McKinsey Quarterly on the business of sports

The July 2004 issue of McKinsey Quarterly does a good job breaking down what makes sports successful and what hinders large scale success. Tekla V. Back, Philippe Blatter, and Jacques R. Bughin authored “Playing to win in the business of sports” and focused on tennis and golf as two case studies. Some interesting facts:

• The 2002 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup accounted for 8% of global television-rights revenues in 2002 (about the same as the National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) combined).

• In the United States the average golf or tennis TV viewer has an income of more than $100,000 a year.

• Professional tennis is fragmented. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) handles Olympic tennis events, the Davis Cup (men), and the Fed Cup (women). The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) runs the men’s circuit, and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) runs the women’s circuit.