Noticiero El Big Picture del Deporte: Yahoo Sports, Sports are usually an escape, but now we must settle into a life without them

In times of trouble, in times of terrorism, in times of uncertainty, there have always been sports. There to distract. There to inspire. There to rally. 

There. Always.

Just not now, it seems.

• March Madness is canceled. The NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball are suspended. Even high school and youth tournaments have been halted or canceled. 
• Presently, there isn’t much left. NASCAR will rev its engines in Atlanta. That’s about it. The sport may boom in popularity. 
• These are unprecedented times in America, in all of the world. The routines of life have been altered. A measure of consistency, of familiarity, of shared calm really could have helped. A sign that somewhere normalcy still ruled. 
• We’ve gotten through a lot before. This time, we’ll have to get through it without sports. At least for now.

References: 

Yahoo Sports, Sports are usually an escape, but now we must settle into a life without them, Dan Wetzel, Mar 12, 2020.

The Big Picture of Sport News: Total Sportek, 25 World’s Most Popular Sports (Ranked by 13 factors)

Sports journalists have been facing this conundrum of ranking sports for some time now.  For ranking any sport’s popularity it is imperative that we set the criteria for ranking first. For us (Total Sportek) TV viewership isn’t the only criteria for a sports popularity rather it should be the number of other factors combined to get the best popularity ranking.

• These are the factors we consider in ranking the top 25 sports in the world. So lets begin our countdown for the biggest, most popular sports in the World.
• CRITERIA USED.
1. Global base & audience
2. TV  Viewership numbers
3. Number Professional leagues around the world
4. TV rights deals
5. Endorsement & Sponsorship deals
6. Average athlete salary in top league
7. Biggest competition & (number of countries represented)
8. Social media presence
9. Prominence in sports headlines on media outlets (websites, tv)
10. Relevancy through the year
11. Regional dominance
12. Gender equality
13. Accessible to general public worldwide

#1. Football/Soccer

With over 4 billion followers of football, it is by far the most popular sport in the world. Football is one of the most accessible sport in the world and there is hardly anyone in this world who has not kick a ball at some point in their life. Football dominate sports headlines in some of the major countries in the world including almost all European nations like United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain etc. In South America football is more than just a game, it represent dreams and joy for kids in Brazil, Argentina and other latin countries.

Most watched competition in the world: Football World Cup is by far the most watched sports competition in the world. 3.9 billion people tune in at some point during the FIFA World Cup 2014 making it by far the biggest sport competition. While the final of 2014 world cup was watched by as many 700 million people all around the globe.

Highest paying sports competitions: $1.5 Billion is awarded in prize money and bonuses every year in UEFA Champions league, which is the european elite club competition where clubs from 54 countries participate. in fact four of the top 5 competitions with highest prize money are football events (Champions League, FIFA World Cup, Europa League, UEFA Euro).

Most expensive sports TV rights deal: English Premier League (English top football division) is the most watched professional sport league in the world. it broadcast in 212 territories across the world with over 5 billion viewer tuning in to live action at some point every season. SkySports and BT Sports paid over £5.3 billion to get premier league rights in the UK for three years while another £3 billion will be generated from international rights.

Highest Paid Athletes: Top players like Ronaldo and Messi are paid around £300,000 a week in salary by their respective clubs while Ronaldo and Messi also feature in the top 5 of the most endorsed athletes in the world.

Richest Sports Teams: If we talk about the richest sports team in the world, around 30 clubs feature in the top 50 list of most valuable sports teams.

#2. Basketball

Basketball has over 1 billion followers. Its a major sport in USA with NBA generating over $4.75 billion a year in revenue. Established Professional leagues in Spain, Greece, Turkey, Italy, France, Argentina, China and more leagues getting setup every year makes it the fastest growing sport in the world.

Third most powerful sports league in the world: NBA (American basketball league) is the third biggest professional league in all sports behind NFL (American football) and Premier League (Football/Soccer) in terms of revenue over $4.75 billion was generated in 2014 in terms of revenue.

Highest Average Salary: NBA average yearly salary for athlete is around $4.4 million a year, thats second highest average wage of any sport league in the world. While top 40 players in NBA earn more than $13 million a year in salary while top 10 earn more than $22 million a year with Kobe Bryant earning as much as $25 million a year.

Endorsement Deals: Lebrone James, Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant features in the top 10 list of highest paid athletes with their massive salaries and endorsement deals with take their yearly income well over $50 million a year.

Fastest growing sport: Basketball is also the fastest growing sport on every scale from revenues, to competitions/leagues. More and more professional leagues are getting established in countries across the world, specially in easter european countries like Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Serbia, Lithuania where basketball is easily the second favorite sport.

#3. Cricket

Estimated 2 billion+ followers makes cricket one of the most popular sport mainly in commomwealth countries like England, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand, Carribeans and South Africa.

Cricket is a dominating sport in many countries specially from indian-sub continent. Pakistan, Indian, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh while England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are other big cricketing nations with cricket as second favorite sport. Cricket is also very popular in Caribbeans with international team callled West Indies is comprised of players from different countries across Caribbeans. Cricket also has its roots in countries like Ireland, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Holland.

#4. Tennis

A global reach and over a 1 billion followers makes Tennis the most popular individual based sport. It comes up triumph in many of our criteria factors.

Highest prize money in individual sport: All four grand slams, Australia Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US offer huge prize money and the prize money given to winners mens and women singles event is the highest in any of the individual sport.

The most global calendar year: Tennis events divided in four categories (ATP 250, ATP 500, ATP Masters and Grand Slams) takes place around the world throughout every years. Only football has more global venues than Tennis which is coverage in almost every part of the world.

Most prestigious sport event: Wimbledon is not only the most prestigious tennis event but also in all sport. Over 1 billion people tune in at some point during Wimbledon 2015 and 2014. While 17.3 million viewers tuned in to BBC One only in UK in 2013 Wimbledon final.

#5. Athletics

Athletic is by far the most global sport of them all which include several disciplines of course with Running, long jump and other track/field events. Athletics is also the high point of Olympic games as Athletics based sports are the most watched during any Olympic event.

Most countries represented in Athletics: Athletics is the most represented sport in the olympics with athletes from almost all countries participating in some form of the diciplines in Athletics.

Most watched single olympic event: 100m final gold medal sprint race in 2012 Olympics was the most watched event in Olympic history with over 1 billion tv views across the world.

#6. Rugby

Rugby is a major sport in some of the most economical developed countries like All four home nations of United Kindom (England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland) in souther hemisphere countries like Australia, New Zealand and South africa also boost huge popularity in Rugby.

Second most lucrative Sports World Cup: 2015 Rugby World Cup was the biggest Rugby event in history which took place in England and Wales. It generated in access of £250 million in revenue which was alot more than what was expected.

Second most watched & Attended competition: Rugby world cup 2015 was the most attended sports event behind FIFA World cup 2014. Over 2.47 million tickets were sold with around half a million (480,000) fans traveling from oversees (24 countries).

Highest ever TV ratings in UK: ITV’s coverage of opening ceremony and opening England match was watched by 8.7 million UK viewers on average making it the most watched sports event in UK.

#7. Formula 1

550 million people tune in every year at some stage of Formula 1 season which runs from March to November. F1 is by far the most popular motoSport in the world.

Most lucrative motor-sport: As far as the yearly revenue is concerned Formula 1 generate somewhere between $1.5 to $2 billion a year. Which is soundly distributed among 10 f1 teams who in return spend between $100 million to $500 million a season on elite level motor engineers, research & development and of course on driver salaries.

Massive driver contracts: On formula 1 drivers makes around $5 million a year while the top drivers like Sebastian Vettel who has a $50 million a year contract with Ferrari, current world champion Lewis Hamilton who signed a new deal worth $40 million a year two of the highest paid athletes around.

#8. Boxing

Only combat sport in the list, boxing is truly global just like Tennis and Athletics. Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao has dominated the rich list in last 10 years while boxing also boost some of the greatest athletes to have ever lived. Boxing is major sport in countries like USA, Mexico, Latin America, United Kingdom, Philippines, Japan, Russia and some eastern European countries like Ukrain, Poland, Romania.

Highest grossing fight of all times: Floyd Mayweather vs Many Pacquiao was the highest grossing boxing fight of all times generating over $400 million in revenue. While Mayweather took home record $250 from nights work while Pacquiao earned $120. Both fighters has kind of dominated forbes athlete rich-list for best part of last 8 years.

#9. Ice Hockey

By far the biggest winter sport in the world and although it is popular or played in specific countries like Canada, Russia, USA, Scandinavian countries like (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden) some easter european countries like Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic it can still boost huge popularity specially during the world championships and european championships.

#10: Volleyball

With no intricacies involved, this sport is as simple as you like. And probably it is the simplicity of this sport that makes it so famous among its fans. Take a trip to the hunger struck African countries or try going to the beaches of Australia, you will find people playing this sport everywhere. On professional level, players with tall heights are preferred because of the extra reach they have so if your height is somewhere to the north of 6 feet, you should fancy your chances in this sport.

Most popular in developing countries: It is quite popular in some of the developing countries with the likes of Brazil, Turkey, South Korea, some easter european nations like Poland, Ukrain other european countries like France, Italy and even in Asian region like China, Japan.

#11. Golf

Just lagging by few million fans, golf is the 8th most famous game. A very docile sport involving no real physical competition and can be played by people of all ages. For too long American Golf Star, Tiger Woods, overawed all his competitors through his exquisite playing abilities but now the sport has got some more representatives who are spreading this game to the farthest of places.

Massive earning potential: Golf’s very own Tiger Woods dominated the athlete rich-list for best part of last 15 years largely down to his very lucrative sponsorship deals with Nike, EA Sports, Gillette and countless other endorsement deals. 

Most Popular Sports In The World (Countdown 11 to 17)

11 Baseball

Most lucrative sport in USA and Japan. MLB (US) and Nippon League (Japan) are two of the top 10 biggest pro league of all sports

12 American Football 

Biggest sport in USA and the most lucrative and powerful professional sport league of all sports is NFL which generates over $10 billion a year in revenue. Super bowl is the most watched sport event in US.

13 MMA 

Mixed Martial Arts is getting more and more popular with the emergence of UFC. Its a big sport in Brazil, USA while spreading across Europe slowly. It highly rewarding financially and might overtake Boxing in a few years.

14 MotoGP 

It is one of the motorcycle racing series. MotoGP is the premium class competition with huge TV following around the world. Mostly popular in Spain, Italy, Netherlands but growing in England, USA, Germany and Middle-east.

15 Field Hockey

Field Hockey has fallen from grace even where it was most popular India, Pakistan. It still has some varied interest but nothing like 20 years ago where it was major sport in India, Pakistan and fairly popular in Australia, Malaysia, Holland, Germany, England and South Africa.

16 Badminton

Huge popularity in Asia specifically countries like Malaysia, China, India, Korea etc. Its more of a hobby sport in Europe and Americas.

17 Cycling 

Very popular in some major european countries like France, Germany, Italy, Spain, England and Netherlands. Tour de France is one of the most watched competition in the world. Cycling is part of school games around the world.

References:

Total Sportek, 25 World’s Most Popular Sports (Ranked by 13 factors).

Business: Forbes, The World's 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams 2019

The world’s richest sports teams are almost all swimming in cash these days. Barcelona, which lost $37 million due to excessive player costs, was the only top-50 team to post a loss on an operating basis, and every other team turned a profit of at least $25 million. More than half of the teams made more than $100 million, led by the Cowboys at $365 million.

Some of the most relevant information:

• NBA teams have made the most dramatic moves this decade. The New York Knicks headline nine hoops teams in the top 50 this year. Their $4 billion value, up 11%, ranks fifth among all sports teams. The Los Angeles Lakers ($3.7 billion) and Golden State Warriors ($3.5 billion) also cracked the top 10. In 2012, the Lakers were the most valuable NBA team at $900 million and ranked 35th out of all sports franchises. The Knicks were the only other NBA team in the top 50 in 2012.
• Three NBA franchises have been sold for at least $2 billion since 2014 (Nets, Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers). The prior NBA-record sale price was $550 million for the Milwaukee Bucks, which closed three months before Steve Ballmer’s $2 billion blockbuster purchase of the Clippers.

The franchise values below are based on Forbes’ published valuations over the past 12 months by Mike Ozanian, Christina Settimi and Kurt Badenhausen. Team values reflect enterprise values (equity plus debt). No teams from the NHL, Nascar, MLS or Formula One made the top 50. The highest-ranking franchise outside of the NBA, NFL, MLB and European soccer was the New York Rangers at 72nd with a value of $1.55 billion.

• The NFL remains the most dominant sports leagues with more than half of the 50 most valuable sports franchises, but the other major sports chipped away at its dominance during the past year.
• The discount bin is empty when shopping for teams in the major sports leagues. Every NFL, NBA and MLB franchise is now worth at least $1 billion.
• Manchester United was the world’s only pro sports team worth more than $2 billion in 2012. Now there are at least 50, including almost every NFL team.

The World's 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams 2019: Top 10

1 | Dallas Cowboys (NFL)

Value: $5 billion
1-Year % Change: 4%
Owner: Jerry Jones
Operating Income: $365 million

2 | New York Yankees (MLB)

Value: $4.6 billion
1-Year % Change: 15%
Owners: Steinbrenner family
Operating Income: $30 million

3 | Real Madrid (Soccer)

Value: $4.24 billion
1-Year % Change: 4%
Owners: Club members
Operating Income: $112 million

4 | Barcelona (Soccer)

Value: $4.02 billion
1-Year % Change: -1%
Owners: Club members
Operating Income: -$37 million

5 | New York Knicks (NBA)

Value: $4 billion
1-Year % Change: 11%
Owner: Madison Square Garden Company
Operating Income: $155 million

6 | Manchester United (Soccer)

Value: $3.81 billion
1-Year % Change: -8%
Owners: Glazer family
Operating Income: $238 million

7 | New England Patriots (NFL)

Value: $3.8 billion
1-Year % Change: 3%
Owner: Robert Kraft
Operating Income: $235 million

8 | Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)

Value: $3.7 billion
1-Year % Change: 12%
Owners: Jerry Buss Family Trusts, Philip Anschutz
Operating Income: $147 million

9 | Golden State Warriors (NBA)

Value: $3.5 billion
1-Year % Change: 13%
Owners: Joe Lacob, Peter Guber
Operating Income: $103 million

10 (tie) | New York Giants (NFL)

Value: $3.3 billion
1-Year % Change: 0%
Owners: John Mara, Steven Tisch
Operating Income: $149 million

10 (tie) | Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB)

Value: $3.3 billion
1-Year % Change: 10%
Owners: Guggenheim Baseball Management
Operating Income: $95 million

References:

Forbes, The World's 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams 2019, Kurt Badenhausen.

  

Business: Forbes, The Business of MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL

Forbes is an American business magazine. Published bi-weekly, it features original articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. Forbes also reports on related subjects such as technology, communications, science, politics, and law. Its headquarters is located in Jersey City, New Jersey. Primary competitors in the national business magazine category include Fortune and Bloomberg Businessweek. 

The magazine is well known for its lists and rankings, including of the richest Americans (the Forbes 400), of the world's top companies (the Forbes Global 2000), and The World's Billionaires.

The major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada are the highest professional competitions of team sports in those countries. The four leagues universally included in the definition are Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), and National Hockey League (NHL).

Big Four leagues

Major League Baseball (MLB)

Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play of baseball in North America. It consists of the National League (founded in 1876) and the American League (founded in 1901). Cooperation between the two leagues began in 1903, and the two merged on an organizational level in 2000 with the elimination of separate league offices; they have shared a single Commissioner since 1920. There are currently 30 member teams, with 29 located in the U.S. and one in Canada. Traditionally called the "National Pastime", baseball was the first professional sport in the U.S. 

National Basketball Association (NBA)

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the premier basketball league in the world. It was founded as the Basketball Association of America in 1946, and adopted its current name in 1949, when the BAA partially absorbed the rival National Basketball League. Four teams from the rival American Basketball Association joined the NBA with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976. It has 30 teams, 29 in the United States and one in Canada. The NBA is watched by audiences both domestically and internationally. 

National Football League (NFL)

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league and was founded in 1920 as a combination of various teams from regional leagues such as the Ohio League, the New York Pro Football League, and the Chicago circuit. The NFL partially absorbed the All-America Football Conference in 1949 and merged with the American Football League in 1970. It has 32 teams, all located in the United States. 

NFL games are the most attended of domestic professional leagues in the world in terms of per-game attendance, and the most popular in the U.S. in terms of television ratings and merchandising. Its championship game, the Super Bowl, is the most watched annual event on U.S. television, with Super Bowl XLIX being the single most-watched program in U.S. television history.

The NFL is the only one of the major leagues not to have a presence in Canada, where the Canadian Football League is the premier professional league in a similar but not identical sport.

National Hockey League (NHL)

The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league and it is the only one of the major leagues to have been founded in Canada. It was formed in 1917 as a successor to the Canadian National Hockey Association (founded 1909), taking all but one of the NHA's teams. The NHL partially absorbed the rival World Hockey Association in 1979. There are 31 teams, with 24 in the U.S. and seven in Canada; the league will expand to 32 teams with the entry of a Seattle team in 2021. 

The most popular sports league in Canada, and widely followed across the northern and northeastern U.S., the NHL has expanded westward and southward in recent decades to attempt to gain a more national following in the United States, in cities such as Denver, San Jose, Dallas, Miami, Nashville, Phoenix, Raleigh, Tampa, Las Vegas with varying success.

For many decades prior to the 1990s, the only NHL team in the United States in the southern half of the country, or west of the Mississippi River, was the Los Angeles Kings. Hockey still remains much more popular in the northern states of the U.S. closer to Canada, such as the Upper Midwest, New England and the mid-Atlantic States of New Jersey, New York (the New York Metropolitan area has 3 NHL teams compared to 2 for each of the other 3 leagues) and Pennsylvania, than in the rest of the United States. The NHL has more Canadian teams (seven) than MLB, the NBA, the NFL, and Major League Soccer combined (five).

The Business Of Baseball (MLB), 2019 Rankings

The Business Of Basketball (NBA), 2019 Rankings

The Business Of Football (NFL), 2018 Rankings

The Business Of Hockey (NHL), 2018 Rankings

References:

Forbes, The Business Of Baseball List.

Forbes, The Business Of Basketball List.

Forbes, The Business Of Football List.

Forbes, The Business Of Hockey List.

Wikipedia, Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. 

Opinión: Las industrias deportivas son motores de crecimiento que necesitan estrellas

El Big Picture del Deporte como un motor de crecimiento es como un árbol gigante con unas raíces muy sanas y fuertes. Las estrellas del deporte forman una parte crucialmente importante de esas raíces. Ese árbol genera prosperidades de todo tipo, por ejemplo, salud física y mental. Esa prosperidad también es económica. Y gracias a la prosperidad económica todo se hace viable y sostenible. Como a todo árbol debe cuidársele. Protegerlo. Alimentarlo.

Las Industrias deportivas estadounidenses tan poderosas como la NBA, la NFL, la MLB y la NHL cuidan extraordinariamente a sus estrellas, porque sus estrellas forman una parte muy importante de la raíz de su éxito. 

Las estrellas en cualquier deporte atraen a los aficionados, los hacen soñar, les crean ilusiones.

Millones de aficionados en el mundo viven al tanto del desempeño de sus estrellas. Las siguen, las estudian y en algunos casos las idolatran.

Hay estrellas locales, nacionales y un selecto grupo son súper estrellas globales.

La prestigiosa revista de negocios Forbes ha seguido a las principales estrellas de los deportes para, por ejemplo, establecer el ranking de los que tienen los ingresos anuales más altos.

Forbes ha hecho ese seguimiento a las estrellas del deporte durante tres décadas, y sólo siete han aterrizado en el primer lugar desde 1990 (Tiger Woods tiene el récord con 12 veces en el No. 1). El icono del fútbol mundial Lionel Messi añade un octavo nombre a la lista de rollos este año y, después de su rival cristiano Ronaldo, es sólo el segundo jugador de fútbol en clasificarse en primer lugar.

El top 100 de las estrellas mejor pagadas en 2019 abarca 10 deportes e incluye atletas de 25 países. Sus $4 mil millones de dólares en ganancias combinadas de premios en metálico, salarios y endosos entre junio de 2018 y junio de 2019 se ha incrementado un 5% con respecto al año pasado, cuando Floyd Mayweather fue el primero con $285 millones.

A continuación contenido que hemos creado sobre la parte Business del Big Picture del Deporte.

Business: Forbes, The World's Highest-Paid Athletes, 2019 

Business: 2018 PwC Outlook for the sports market in North America through 2022, Summary

Business: 2018 PwC Outlook for the sports market in North America through 2022, Opportunities

Business: Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance 2019, Some key points

Business: PwC, Next gen consumer demands— Graduating from toys to tools

Business: The future of sports media rights and the digital revolution impact according to PwC

Business: Sports gambling opportunity in the North American market

Business: En España según El País (2015) el Big Picture del deporte es un motor de crecimiento que aporta riqueza y es inmune a la crisis

Business: Forbes, The World's Highest-Paid Athletes, 2019

Forbes is an American business magazine. Published bi-weekly, it features original articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. Forbes also reports on related subjects such as technology, communications, science, politics, and law. Its headquarters is located in Jersey City, New Jersey. Primary competitors in the national business magazine category include Fortune and Bloomberg Businessweek. 

The magazine is well known for its lists and rankings, including of the richest Americans (the Forbes 400), of the world's top companies (the Forbes Global 2000), and The World's Billionaires. 

Forbes has tracked the leading earners in sports for three decades, and only seven athletes have landed in the top spot since 1990 (Tiger Woods holds the record with 12 times at No. 1). Global soccer icon Lionel Messi adds an eighth name to the roll call this year and, after longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo, is only the second soccer player to rank first.

The top 100 spans 10 sports and includes athletes from 25 countries. Their $4 billion in combined earnings from prize money, salaries and endorsements between June 2018 and June 2019 is up 5% from last year, when Floyd Mayweather was first with $285 million.

The Top 10 are:

1. Messi (Soccer)
2. CR7 (Soccer)
3. Neymar (Soccer)
4. Canelo (Box)
5. Federer (Tennis)
6. Wilson (NFL)
7. Rodgers (NFL)
8. LeBron (NBA)
9. Curry (NBA)
10. Durant (NBA)

The Top 11 to 20 are:

11. Tiger (Golf)
12. Roethlisberger (NFL)
13. Hamilton (Formula 1)
13. Joshua (Box)
13. Mack (NFL)
16. Westbrook (NBA)
17. Djokovic (Tennis)
17. Trout (MLB)
19. Mickelson (Golf)
20. Harden (NBA)

The Top 21 - 100 are:

Newcomers Delight

NFL contracts for elite stars carry huge upfront signing bonuses, pushing this quartet of gridiron greats to career-high paydays and their first appearances on the top 100. They are joined by Philadelphia’s new $330 million slugger.

Basketball Rules

Thirty-five NBAers made the cut, with cumulative earnings of $1.3 billion. Credit basketball’s skyrocketing player salaries driven by a near doubling of the salary cap over the past five years. Tennis players make four times as much from endorsements and appearance fees as from prize money.

USA vs The World

More than half of the top 100 earners play in the NFL or the NBA, giving Americans the advantage on total earnings, but the rich endorsement portfolios of international tennis and soccer stars mean higher average earnings for those outside the U.S.

Rising Tides

The top earner in sports has regularly banked more than $100 million annually since Tiger Woods rose to prominence in the 2000s, but the major shift is the rise of the next class of paychecks. The earnings for the tenth-highest-paid player is up 150% in 15 years.

Elite athletes are earning more than ever thanks to soaring salaries driven by ever-richer TV contracts. The cutoff to crack the world’s 100 highest-paid athletes is $25 million this year, compared with $17.3 million five years ago.

Here is a breakdown of the sports, nationalities, sponsors and more for the world’s 100 highest-paid athletes.

Sport

Athletes from 10 sports made the top 100. NBA stars led the way with 35 players (down from 40 last year), headed by LeBron James at $89 million.

The NFL was the next-best-represented sport with 19 athletes. Russell Wilson ($89.5 million) and Aaron Rodgers ($89.3 million) are well ahead of their peers after signing new deals with signing bonuses worth a combined $115 million.

Baseball (15 athletes); soccer (12); golf, boxing and tennis (5 each); and racing (2) also landed multiple stars in the top 100. For the fourth straight year, Virat Kohli ($25 million) and McGregor were the lone representatives from cricket and mixed martial arts. No NHL player or Nascar driver earned $20 million during the past year.

Nationality

There are 25 countries represented in the top 100. The United States had 62 athletes make the cut, thanks to the sky-high salaries in the major U.S. sports leagues, although the tally was down from 65 in 2018. Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton and boxer Anthony Joshua (both at $55 million) led the U.K contingent of five athletes. France and Spain each had three athletes while Brazil, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Germany, Serbia and Venezuela all had two. 

This is the list of the countries with one athlete in The World's Highest-Paid Athletes:

• Argentina (Lionel Messi, 1).
• Chile (Alexis Sanchez, 53).
• Cuba (Yoenis Céspedes, 62).
• Egypt (Mohamed Salah, 98).
• Greece (Giannis Antetokounmpo, 26).
• India (Virat Kohli, 100).
• Ireland (Conor McGregor, 21).
• Japan (Kei Nishikori, 35).
• Kazakhstan (Gennady Golovkin, 95).
• Mexico (Canelo Alvarez, 4).
• Portugal (Cristiano Ronaldo, 2).
• Philippines (Manny Pacquiao, 92).
• Switzerland (Roger Federer, 5).
• Wales (Gareth Bale, 79).

Sponsors

The top 100 earned $986 million from endorsements, memorabilia and appearance fees, up 12% from last year, as companies focused their marketing budgets on elite talent. Nike has the most athletes under contract, with 51 of the top 100.

Nike’s chief rival, Adidas, endorses 17 athletes in the top 100, including those under its Reebok brand. PepsiCo, along with its Gatorade and Mountain Dew brands, is affiliated with 13 athletes by Forbes’ count.

Surprise

The biggest surprise is that not a single Chinese superstar is found in The World's Highest-Paid Athletes. China is a global powerhouse in multiple areas (e.g., business, science, and technology). From now on I anticipate that we have to count on China on the next list.

References:

Forbes, 2019 The World's Highest-Paid Athletes Earnings, Kurt Badenhausen, Forbes Staff, June 11, 2019, link: https://www.forbes.com/athletes/#46e6132055ae.

Forbes, Behind The Numbers Of The Top-Earning Athletes 2019, Kurt Badenhausen, Forbes Staff, June 11, 2019, link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2019/06/11/behind-the-numbers-of-the-top-earning-athletes-2019/#6d0742f86bbe.

Kurt Badenhausen, Forbes Staff: 

• I cover sports business with rare dips into b-schools, local economies. 
• I am a senior editor at Forbes and focus mainly on the business of sports and our annual franchise valuations. I also spend a lot of my time digging into what athletes earn on and off the field of play. I've profiled a bunch of athletes that go by one name: LeBron, Shaq, Danica and others. I also head up our biennial B-School rankings and our annual features on the Best Places for Business (metros, states and countries). I joined Forbes in 1998 after working 3 years at Financial World magazine.

Wikipedia, Forbes, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbes.

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Business: En España según El País (2015) el Big Picture del deporte es un motor de crecimiento que aporta riqueza y es inmune a la crisis.

Business: The future of sports media rights and the digital revolution impact according to PwC

What are the biggest drivers for any brand? To name a few: Reach. Immersion. Impact. What keeps professional sports leagues buoyant and profitable is access—as lucrative media rights deals have skyrocketed, more notably, player salaries have followed suit. Since the advent of television, major sports media rights have a handful of bidders—national networks and regional sports networks—the only suitors with the capacity to distribute so widely. But the game is changing. 

The digital revolution is attracting new entrants into this exclusive competitive space: these include the FAANGs (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google) and both A’s are the only publicly-traded companies that have exceeded one trillion dollars in market capitalization. 

Our Sports Outlook looks at revenue projections through 2022. That’s a big year for TV rights, as broadcast contracts for the NFL and MLS both expire after that season. The NHL’s contract expires a year beforehand and the NBA in 2025. While no one can predict what will happen, we focus on some market dynamics to build a framework of how we think the game will change. When we think of a brand’s content ecosystem—actual program, brand website, video streams, social media feeds (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)—the brand has a 24/7/365 opportunity to connect. 

While a game takes three hours to complete, brands want to harness the whole clock, which is where disruptive forces feast.

Some of the key points in the future of sports media rights are:

The change of the change 

• What’s changing isn’t merely the introduction of digital platforms, it’s how audiences consume their entertainment—a two-screen experience is now commonplace. 
• Technology and viewing behavior are disruptive forces, putting pressure on sports rights holders to create new fan experiences around media rights. 
• Smartphones and social media platforms are challenging the status quo; Twitter and Amazon have already completed one-year $10 million and $50 million deals, respectively, with the NFL for non-exclusive US rights to stream live Thursday Night games. 
• Amazon and the NFL re-upped for two additional seasons at $130 million, giving Amazon’s Prime Video subscribers additional content. Facebook’s deal with the MLB to broadcast 25 weekday afternoon games is noteworthy because it negotiated exclusive streaming rights. How will the competitive landscape look five years from now?

Evolving business model 

• Developments created a new need for content, and the modern TV bundle was born. A defining moment for the cable industry came in 1992 when government regulation allowed broadcasters to charge distributors to carry their signals. 
• Today, it’s these carriage fees for individual channels that are driving bundle costs up, thereby creating a significant and growing market for a la carte consumption. 
• Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (MVPDs) such as Comcast, AT&T and DirecTV have owned the content and distribution game, but the link between those two pieces is getting ripped apart. 
• The slow decline of subscription-based models has been accompanied by a revolution in content streaming. People want to be in control of their content and enjoy it on their terms. 
• The Video On Demand model is relatively straightforward when it comes to long-form or pre-produced programming however the live element introduces exciting wrinkles and possibilities.
• There is simply no replacement for consuming content as it is happening. While news outlets have relatively equal access to the people and places making the news, for live sports, it is predetermined where all the eyes go based on negotiated media rights. 
• The future of consumer demand for live sports and the cable bundle appear to be going in opposite directions. This upcoming wave of major sports broadcasting contracts could suture the wound or perhaps break the bundle’s back.

A different game 

• While owning rights to broadcast games sounds straightforward, there are wrinkles. The NFL RedZone is a fascinating story of giving consumers what they want. This channel, only shown on Sundays during the early and late games, bounces from game-to-game (CBS and FOX televised games), showing every touchdown from every game, commercial-free. 
• This speaks more to statscrazy Fantasy Football fans than fans who want to watch a game unfold. The channel’s experience is bombarding and frenetic, but genius. Available on most providers’ platforms, this season it is available for the first time as a stand-alone streaming service at $5 per month. What’s at play here? 
• Fans are paying for the opportunity NOT to watch an actual game, instead watching live moments from multiple games unfold simultaneously. At a time when many care more about their fantasy teams than their favorite teams, media rights bidders need to take notice. 
• Another factor in the changing business model of live sports television is the recent deregulation of sports gambling. Live sports are already at the core of American culture—increasing the supply of sports betting will further increase the demand for live sports. Earlier in this Sports Outlook we analyzed the impact of the legalization of sports betting on the sports landscape.

References:

PwC, PwC Sports Outlook (October 2018), At the gate and beyond, Outlook for the sports market in North America through 2022, October 2018, link: https://www.pwc.com/us/en/industries/tmt/library/sports-outlook-north-america.html.

Business: La televisión es el medio más determinante de los gigantescos ingresos globales de las industrias deportivas profesionales

En el Big Picture de los deportes como un motor de crecimiento y de prosperidad para todos, las industrias deportivas profesionales son minas de oro globales cuyos máximos ingresos vienen de los derechos de televisión. En el Big Picture de los deportes que dedujimos de Wikipedia, las cuatro grandes ligas profesionales de Estados Unidos y Canada son modelos de calidad y de éxito de todo tipo, particularmente económico. Todas ellas comparten el mismo formato genial de los Playoffs de la NBA para definir el campeón por temporada.

Los deportes atraen miles de millones de personas en el mundo que los ven apasionadamente por el medio que puedan, por ejemplo la televisión o internet. Es que el deporte entretiene, emociona, enseña, enamora y hace soñar. El deporte es una fuente de momentos inolvidables, como por ejemplo los partidos 1 y 2 de  la conferencia oeste de los Playoffs de la NBA o las semifinales de la Champions 1 y 2.

Las más poderosas industrias deportivas profesionales generaron ingresos gigantescos en 2018. En el mundo entero 106 franquicias fueron valoradas en más de 1.000 millones (1 billion en inglés) cada una con beneficios de millones de dólares cada año.

Las cinco industrias deportivas profesionales o ligas mayores de donde viene ese dinero son:

1. La NFL (National Football League) 

Clic para visitar el sitio web oficial de la NFL

La NFL lidera la generación de ingresos globales de las industrias deportivas profesionales. La NFL generó 13 billones de dólares y tiene 29 de las 50 franquicias de deportes mejor valoradas en el mundo. 

Según la prestigiosa revista de negocios Forbes, Los Dallas Cowboys es la franquicia deportiva número 1 del mundo con un valor estimado de 4.8 billones de dólares. 

Es de los contratos de televisión que viene la mayor parte de los ingresos.

La NLF, Según Statista, recibe 54.6 billones de dólares de los contratos de televisión con FOX, CBS, NBC, ESPN y DirecTV.

El Super Bowl es el programa de televisión más visto anualmente en Estados Unidos. Y los comerciales de 30 y 60 segundos se venden allí a precio de oro. Para el Super Bowl LII, NBC cobró 5 millones de dólares por un comercial de 30 segundos. Recibió más de 1.4 billones de dólares de ingresos. 

2. La MLB (Major League Baseball)

Clic para visitar el sitio oficial de la MLB

La MLB es la segunda industria deportiva profesional más taquillera en el mundo. Ingresó más de 10 billones de dólares en 2017. Fue la segunda liga deportiva en superar ese umbral.

Ocupa el sexto lugar en el número de las franquicias más valiosas. 

Su franquicia más valiosa, los New York Yankees, ocupa el quinto lugar en la lista con 4 billones de dólares, superando todas las franquicias de la NFL salvó los Dallas CowBoys.

La MLB usa las redes de deportes de TV regionales recolectando millones de dólares cada año.

3. La NBA (National Basket Asociation)

Clic para visitar el sitio web oficial de la NBA

La NBA es la industria deportiva profesional que ocupa el tercer lugar como la más taquilera. En 2017 recibió 7.4 billones de dólares lo cual representa un incremento de 25% respecto a la temporada anterior.

Por primera vez una franquicia de la NBA es valorada en mínimo 1 billón de dólares. Las 4 mas valoradas son en su orden, Los Nicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors y Chicago Bulls. Los New York Knicks tienen un valor estimado de 3.6 billones de dólares y generan 426 millones de ingresos.

La televisión de la NBA genera 2.66 billones de dólares anualmente.

4. La NHL (National Hockey League)

Clic para visitar el sitio oficial de la NHL

La NHL generó 4.43 billones de dólares durante la temporada 2017-2018.

Solamente 4 de sus franquicias fueron valoradas en más de 1 billón de dólares. 

Su mejor franquicia, Los New York Rangers, fueron valorados en 1.5 billones de dólares.

5. La English Premier League

Clic para visitar el sitio web oficial de la English Premier League

Es la televisión la que influye radicalmente para que la English Premier League tenga unos ingresos enormes.

Globalmente ocupa el tercer lugar entre las ligas o industrias deportivas profesionales más taquilleras con 5.3 billones de dólares en 2016. El contrato va hasta 2019 y vale en total 13.6 billones de dólares, de los cuales 5.3 es para los derechos de televisión locales y el resto para el extranjero.

Sabiamente la English Premier Ligue distribuye sus ingresos entre sus 20 clubes miembros.  

Fuente:

Global Sport Matters, TV is biggest driver in global sport league revenue, TJ Mathewson, Thursday, March 7, 2019, link: https://globalsportmatters.com/business/2019/03/07/tv-is-biggest-driver-in-global-sport-league-revenue/.