Second Screen Soccer: The Tactical Cam

Football fans in American are getting a new view of Premier League football on their laptops with the introduction of the Tactical Cam. Why is this of interest? Well, it’s available as a second screen experience via the NBC Sports Live Extra app and was first used in Liverpool’s defeat by Manchester City. Placed high up on the side of the pitch, it can be viewed on tablet and mobile and viewed picture in picture or as a separate screen. It means your second screen can follow which players are where and give a better understanding of attack, midfield and defence. While some have said this is an extension of the football education in the States, I’m sure there are European and British fans who’d like to have alternate views of play. The Tactical Cam is part of NBC Sport’s coverage of all 380 Premier League games which cost them $250 million – it’s just a shame the NBC Sports second screen isn’t currently available to UK fans.

Football Conversation: Twitter Scores Winner

As the Premier League gets under way, it was London side Arsenal who got the social scene talking last week. Joining them as the to three teams mentioned on Twitter, Facebook and on blogs were Liverpool and Manchester United. Compiled by Meltwater, what was interesting was the percentages of where the conversatiosn were being held. Twitter saw was way out in front, with the highest amount of mentions around the event (73%) followed by Facebook (26%) and blogs (1%). It means that Twitter really is winning the battle for sports conversation, and worth considering for sports teams and athletes. Louis Van Gaal won the battle for the most mentioned manager. Although perhaps not all positive. Unless you’re from Milton Keynes, of course.

Featured Athlete: Max Verstappen

Our featured athlete of the week is just 16, but he’s set to make his Formula One debut next March. Max Verstappen has risen through the ranks of the Red Bull Junior Team with a pace matched only by his speed on the F3 circuits. And it’s likely his social media is going to get a fresh livery over the next couple of weeks as well. Currently his Twitter feed is shared with the other member of the Verstappen racing team – his father and former F1 driver Jos, while his Facebook feed tends towards links rather than social-only content. It will be interesting to see which path in social media he follows. While fellow Junior Team alumni Sebastian Vettel is far from a social fan, Daniel Ricciardo has embraced it with both hands.

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Having spent eight seasons in Formula One managing the digital channels for world champions Red Bull Racing, David Granger now runs Fact 51, a social and digital content agency.

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A new men’s national team baseball event, the Premier12, has been launched by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).

Launched by WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari, the Premier12 will start in November 2015 in Taiwan and will feature the world’s top-twelve ranked nations.

The Premier12 will be held every four years, with the aim of becoming baseball’s highest ranked international competition.

The champion will be awarded baseball’s largest prize of World Ranking bonus points.

The WBSC will also guarantee prize money – to be in the US$ millions – among the National Teams/National Federations (NFs) participating in The Premier12 and will also cover their costs.

“The WBSC is thrilled to announce the groundbreaking addition of The Premier12 to WBSC’s tournaments-structure,” said Fraccari.

“The Premier12 will unite baseball’s top nations and give baseball’s best players in the world the opportunity – and the highest honour – to play for their countries on a global stage.

“The Premier12 will be a worldwide spectacle that generates huge media numbers and will not only be very exciting but also very rewarding for the players, the NFs, the fans and for our partners, who have all driven demand for this new event.”

The WBSC will announce The Premier12’s qualified National Teams later this year in November, after the final 2014 World Rankings have been calculated.

WBSC has elected to stage the inaugural Premier12 in November 2015, following the conclusion of many domestic league championships, to give the world’s professional players the opportunity of uniting to represent their National Teams over 10-12 competition days.

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Eurosport have announced that they will celebrate their 25^th consecutive Tour de France with a record 350 hours of broadcast.

The hours will be spread over Eurosport and Eurosport 2, impotent with 90 hours coming live and in high definition.

Live action from the Tour will be broadcast on Eurosport, prescription with highlights from the day’s stage appearing on Eurosport 2 at 20:00, doctor with repeats the following morning.

Speaking exclusively to iSportconnect, a Eurosport spokesman said: “The Tour is a key pillar of our broadcast year and so to be able to devote so many hours to such an iconic event demonstrates how we are always aiming to bring fans the most complete and in-depth coverage we can.

“Each Tour has a different style and personality and after the 100^th edition celebrations last year, it is very interesting in 2014 to have the Grand Depart in the UK, as well as stages in the Alps and Pyrenees.

“It will be a fascinating race.”

The 2013 edition of the Tour recorded its best audience reach since 2009 on Eurosport and the broadcaster said it was important for them to stay innovative to keep the growing number of cycling fans interested in their coverage.

“Interest in the Tour de France is consistently high and we know that there are a growing number of fans, in the UK especially, who now have a deeper knowledge of the sport than in the past,” added the spokesman.

“It is therefore always important for us to present the event in an entertaining and informative way to meet their expectations and add to their enjoyment of the race.”

Three time winner makes TV debut

One way Eurosport hopes to achieve this is with the addition of three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond (pictured) as one of the channel’s pundits for the race.

LeMond will become Eurosport’s cycling consultant 25 years after his legendary victory in 1989 and will provide expert analysis.

Speaking about the Tour starting in the UK, LeMond commented: “I think British cycling is growing so dramatically there. Throughout my career, I’ve always been surprised that England doesn’t have the same passion for cycling as in mainland Europe, but I think it’s flipped; I think that cycling in England is gaining, and cycling in Europe has been waning a little bit.

“I think we’re going to be blown away by the crowds in Leeds, it’s going to be millions. I did it in 1994, we went through the south of England, and there were a million people at the side of the road, it’s exciting.

“I’m looking forward to seeing it.”

Live coverage starts on July 3 with the team presentation in Leeds and from July 5 all stages will be live.

The World Cup is well underway and there has been as much attention focussed off the pitch as there has been on it. Already dubbed the greatest tournament ever it’s unsurprising that brands, both big and small, flock to FIFA, each looking to leverage a slice of the popularity pie. With partners and sponsors signed up and unassociated brands looking to steal some of the spotlight, this week saw forecasters predicting the evolution of brand sponsorship spend.

The competition’s status as the biggest Twitter event in history has already been drummed into us more times than Spain’s goal net has bulged, but the World Cup’s sociability and how brands leverage this goes far beyond simple generalizations. Some quarters are suggesting that sponsors are going to have to increase their expenditure markedly, in order to generate a return on their rights investment – good news for sports marketing agencies. The basis for this are comments by FIFA Secretary General, Jerome Valcke, who has stated the governing body will earn £2.3 billion in tournament revenue – a figure that is set to increase for 2018 and marks a 10% rise on 2010. Included within that is £837 million of income which will come from FIFA’s sponsorship deals. On the basis that rights purchasing investments are at least equalled by leverage budgets, forecasters suggest that future World Cup partners will need to find deep pockets to stay invested. With media possibilities moving at an unprecedented pace, digital marketing looks set to emerge as the platform of choice. Conversely, some analysts believe that this medium is becoming overcrowded and unwieldy, creating the genuine threat of consumer fatigue – an issue that is also present for the current tournament. The key caveat for these comments is that they are all focussed on expenditure, making no allowance for exciting creativity to outperform commercial dollars.

Whilst much of the discussion around brand marketing which leverages the World Cup has focussed on social and digital execution, research from the UK reveals that companies are shunning traditional media at their peril. Looking specifically at out of home, advertisers who integrate poster or billboard execution with mobile engagement, will lift their returns. In a two-week trial in the UK earlier this year, researchers measured awareness, purchase consideration and online searches across 120,000 usage hotspots, using 370 selected mobile websites and apps, as well as 19,000 poster locations. The results showed a 200% increase in “unprompted ad awareness” and a 150% increase in online searches. With figures like this, major brands should look to move increasingly to integration rather than siloed execution.

It all makes for provocative reading and is something both brands and sports PR agencies should note when planning future campaigns.

Watch Rebecca Hopkins analyse the week’s big marketing stories in the Sports Marketing Show on iSportconnect TV

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Rebecca Hopkins is Managing Director of ENS Ltd, a London-based sports agency tasked with promoting and protecting brands in sport. They specialize in sports PR, crisis management and online public relations.

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So Bayern Munich won the German Bundesliga following a win against Hertha Berlin. It is the 23rd time the Bavarian club has claimed the title – and the third time in the past five years. This year is particularly remarkable as the title has been won in March, with a record seven matches of the season still remaining. Bayern’s players have now won 19 league games in a row.

Bayern may be unusually good this year, but such domination is nevertheless familiar across European football: Real Madrid and Barcelona have won the La Liga title 54 times between them and regularly defeat other Spanish sides with embarrassing ease. In England, Manchester United has won the Premier League 13 times in its 22-year history, and the Italian title has been taken 29 times by Juventus.

This success has created an iconography and a mythology for these clubs, enabling them to capture the public’s attention and to build commercial empires across the world.

The allure of dominant clubs is undoubted: elite professional athletes at the peak of their careers, with the sort of team dynamic all coaches strive for. With it comes glitz and glamour, heroes and role models.

But many people object to this view: domination brings predictability, meaning sport that is monotonously dull, bereft of emotion, and just plain boring. Should we therefore love or loathe the likes of Bayern Munich and the metronomic success of coaches such as Pep Guardiola?

Predictably good

Guardiola’s Munich, and the Barcelona side he managed previously, have provoked a debate about whether football is a sport or a form of entertainment. In this pre-packaged era where consumers demand consistent product quality, Bayern – and Guardiola’s Barcelona before them – bring a Hollywood franchise-like presence to football.

No matter where you are, no matter when, you are always going to get the same thing – certainty and consistency. Whether watching a Star Wars prequel, the latest Spider-Man or Bayern taking on Hertha, you get the stars, the drama and a happy ending.

For many people, this makes “consuming” sport so much easier: you know what you are going to get when you spend your money. No worries, no doubts, and with added psychological benefits too. Being a fan of a great, successful team allows you to bask in reflected glory – your team looks good, so you do too.

The problem is some sport fans want their football as some people want their films: possibly blood-curdling, often horror filled and unpredictable to the last. After all, this has always been the essence of sport: a titanic struggle, an unpredictable battle, the outcome never certain until the last minute.

As academic research illustrates, this is what draws many people to sport in the first place. Nowhere else can such uncertainty be found, especially in the way it provokes drama and collective emotions. There may not be a happy ending, yet sport invariably brings excitement and joy, pain and tears.

One might argue that sporting domination is inevitable and has characterised sport across the ages. Consider the AC Milan team of the 1980s – Gullit, Baresi, van Basten and all – then compare this to the situation AC now finds itself in, 12th in the league with players forced to explain themselves to angry fans. Perhaps there is a natural cycle governing the rise and fall of dominant teams in sport?

Rich get richer

An alternative view is that 21st-century sport simply reflects the type of industrial concentration evident elsewhere. Just as English football wrestles with issues of its domination by a small number of big clubs, so British retailing is similarly dominated. Where once there were a large number of food stores now big chains dominate. Perhaps the likes of Bayern Munich are simply more efficient and better managed than other clubs, just like Tesco and Sainsbury’s once rose to dominance through out-competing their rivals.

Many people in Britain nevertheless bemoan the demise of their local food stores and the need to drive miles to faceless outlets located in business parks on the outskirts of towns – so too football fans. In the face of domination, authorities could take a more interventionist stance and alter the balance of power.

In football, one intention of UEFA’s much debated Financial Fair Play initiative is to reduce domination by a small number of clubs and bring about greater balance in European football. This means working to ensure the top clubs do not simply buy their success.

North American sport is founded on such interventionist measures; indeed, some commentators wryly observe that in the world’s biggest free-market economy sport is run according to socialist principles. Salary-caps, revenue sharing and draft picks for the best young players maintain competition and guard against Bayern levels of domination.

Whether or not intervention in sport by bodies like UEFA is either necessary or desirable brings us back to the central premise: sport as entertainment for consumers, or sport as uncertainty (and possibly pain) for fans?

Many diehards will scream the latter; but as sport, its markets and its target audiences globalise, cradle-to-grave fans of a team cannot assume that people in places like China and South Korea will want the same things. While traditional fans back in Europe may secretly revel in the torpor of underachievement, the followers of Western teams in Beijing and Seoul go in search of the luxury, status, consistency and certainty of success.

So yet another Bayern Munich victory might be bemoaned by football supporters in Dortmund and Berlin, Manchester and Madrid (particularly if the Champions League goes to Bayern again this season). But fans in the cafes and bars of Gangnam and Sanlitun will rejoice in the status their association with the German club brings them, and the Hollywood-like entertainment they’re served up, week after week.

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Professor Simon Chadwick holds the position of Chair in Sport Business Strategy and Marketing at Coventry University Business School, where he is also the founder and Director of CIBS (Centre for the International Business of Sport). Simon is the founding Editor of ‘Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal’, is a former Editor of the ‘International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship’ (he continues to serve as an editorial board member for several other sport journals), and has authored and published more than 600 articles, conference papers and books on sport. His academic research has appeared in journals including Sloan Management Review, the Journal of Advertising Research, Thunderbird International Business Review, Management Decision, Marketing Review and Sport Marketing Quarterly. Simon has co-edited the books ‘The Business of Sport Management’ and ‘The Marketing of Sport’ (both Financial Times Prentice Hall), ‘Managing Football: An International Perspective’ (Elsevier), ‘Sport Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice’ (F.I.T.), and ‘International Cases in the Business of Sport’ (Routledge). Alongside his books, Chadwick has created a Sport Marketing talk series for Henry Stewart Publishing, is Editor of a Sport Marketing book series for Routledge (Taylor and Francis), and is a visiting academic at IESE and Instituto de Empresa in Spain; the University of Paris, France; the Russian International Olympic University in Sochi, and the University of Pretoria in South Africa.

Follow Simon on Twitter @Prof_Chadwick

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There are several strategic reasons for national sport federations to establish good management practices. A critical one is ensuring the continued ability to attract funding, not least in a situation where providers of funding increasingly worry about cases of bad governance and the extent to which existing management practices enable sport federations to spend their funds adequately, effectively and efficiently.

This ninth contribution of mine for iSportconnect’s expert column on sport governance offers perspectives on the case of the Netherlands Olympic Committee and Sport Confederation. The contribution focuses on how national sport federations in the Netherlands are being incentivized to establish good management practices and especially how their compliance with mandatory minimum criteria for good governance is now a prerequisite for receiving funding. The contribution also offers some challenging questions for sport leaders to consider, as they start the process of modernizing their governance standards for the future.

My tenth contribution is going to be published in the middle of January 2014. It will offer perspectives on the case of Canada’s Not-for-profit Corporations Act with a focus on the change of laws and regulations as another means of incentivizing national sport federations to go through governance modernization.

Ensuring national sport federations’ continued ability to attract funding is a critical strategic reason for establishing good management practices

There are several strategic reasons for national sport federations to establish good management practices. As outlined in my 2^nd contribution on the business case for good governance in sport good management practices not only create the foundation for further developing sport. They also create the foundation for building trust, performance and growth into the future.

Ensuring national sport federations’ continued ability to attract funding is particularly critical. With a growing number of recent and current cases of bad governance in the media, providers of funding worry more than ever about the extent to which existing management practices enable sport federations to spend their funds adequately, effectively and efficiently. Responses so far include sponsors having expressed concerns in public. They also include sponsors having terminated contracts prior to expiration or even having sued a sport federation for loss of commercial value. Also, some governments and national umbrella sport federations have responded by tying eligibility for future funding to criteria related to good governance.

Good management practices in sport in the Netherlands: From a voluntary code to mandatory minimum criteria

Good management practices in sport have been high on the agenda of sport in the Netherlands for quite a few years. After assessing 26 national sport federations and the need for modernizing governance standards, a voluntary code on good governance in sport was put in place in 2005. The voluntary nature of the code encouraged national sport federations in the Netherlands to ensure compliance with 13 recommendations on good governance or explain why they decided not to do so for certain recommendations.

In 2008, however, it was decided to translate the voluntary code into mandatory minimum criteria for good governance. Accordingly, as of 2011 national sport federations have had to comply with 17 mandatory minimum criteria for good governance as a prerequisite for receiving sport funding from the Lottery in the Netherlands.

National sport federations must comply with 17 mandatory minimum criteria for good governance to receive sport funding from the Lottery in the Netherlands

To be eligible for sport funding from the Lottery in the Netherlands, national sport federations must comply with all of the following 17 mandatory minimum criteria for good governance:

1. Evaluate good governance initiatives in annual report
2. Benchmark governance measures every second year (self-evaluation)
3. Clearly describe governance model
4. Use terms of reference for board and board members
5. Apply rules to address conflicts of interest
6. Limit terms in office for board members to a maximum of 12 years
7. Organize an annual meeting at least once a year
8. Put in place a management statute
9. Centralize governance authority to prevent autonomous internal entities
10. Have a long-term strategic plan
11. Clearly describe the planning and control cycle
12. Put in place risk management and adequate procurement rules and procedures
13. Meet financial stability ratios
14. Subject annual report to audit by an accountant
15. Put in place specific regulations concerning sexual intimidation, doping, equality and discrimination, complaints and a disciplinary code
16. Ensure that all individual members are aware of and comply with federation membership rules
17. Provide all individual membership registrations once a year

A system is in place to ensure that national sport federations comply with the mandatory minimum criteria for good governance. It is based on a combination of self-evaluations by the sport federations and audits by the Netherlands Olympic Committee and Sport Confederation. Accordingly, boards of national sport federations in the Netherlands are required to provide the Netherlands Olympic Committee and Sport Confederation with a self-assessment against the 17 mandatory minimum criteria for good governance once a year. Self-assessments are subject to scrutiny by the Netherlands Olympic Committee and Sport Confederation. It audits the self-assessments on a thematic basis.

Our global tour continues and the racing is becoming even more exhilarating as the fleet arrives at its fourth continent in as many races; plus we welcomed a new host port with ambitious plans to grow its economy: Albany on the southern tip of Western Australia, set among breathtaking scenery and epic seas, is a small town with big plans, and an even bigger heart.

The Southern Ocean leg of the Clipper Race rarely disappoints and the 5000 mile ‘sleigh ride’ from South Africa to Western Australia delivered a volley of punches in the form of a succession of depressions that brought violent storm force winds gusting to Hurricane speeds. Yes there were some injuries and boat damage, but crew and fleet have come through with flying colours. In fact the skippers have remarked how solid the fleet of new single design Clipper 70s is performing.

The yachts are clearly well matched as we are getting incredibly tight finishes that make exciting viewing. The first two yachts, GREAT Britain and Henri Lloyd were just minutes apart on the finish line, but a couple of days later four boats arrived within four minutes of each other. Invest Africa and Mission Performance were neck and neck on the line; after 5000 miles of racing it was virtually a photo finish.

Local people lined the surrounding hill tops, coastal roads and breakwaters to cheer in the teams after their challenging and arduous leg from South Africa. The City of Albany, better known by its Twitter campaign as #AmazingAlbany, lived up to its own slogan, with volunteers turning up at all hours as boats finished through the night to provide sizzling steaks and ice cold beers.

The city is hosting the Clipper Race to demonstrate its ability to stage major events and to showcase its natural assets on the waterfront and beyond, raising its profile in Australia and around the world, leveraging its association with the race to punch above its weight in making a significant ROI in promotional value and tangible economic impact from the influx of visitors.

The local Chamber of Commerce said the visit had filled all the hotels and made a significant difference to the level of trade during the stopover. One restaurant owner observed how business had more than doubled with customers ordering from the higher end of their menu and wine list.

Locally sourced produce and wines were indeed excellent and our own ‘Clipper Race Cook’ London restaurateur Lawrence Lingard sailing aboard Qingdao, teamed up with a local chef for the Albany Maritime Festival to cook for the crowds. He devised his own dish, ‘Albany in a Bag’ with fresh seafood and herbs steamed with local wine in foil parcels.

Meanwhile the Clipper Race support team worked around the clock to get the fleet back to full working order for its second dip into the Southern Ocean in the next race to Sydney. I told the crews this was the best possible preparation for their participation in the classic Rolex Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race. While their competitors may be relaxing in their yacht club bars, these guys are out there honing their skills in one of the most challenging oceans on the planet. They should not be underestimated.

Australia is our second largest market for crew and we are establishing a new training and development hub in Sydney to respond to the growing demand. Two of the Clipper 68s from our previous ocean racing fleet will be based there and will also be participating in the Rolex Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race – with me aboard one of them. I’m determined to do well of course, but told the skippers of our Clipper 70s that they better not let themselves be beaten by a veteran in a 68!

Let’s see what happens. The 69^th Rolex Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race starts on Boxing Day, 26^th December 2013.

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It is 45 years since Sir Robin Knox-Johnston set off on his record breaking solo, non-stop circumnavigation in 1968-69. In 1995, he established the Clipper Race, to give everyone, regardless of sailing experience, the opportunity to discover the exhilaration of ocean racing.

Now the world’s longest ocean race, 670 amateur sailors representing more than 40 nations will compete in the Clipper 2013-14 Race. They set sail from London on September 1 and will travel 40,000 miles on twelve Clipper 70’s in 15 races across all six continents, not returning to London till July 2014.

Youcan follow the Clipper 2013-14 Race at www.clipperroundtheworld.com and on Twitter via @ClipperRace. Follow Sir Robin on Twitter @SirRKJ.

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The Glasgow Commonwealth Games are just 3 years away. The Toronto PanAm / Parapan Games are in 2015, as are, in Australia, the Asian Football Cup and the ICC Cricket World Cup. It’s just a year until the FIFA World Cup in Brazil and around six months until the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics get underway. In a few days time the IOC will select the host city for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Whew, how exhausting is all that!

It is worth considering, in the light of these large multisport events, just how important loyalty is to the sports presented as well as loyalty to the events.  Indeed, does the conventional formula for loyalty and fan engagement in sport prevail in these cases? And how reliant these events really are on sponsors, their own formulae for engagement, and broadcast connectivity and revenues.

At the end of the day, while the governments’ responsible underwrite and indeed foot part of the bill for making ready the host cities, as well as implementing longer term urban, infrastructure and brand development projects, the reality is that viewing audiences outside the arenas of sport are the ones who essentially count for the broadcasters since they need to secure a ready return for the exclusivity they negotiate at substantial cost.    The networks provide access to, atmosphere around and knowledge attached to peak athletic performances that these events often deliver.  Beyond that, how does the atmosphere, the local characteristics and personal enjoyment, that is the experience of being at the venue, get conveyed? There are few really memorable moments that get delivered beyond the field of play and it is those that the broadcast networks, having paid multi-million dollars for their broadcast rights, seek to exploit and in some sense gamble on being able ‘score’.

But of course, engagement with sports fans in these circumstances is different to the game-time loyalty and affiliation that occurs within with individual sports clubs and teams.

International multi-sport events garner a type of nationalism. At play is the emotional connection and reward not only of the athletic performance but also a strong theme of pride, esteem and loyalty that comes from a national athlete’s exceptional performance. That athlete and their sport stand tall or stand to fall should there be issues with doping or some other foul, or even inappropriate behaviour. Not all of that is intended by the athletes – woe the ‘accidental tourist’- for example, it seems the atmosphere at Sochi will at best be tainted in view of the recent laws making illegal the demonstration of being gay while meticulously avoiding making illegal the practice of being gay. This has raised ire in many quarters, undoubtedly impacts perceptions around the world, and is yet to be played out.

Ahead of the decision between Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, each city has been frantically promoting itself across a range of country, city and events performance characteristics and each has been loudly trumpeting its very high levels of support being demonstrated and voiced by their own citizens. This is city and place brand marketing and brand elevation that has been taken to new heights. The competition is intense.  Each has already invested much into sport, sporting venues, a range of facilities and so want to see the fulfilment of those investments, at least in part, through an Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The truth of the matter is that this association of infrastructure, legacy, host city pride, and related forms of nationalism, seeking the avenue that sport provides to re-establish and re-position the brand of those cities globally is quite separate to the questions of engagement –the questions of who comes?  who can afford to come?  who will watch?  how will they watch?  and what will they see?  It is instructive to consider the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. These questions posed are inextricably tied with the pricing of tickets for the events and in many cases in Brazil the price of seats even for mid-competition World Cup games is far beyond the economic circumstance and affordability of the average football fan. They are excluded by a stroke. This is surely a useful lesson for the IOC and Olympics hosts.

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Ericc is the CEO at New Millennium Business, based in Sydney.

Ericc specialises in the business of events, embracing many facets of events planning and business. He brings meaning, magic and memory to the global events arena. Ericc works with event owners, organisers, host governments and sponsors and with companies which are engaged in events delivery. He is recognised as a ‘go-to’ person in Australia and internationally and has a strong track-record – he previously represented government in the arena of international sporting events. His expertise spans events ‘ideation’, business planning, marketing, branding, showcasing, negotiating, managing risk, legacy development – applying strategic foresight and decoding emerging trends.

Ericc has impressive local and international networks. His “Back on the Block” newsletter on the business of events is widely read. He is a contributing writer to various journals, has been featured in newspapers and has spoken by invitation at international conferences and universities.

Ericc is CEO at New Millennium Business, based in Sydney;  @ericwinton

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Bad news for Europe’s Big Five leagues in the preparations for war over the timing of the 2022 World Cup: if it were put to a vote in FIFA Congress then England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain would be massively outvoted.

Attitudes within the FIFA family are important, not least for the future of the world federation itself never mind the Qatari hosts.

The Big Five (England and Germany on the record, France, Italy and Spain informally) want the 2022 finals played out – even if in the middle of the Gulf night – in the usual June/July slot.

Main reason is commercial, though tradition plays a role. The entire months of November and December would be taken out (eight weeks are needed for the finals and spring is already allocated in the international sports schedule for the Winter Olympics).

This would drive a coach and horses through all those lucrative domestic television deals (and Sky, please note, has just been barred by the European Court from getting in on the World Cup coverage act).

Statistics

Also, the seasons either side would be affected because of the adjustment and readjustment needs.

Statistics from the 2010 finals in South Africa demonstrate the key role of the main European leagues. The 32 squads comprised 736 players of which 106 came from the English Premier League, 75 from Italy’s Serie A and 57 from Spain’s Liga. Even after deducting those countries’ own 69 players that still left a contribution of one quarter of all the players at the finals.

That was not counting Germany and France or the factor that all the Big Five supplied clubs not only from the elite clubs but from the lower divisions. For example, 17 World Cup players came from the English Championship [second division] and France almost double that number.

(Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Than (L) & Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser al-Misnad are presented with a replica World Cup during the 2022 announcement)

Statistics do not even tell the whole tale. Those foreign players included a significant number of the most important superstars at the finals headed by Argentina’s Leo Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

But . . . most of the world does not adhere to the western European autumn-to-spring seasonal schedule. That emerged in the 19^th century because the English summer was reserved, by the public schools and colleges, for examinations, holidays and cricket.

Disruption

So England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain would be disrupted by playing the World Cup in the winter: but such a disruption is suffered almost every four years by football in the Americas, in Africa and across most of Asia.

That, in FIFA Congress, would be a very heavy defeat.

Of course it cannot come before Congress. The winter/summer decision will be taken by the executive committee. Certainly it will not be taken by the Qataris. They have always insisted that they can host the finals in summer (with air-cooled facilities – stadia, training grounds, fan fests) or in winter.

Also, they have no wish to provoke the possibility of antagonistic, legal reaction from beaten bid rivals Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United States.

Voices in favour of a winter hosting include UEFA president Michel Platini (most noisily), FIFA health chairman Michel D’Hooghe and Qatar bid ambassador Ronald de Boer. Chile’s Harold Mayne-Nicholls, who led the bid assessment effort, warned the exco about the temperatures issue before it voted (For what it is worth, he thinks the finals might possibly be staged in the summer in Qatar but only with night-time kickoffs).

Disservice

Platini has done the cause of a winter switch a disservice by suggesting that for Europe’s leagues the disruption would be minimal. He is wrong. Taking out November and December is not a minor hitch.

Twenty or 30 years ago, when Platini was a player, he might have been correct. Not in this commercially-sensitive day and age.

A further problem concerns lower leagues. Usually, during a World Cup, no other mainstream football takes place or is even sanctioned. Most of Europe is in the summer close-season, anyway. But if the elite leagues of the Big Five are halted then the lower divisions in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain will want to clean up in TV and sponsor terms in November and December 2022.

Indeed, they could accuse the international football authorities of denying them the right to financial fair play if FIFA tried to prevent them playing on. Stopping the lower leagues in November and December 2022 could risk tipping a lot of clubs into bankruptcy.

Not that the vast majority of the rest of the world game might be too concerned: envious federations, leagues and clubs in South America, Africa and Asia think western European football too rich as it is.

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Keir Radnedge has been covering football worldwide for more than 40 years, writing 33 books, from tournament guides to comprehensive encyclopedias, aimed at all ages.

His journalism career included The Daily Mail for 20 years as well as The Guardian and other national newspapers and magazines in the UK and around the world. He is a former editor, and remains a lead columnist, with World Soccer, generally recognised as the premier English language magazine on global football.

In addition to his writing, Keir has been a regular analyst for BBC radio and television, Sky Sports, Sky News, Aljazeera and CNN.

Keir Radnedge’s Twitter: @KeirRadnedge

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