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The 10 Most Important Sports Business Stories of 2009

It's New Years Day and here in the River City, dawn is breaking cold and grey but thankfully free of snow.  I'm sitting at my computer trying to while away the hours until kickoff of the Outback Bowl to watch the Cats return to a New Years Day bowl for the first time since the 1997 Citrus Bowl (now known as the Capital One Bowl for who knows how much longer given Capital One's financial condition).  I thought it might be a good time to revisit the 2009 sports business stories that were worth discussing.

Fortunately for us, the folks at Bloombeg's Business Week did that for us, with their list of the ten most important sports business moments of 2009.  We could argue about the order of events all day and over the inclusion of some of them, but I suspect there is little disagreement or doubt about the number one story on Business Week's list: the self-generated implosion of Tiger Woods' public image and with it his endorsement career, at least for the moment.  This is, as we all know, an ongoing story, as was confirmed yet again on Thursday with the announcement by AT&T that it was ending its sponsorship of him which included its name on his golf bag.  That leaves Nike as the only major sponsor which has not indicated that it is either dropping Woods, reevaluating its relationship or putting its Woods ads on hiatus.  But then, Nike has a history with athletes in similar situations and in at least the case of Kobe it has worked out well for Nike to stick around.

There were several events or stories that deserved to be on the list that Business Week omitted.  The inclusion of new Cowboys Stadium was appropriate, if perhaps a bit too high, but it was not the only new stadium that debuted in 2009.  Now, you can treat new Yankees Stadium and CitiField in the story about the Yankees World Series or you can discuss them here but I think both deserve mention as their potential impact will be nearly as great as Cowboys Stadium.  For one, CitiField may be the last major naming rights deal we'll see for quite some time - certainly at the $40 million level.

The fabulous fillies, Zenyatta and my pick for Horse of the Year, Rachel Alexandra, deserve mention as they not only each achieved milestone and unprecedented victories, but brought new interest to a sport in desperate need of new fans.  Let's hope that both will continue racing in 2010.

As we look forward to 2010, there are a few trends we can see developing.  Labor unrest is due in the major professional sports league which could lead to dreaded work stoppages.  The NFL collective bargaining agreement expires at the end of next season and talks to date have been unproductive.  MLB talks between owners and the MLBPA have been similarly non-productive.  The issues in both cases involve revenue sharing and the owners are rebelling against what they deem to be existing CBAs that favor the players.  It will be a long year of hearing about mediation, arbitration and lawyer speak.

2010 is both an Olympic and World Cup year so we will be treated to world sports on a global scale.  The Vancouver Olympics begin on February 12 with the World Cup following in South Africa this summer.  Both will showcase sports that are not in the mainstream of the American sporting consciousness; both will kickstart interest in those sports, including a boost to MLS, which will continue to grow and show the other major professional leagues the way to integrate corporate sponsors onto jerseys, facilities and gear that fans will buy in ways that not only will not offend the fans but may actually encourage them to patronize the sponsor.

Full post as published by Sports Biz on January 01, 2010 (boomark / email).