Top 5 EXCLUSIVES of the Week

September 23, 2016


SPECIAL REPORT: Predicting the future of sport

Sport has arguably changed quicker than it ever has done over the last 10 years.
In 2006, Facebook was still limited to University and College students, Twitter was just an idea in a notebook, foreign owners had yet to seriously arrive into football, and the iPhone was still a year away.
Each of those things, social media, foreign ownership and mobile fans have gone on to reshape sport immeasurably in 10 years.

TV rights fees have also increased 500% – in 2006 domestic Premier League rights were valued at around £1.7 billion, now it’s over £5 billion.

Predicting what shape sport will take in the next ten years is hardly an exact science, but Professor Simon Chadwick of Salford University has helped several top brands try future proof their strategies. iSportconnect asked him where the next major change will come from.
Read his thoughts HERE
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Sir Philip Craven: No plans to change Paralympic schedule

The president of the International Paralympic Committee, Sir Philip Craven, has told iSportconnect that there are no plans to change the hosting of the Paralympics so that it comes before the Olympic Games.

Craven was speaking to iSC at the close of the Rio 2016 Paralympics. The Games officially came to an end with the closing ceremony at the Maracana on Sunday.

The build-up to the Rio Games were fraught with complications ranging from the effects of Brazil’s economic and political crises to late infrastructure developments and poor ticket sales.

The problems particularly affected the Paralympics with budget cuts having to be made in the immediate weeks prior to the opening ceremony.
Read more HERE
NFL Renovations for the Future by Populous’ Scott Radecic

With the NFL 2016 regular season underway, American football fans return to stadiums across the United States – and the world in the case of the NFL’s burgeoning international series – to revel in the action.
They do so with a host of alternative and competing game experiences at hand, from home theatres to pubs to mobile streaming. So what keeps them coming back to the in-person experience?
As my colleague Scott Radecic explains, NFL franchises continue to renovate stadiums with the help of experts like Populous to offer fans the best of both worlds: the comforts of home and face-to-face camaraderie.
Read Scott’s thoughts HERE
“Surprising” lack of access for Premier League’s disabled fans

Up to a third of Premier League clubs have admitted they will fall short on their pledge to provide wheelchair access to fans by August 2017, including Chelsea and Liverpool.

Currently, Chelsea only provide half of the recommended wheelchair space at their home stadium and according to The Telegraph, they have now said they can only meet minimum numbers when they have rebuilt their stadium and have not provided a timescale for when this would be. Additionally, Everton, Watford and Manchester United have less than half of the recommended number of wheelchair spaces.

Meanwhile, Arsenal and Leicester City are among the clubs that have already met the targets, with the former also intending to go beyond the minimum wheelchair space guideline of 250.

Speaking exclusively to iSportconnect, Stuart Cain, Managing Director at The Ticket Factory was keen to point out potential paths clubs could take to help their disabled fans.

Read Stuart’s thoughts HERE

Performance Insight: A Day in the Life of a Modern Pentathlete

Sporting performance is becoming a more important focus area of the business of sport, and one which iSportconnect will naturally be paying increasing attention to.
The UIPM, world governing body of the Olympic sport of modern pentathlon, is responsible for a sport in which athletes face the special challenge of maximizing performance in five very different areas of competition: running, swimming, fencing, riding and shooting.

That means enforcing a change in mindset five times a day. How does the brain work as the pentathletes switch from discipline to discipline, and how do they stay in control?

During the Rio Games, the UIPM shared the fascinating insights into the mental approach of one of its Olympic athletes, Arthur Lanigan O’Keeffe of Ireland, who finished in 8th place the final 3200 metre running and shooting segment in Rio.
Read a diary of a Pentathlete HERE