

Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Web3 Media Group & SEG3, Joe Condon said: “Despite the wider macro and web3 market conditions, there has been an overwhelming amount of development and innovation across our industries since we last gathered together for our inaugural event in June. This year’s event will not only give the opportunity to learn from these industry-leading organisations, but also the opportunity to see, test and experience the products and platforms that are utilising immersive and web3 technology to change the face of the industries”.

Key sessions will cover themes of how to build communities, how to build your brand in web3, how to maintain control and value of your rights in an open environment, the impact of generative AI on building games and experiences, and much more.

Click here to download the full agenda

Registration for SEG3 is now open. For more information about the event and to register, visit seg3.com.

Basketball England tops latest Race Representation Index

Basketball England has been lauded as the top publicly funded national governing body (NGB) in sport for delivering diversity, equity and inclusion within their working practices – evidenced by the Race Representation Index (RRI) 2022 from Sporting Equals.

Sporting Equals – an independent body that actively works to champion ethnic diversity within sport and physical activity – launched the RRI last year to act as a method of measuring and monitoring sport and physical activity organisations against progress with the race equality agenda, with a particular focus on ethnic representation.

The RRI evaluates and grades data submitted by NGBs across four criteria; Board, Senior Leadership/Management Teams, Senior Coaches and Players/Athletes, and then provides an aggregated grade; ranging from A to F. 

For 2022, Basketball England was the only NGB to achieve an overall A grade. Other notable mentions include the Lawn Tennis Association who rose from 23rd to 13th place, and the England & Wales Cricket Board and Rugby Football Union who debuted this year at 7th and 35th place respectively.

Ama Agbeze MBE, former England Netball Captain and member of the Sport Monitoring Advisory Panel set up by Sporting Equals to manage the RRI, commented; “Basketball England has achieved the highest grading, which is not by accident. 

“They attract diverse candidates through their governance, coaching and talent pathways from a wide range of diverse backgrounds. They also have an EDI committee and have put in place EDI training to support recruitment and retention.”

The 2022 RRI saw limited change among NGBs on race representation compared to the previous year, with the overall average grade remaining at a D.

Densign White MBE, Chair of Sporting Equals commented; “The RRI is a baseline for NGBs to work from and show the journey they are making in delivering DEI in the workplace.

“This will be a long process, but we can see from the NGBs who submitted data for this year’s RRI are committed to the journey. By continuing to improve diversity this will mean the quality and equity of participation within each NGB’s sporting activities will be positively impacted.”

2022 saw more NGBs invited to participate in the RRI, and a greater number of those invited did participate; with this year seeing an 86% engagement rate compared to 2021’s 75%. This highlights that there is more cross-sport commitment to monitoring progress and making actionable changes to improve ethnic diversity in the workplace.

Arun Kang OBE, CEO of Sporting Equals added; “We are hopeful that the RRI will continue to be a useful tool for NGBs undertaking changes to better reflect the UK’s ethnic diversity. The rise in engagement illustrates there is an appetite from NGBs to change and to be transparent with the public. Sporting Equals will be there to support and work with them as they undertake this lengthy journey.”

Airspeeder announce collaboration with Intel

Airspeeder is delighted to announce a new collaboration with Intel that brings the global tech giant’s computing technologies to flying car racing. As the Airspeeder Series’ Official Intelligence Partner, Intel® Core® processor and Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors will help shape the sport to maximise its appeal to racers and fans alike. 

The new strategic sponsorship deal was revealed in a joint presentation at the Motorsport Show in Adelaide on March 25th, where Adelaide-based Alauda unveiled its new Mk4 Airspeeder – the first-ever piloted craft to take part in the Airspeeder race series.

“We’re incredibly excited to have Intel on board. The technology, insight and innovation it’s bringing to Airspeeder will transform our racing series, making it even more immersive and dynamic for pilots and spectacular for our audiences. Just as importantly, Intel’s ‘pervasive connectivity’ perfectly matches our vision of an always-connected, vertical-enabled future. Through the actionable insights provided by AI, we can achieve next-level eVTOL performance and control, which we see as the key to unlocking the future of private air mobility.” – Matt Pearson, CEO, Alauda Aeronautics

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“This is another example of Intel continuing to deliver the compute power needed to stretch the notion of what’s possible, make what was once science fiction a reality, and transform the way we live our lives. Helping Airspeeder bring this new concept to life has the potential to not only change the way we race, but also opens up endless possibilities in urban mobility.”- Andrew McLean, Managing Director ANZ, Intel

FIBA debut full video floor with increased opportunities for commercial partnerships

There will be a striking new dimension to this year’s edition of the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup with the first ever use of an innovative glass flooring court in an official FIBA competition. 

This exciting state of the art surface will provide a fantastic opportunity for some of the best young female players and teams in the world to become the first to play on it at a flagship FIBA event.

Rigorously tested and having gone through FIBA’s Equipment and Venue Centre Approval program, ASB GlassFloor systems have already been utilized in the 3×3 Pro League in the Netherlands and in pre-season German Bundesliga games, as well as other sporting competitions.

The introduction of the glass flooring court contributes strongly to the successful delivery of one of FIBA’s strategic priorities – namely, to ‘Enlarge the FIBAFamily’ by endorsing and encouraging innovation in basketball.

The LumiFlex court provided by ASB GlassFloor is a full video floor allowing for interactive applications as well as an enhanced show staging with additional options for advertising.

The flooring can also feature the ability to add player tracking to the video floor, making it possible to display live stats and athletic achievements on the floor, providing fans with enhanced interaction and better engagement.

FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis said: “It is with great pride that we look forward to witnessing the premiere of this glass flooring court on the world stage in July. This innovative surface, made possible by the recent rule change, clearly demonstrates FIBA’s appetite to embrace new technology and innovation.


“Delivering on one of our strategic priorities, it also underlines just how much FIBA is determined to advance our sport so we can make basketball even more appealing and engaging for fans, while also enhancing the experience for players.”

Meanwhile, Spanish Basketball Federation President Jorge Garbajosa was also quick to point out the benefits ahead of his nation hosting the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2023 in Madrid between July 15 and 23.

“We are very happy and supportive of the decision to use the glass flooring court for this important event, especially as we celebrate our 100th anniversary this year,” enthused Garbajosa.

“As a former player, I know the athletes getting ready to compete at the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup will now be even more excited knowing they will be the first to play at such a big event on this new state of the art surface.”

He added, “As the host nation, we know it can provide us with additional opportunities from a marketing and branding standpoint, both in terms of engaging with commercial partners and enhancing the fan experience.”

The use of the glass flooring court at the FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2023 was made possible by the decision of the FIBA Central Board last year to implement a rule change to allow the use of LED glass in Level 1 competitions. The glass flooring will be used for all Final Phase games at the Palacio de los Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid.

Member Insights: Why the NBA’s media rights might not be worth as much as you think

The NBA’s current media rights cycle comes to an end in 2025. Our content manager Alex Brinton takes a look at why they might struggle to get the figure they want. 

It is not for a humble fan of the NBA to tell one of the best-run, forward-looking sports organisations that they have got something wrong, but there are a few issues around the next round of media rights that I think might cause the NBA more problems than they expect.

Record-breaking media rights deals are being done with incredible regularity all over the sports business at the moment, as broadcasters look for something that will guarantee subscribers and viewers – nothing can compete with sport on that front.

The Premier League’s rights are out for tender and there is plenty of talk that Apple plan to enter the market, and that the price is expected to increase from the £5.1 bn deal signed in 2021. 

The NBA are expecting a considerable increase as well. The ten-year deal they signed with ESPN and Turner Media (owned by Warner Bros. Discovery) worth $24bn in 2014 will run out in 2025, and it is reported they are looking for $75bn for the next decade. 

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ESPN and Turner have been broadcasting the NBA for over 20 years, and to many Americans the networks are the home of the NBA. Turner’s Inside the NBA show has won a combined 17 Sports Emmy Awards and was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in 2021. 

When the tender process opens, the money the NBA are reportedly looking for could price Turner out of the market. Despite handing huge contracts to the Inside the NBA team in October, including a ten-year $317m deal for pundit Charles Barkley, the CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery then said a month later: “We don’t need the NBA.” 

The NBA already have a streaming platform of their own called NBA League Pass which gives subscribers access to every game, every night, for $49.99 a season. Despite this it wouldn’t be a surprise if one of the big streaming platforms decided to get involved,  Apple and Amazon are said to be looking at the NBA as part of their expansions into sport.

So far, so good for the NBA in their pursuit of $75bn. Indeed, around the league journalists and teams are already looking forward to what a TV deal of this magnitude could mean to the salary cap. The NBA has a cap on players’ wages which is currently set at $123.655m per team. Income from media deals has a direct impact on the salary cap: when the income from the $25bn deal signed in 2014 kicked in before the 2016-17 season, the cap was raised by a record $24m. The cap increase allowed the Golden State Warriors to add All-Star Kevin Durant to their roster and create arguably the greatest team of all time. The franchises will be well aware of the opportunities created by a new, lucrative media rights deal. 

I see a few potential bumps in the road, though. 

Firstly, the viewing numbers for the biggest games are in decline. Since the last TV deal was signed in 2014, the NBA finals have attracted an average viewership of 15.4m. The highest came in 2017 when the Golden State Warriors, with the addition of Durant, took on Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers and avenged their loss in the previous year’s finals. 

Of the last nine NBA finals, the last three have had the lowest viewership. The 2020 Covid-related finals pulled in an average of only 7.45m, despite containing LeBron James and his Los Angeles Lakers team winning their first title in a decade. The 2021 finals saw a rise to 9.91m and last year’s finals rose again, but only to 12.4m. 

The NBA All-Star Game is a marquee moment in the league’s calendar, but this year it flopped. Just 4.59m people tuned in to watch the game – an all-time record low. The previous lowest was 6.1m in 2021. This is the biggest decline from one game to another since 2000.

Looking at the figures, is it possible that the NBA have misjudged the appetite of the American public for live basketball?

The second problem the league faces is load management. For those not familiar with the term, it refers to players missing games to rest so that they are at the optimal level for when the play-offs begin. This has led to some star players missing large parts of the 82-game regular season. With an increase in ticket prices around the league, there have been complaints from fans shelling out for tickets without knowing whether or not they are going to be seeing the best players. 

This problem has grown in the last few years. Of the 52 players to be awarded the regular season MVP, 35 have played in at least 80 games. In the 1970s, 90% of the MVPs played in at least 80 games, in the 1980s this fell to 70%. But of the last ten MVP winners only four have played 80 games and this trend will continue this year. 

One possible solution is reducing the number of games, something commissioner Adam Silver hasn’t ruled out, although he certainly isn’t keen on the idea. “It’s something we have been talking a lot about the last few years,” Silver said before Game 1 of the 2022 finals. “I’m not against potentially changing the format of the season, possibly even shortening it a bit, if we can demonstrate that’s going to have a direct impact on injuries.”

If broadcasters can’t be sure the stars are going to be playing in the games they select, or even how many games are going to be in a season, they may feel uneasy about tripling the amount of money they will be paying to broadcast the games.

The NBA is all about its star players. This is one of the things it has over the NFL, because NFL players are required to wear their helmets, while they are on the field even during touchdown celebrations it is harder to market them. With NBA players you can see their emotions at all times.

Stars such as James, Steph Curry, Durant and James Harden are moving towards retirement age: it is time for the league to have a new face. After the Dream Team won Gold in the 1992 Olympics, basketball became a global game and the league has increasingly been filled with foreign stars. But now they are taking over: the MVP hasn’t been won by an American since 2018 and of the five main contenders for it this season four are from abroad. At the moment there are several candidates for taking over as the ‘face’ of the league; only two are American. In addition to this, next year’s projected No.1 draft pick, Victor Wembenyama, is French. The 7ft 4in Frenchman is predicted to revolutionise the NBA and is the most anticipated draft prospect since LeBron James entered the league back in 2003.

This is great for the NBA globally, but it will be interesting to see how the American audiences react to a foreign invasion, and whether or not it will put them off the sport. 

Meet the Member: “We have hosted more major sporting events than any other city in North America since 2004”

With memories of the Qatar World Cup fading into the rearview mirror, we turn our attention to the 2026 edition of the tournament. The tournament is hosted over three countries and 16 cities. We caught up with Chris Canetti, the man who led Houston’s successful bid to find out how preparations are going, why Houston and his thoughts on host cities being able to secure their own commercial partnerships.

So Chris to kick us off, take us through your professional journey in sport?

I graduated from college in 1992 as a Communications Major. I guess I had visions of working at ESPN, at least to be involved in sports because I loved it so much. I was a baseball player in college, then in 1993 Minor League Baseball moved to my hometown in New Haven, Connecticut. I thought Christmas had come early. 

Unfortunately, they weren’t too keen to let a young guy with no real experience work with them. After a lot of persuasion they hired me as clubhouse manager. At the end of the season they let me move to become Head of Operations, a proper front office job which was really exciting. A few years later, aged 26 I became the General Manager of the team, I was the youngest GM in Minor League Baseball at the time and was in the position until I got headhunted by the New York Metro Stars, three years later. 

To be completely honest, I wasn’t the biggest fan of soccer at the time, but the chance to move to New York was so appealing to me. At first I saw the job as simply a pathway into the New York market and the opportunities to work with the likes of the Yankees, the Mets or the Knicks. But I really fell in love with the sport and over the next five or six years I moved up to assistant general manager. 

Then in 2006, Red Bull came in and bought the team and I was a victim of the changes they made. I found myself moving south to be Chief Operating Officer of the Houston Dynamo. I then progressed from COO to President and I was in that position until 2018 and from there I took on this role with the Houston 2026 World Cup Bid Committee.

Let’s have a look back at USA 94, what are your memories of the tournament? And as a non-football fan at the time did it make any impression on you?

I will be honest with you, I had very little awareness that the World Cup was going on in the summer of 1994. I was really busy with my Minor League Baseball position and that was taking up a lot of my time, but also I think was very similar to the experience of a lot of Americans at the time. But this time around we are really engaged, you only have to look at the viewing numbers of the game against England at the 2022 World Cup to see that. 

Take us back to June when you found out you won the bid, what was that feeling like?

It was an amazing feeling and a crowning moment for my career personally. I know how badly the city wanted it and how much it meant to the city. It has been so exciting to play a role in this for the city of Houston and we really didn’t know until the moment it was announced. When they called our name out it was a real feeling of jubilation, excitement and real pride as well that the work we had done had come off.

In your opinion, why was Houston chosen as one of the host cities? It is actually the fourth largest city in America and punches a bit below his weight when it comes to cultural significance, so why do you think it was chosen?

I don’t think there was a specific thing we did better than any other city but we do so many different things well across the board. Like you say, Houston is the fourth largest city in America and the largest in Texas. We have incredible infrastructure here as it pertains to our stadiums, our airports, our training facilities, hotels, transportation network, we’ve got an incredible track record of hosting major sporting events.

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We have actually hosted more major sporting events than any other city in North America since 2004, and we have done them well and got a great reputation from that. We also have brilliant travel links, it is easy to get to Houston and then once you are here it is easy to travel to Mexico, Canada or anywhere in North America. 

Take us through the bidding process then from when you came on board to the announcement in June?

As we said North America was awarded the bid in 2018 and I joined the bid committee in January of 2019. At that time I thought it was only going to be a two to two and a half year job, but Covid meant it dragged on a lot longer than that. It isn’t like anything I have been involved in before, even though I have worked in football for 19 years. I think as a city we put forward a good strategy and showed it is organised and ready to host an event of this magnitude.

As will be the case in a lot of the cities, NFL grounds are being used to host the matches. What changes to the stadium are going to have to be made to make it ready to host football?

Yes that is the case for a lot of the cities, we are in the really fortunate position that the NRG Stadium really doesn’t need much work done at all. It has been well kept over the years and has hosted several major football matches and tournaments, we’ve had the Manchester derby, El Classico and matches in the Copa America. The one thing we need to bring in is a grass pitch, it is currently an artificial pitch but we are going to start growing that a few months out from the tournament. Besides that there are other improvements that are going on to the stadium that are the pre-scheduled ones.

What was your reaction FIFA announced cities would be able to secure their own commercial partnerships for the first time?

It is a really interesting opportunity, but if we are going to be totally honest we have known that this was going to be happening for a little while. We knew it was going to be a piece of the puzzle in terms of how cities were able to fundraise the dollars that are necessary to cover the obligations that we have as host cities. We’re excited to be able to take advantage of it and use it to generate the revenue that we need to cover our costs.

This could easily mean cities competing for the same partners, what are you planning on doing to avoid that and if it is an issue what gives Houston the edge?

That certainly is a possibility and brands are only allowed to align with a maximum of two host cities. Look there’s a possibility that cities are going to be going for the same brands, but to be honest it doesn’t really concern me. A lot of the deals will be done with brands who have a large corporate presence within the city. So Houston is, for example, the energy capital of the world, we’re home to numerous major Fortune 500, Fortune 100 companies, these companies have been supportive of major sporting events that have come through Houston in the past Super Bowls, Final Fours etc. Next season we have the College Football Championship as well, which I know isn’t the biggest event in Europe but over here it really is. 

We are fortunate in the sense that there’s a culture in this city that the major corporate partners want to support major events, they understand the value of what it means for our city and its future. We have ten of these spaces to fill, so with all of the above it isn’t something that is keeping me up at night.

First speakers announced for SEG3

Two days jam packed with an array of interactive sessions, immersive experiences and deep dives into innovative use cases all being used across sports, entertainment and gaming industries.​

Featured sessions include Napster, BITKRAFT Ventures, Upland, Animoca Brands, NASCAR & many more.

The full agenda is coming soon…