Next level in this context meaning going from a business, to big business to even bigger business.
“The Stanley Matthews cup final in 1953 is big, the 1978 World Cup as well and then obviously there’s the creation of the Premier League and the Champions League,” David Stubley tells Tribalfootball. Stubley is the author of recently published “Gamechangers and Rainmakers – How Sport Became Big Business”. It’s beyond debate how the Premier League changed the landscape, but as Stubley points out, it’s incredible how fast everyone agreed on it.
“Greg Dyke of ITV held a dinner for representatives of Everton, Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester United and Arsenal in November 1991. Dyke himself has described this meeting as the point where the Premier League became a reality. On 23 February, all First Division clubs resigned from the Football League, two months later Premier League Limited was a reality. On 18 May BSkyB wins the first TV contract and 15 August the first games in the Premier League kicked off.”
BSkyB coughed up £304 million for the rights to the first five seasons. This to show the same teams play football that BBC and ITV in a joint bid had offered £4.5 million to show just six years prior. Apart from creating the Premier League, what happened in the meantime?
“In the eighties we didn’t much fancy going to a football match. The stadiums were run down, there was a lot of crowd trouble. Then Italia ’90 happened, a world cup semifinal, Gazza’s tears and whatnot. 25 million people watched that game against Germany, while 11 million watched on when Arsenal won the title by beating Liverpool at Anfield in ’89. Those were numbers that made TV companies take notice,” David Stubley explains.
Ted Turner the ultimate dinner companion
BSkyB probably would have folded had they not claimed those initial Premier League rights and the world of football would have looked considerably different today without the creation of what has proven a behemoth. It’s only natural then that the story has a place in Stubley’s “Gamechangers and Rainmakers”, but the book is packed with 40 examples of movers and shakers who saw opportunities where others did not.
“It was in 1984 when this thing of sport being big business really blew up, so I just thought; if it's 40 years ago, let's have 40 candidates,” David Stubley explains of the reasoning behind the title. It’s fair to say there are some enormous characters mentioned in the book. Mark McCormack, Phil Knight, Joao Havelange, Michael Jordan to name but a few who changed the game, but what exactly is a rainmaker?
“If you look it up, it’s described as a person who generates income for a business or organization by brokering deals or attracting clients or funds. I actually think it's more than just about money. A rainmaker is somebody who just gets stuff done. You don't have to like these people, a lot of them are actually not very likable. But they get stuff done.”
They most certainly do. Bernie Ecclestone made F1 the powerhouse it is today. Billie Jean King shaped the world of tennis. David Stern re-invigorated the NBA and then there were a few people within the world of TV who saw sport as an opportunity to attract viewers, thus moving TV-contracts into a new economical sphere. Like Ted Turner, who David Stubley would love to have as a dinner companion.
“I think he'd be great fun. His is an extraordinary story of just moving with the times. He was 27 when he inherited this Atlanta billboard business. That's all it was. Then radio started to explode, so he went into radio. Then satellites kicked in and Television started to become a thing. He thought, let's get into that and created the first sort of superstation.
“Then he thought, well, what are people going to watch? They're going to watch baseball. Well, I better buy the Atlanta Braves then because then it’s just cheap programming for me. They were terrible, but he would buy players that were just great fun to watch and they were told to put on a show. He was attacked by all the other baseball franchise owners saying your superstation is now beaming pictures into our franchise area and you've got to stop it. To which Turner said, why,” laughs Stubley, who has also found a place for a rather surprising figure in his top 40.
“John Major, our former Prime Minister, deserves his place because British Olympic sport was on the floor in 1996. The Atlanta Olympics was an embarrassment, everybody else had overtaken us. But Major knew that being successful on the sporting stage was very good for Britain, so when the lottery was introduced, he thought it a good idea to divert some money. If he hadn't done that, Britain would still be in like 20th place on the medal table, but now they receive 400 million euros every four years just for the high-performance Olympic sports. That's all down to John Major.”
Shrewd business from Matthews
Speaking of the Olympics, former president Juan Antonio Samarach is a personal favourite of Stubley’s when it comes to gamechangers.
“If he hadn't won that presidency in 1980, I don't believe the Olympics would be anything like it is today. I think he saved the Olympics together with Horst Dassler. And I think he behaved properly. There were issues with Salt Lake City, definitely, but on balance I think his impact was probably the most profound”, Stubley believes.
“Gamechangers and Rainmakers” are rich on eye-openers, great and often baffling stories. Like how much money Nike made from their Michael Jordan deal. Or how much Manchester United have actually evolved under The Glazers when simply looking at the numbers. Buying United in 2005 their two biggest commercials deals were with Vodafone and Nike for £9m and £24m. respectively. In 2024 the club’s commercial value reached $343m. The average commercial revenue in the Premier League was $114m.
But what about that Stanley Matthews cup final? Why was that a pivotal moment? Because he struck a deal with bootmakers CWS, who made him a pair of boots with studs that he wore in that legendary cup final. CWS went on to shift more than 500.000 units of those signature boots with Matthews earning sixpence a pair.
“Gamechangers and Rainmakers” is a book that identifies 40 people and 40 moments that shaped the modern sports marketing industry. You can vote for your favourite Gamechanger or Rainmaker at: https://gamechangersandrainmakers.com/The book is out now with Pitch Publishing and can be purchased at the website or at assorted bookshops.
