Bold sporting predictions… for 2037

@hamishneal

Sporting prognostications in January for the year ahead are just about at their statute of limitations but here we go. Predicting Chelsea to win the Premier League, Lydia Ko to claim another major, and Cheltenham Town to make the playoffs in League Two can be somewhat predictable (okay the latter isn’t happening) but what about further in the future?

The year is 2037…

January: Second-term US President Pete Buttigieg implements regulations on NFL sides requiring government health department staff to act as independent assessors on match days. Democrat Buttigieg’s use of a little-known state legislation means the NFL owners’ use of public funds to build stadia means they are required to meet local health standards which Buttigieg gets bipartisan support for. The move comes after the NFL instituted a mandatory three-month stand-down period for players diagnosed with concussion in the previous decade.

February: Having announced in December of last year that 2037 will be his last season of competitive golf Day, 49, wins his first major in eight years. Winning the Dubai Masters Day is triumphant in emphatic fashion. With a six-stroke triumph it’s the largest winning margin in the eight years of golf’s ‘fifth major’ since the Elite World Tour was announced at the turn of the decade.

March: The Cronulla Sharks complete a treble of rugby league titles in the last six months with their NRL Touch side beating the Adelaide Rams 8-7 in the final of the summer competition to go with wins late in 2036 to their NRL men’s and women’s side who both beat the Perth Rabbitohs in their respective grand finals.

April: ARU President George Gregan calls a meeting with his NZR counterparts after Netflix approaches him with an offer to buy Super Rugby. The online streaming platform, having originally taken a very cautious approach to sports rights, is looking to expand its portfolio having recently acquired the World Cup of Kabaddi which has proven a great success across its expanding markets in Asia and Africa.

May: Leo and Lenny Federer claim a maiden major title winning the Wimbledon men’s doubles crown with father Roger as coach. The victory for the 23 year-old duo means the UAE have their first major tennis title with the family having lived in Dubai permanently since the 17-time major winner retired in 2018.

June: The Fiji Waves win Super Netball. With the Trans-Tasman competition having been re-instated in 2025 after several drab years of national-based competitions the Fijian side (made up of Pacific Island representatives) claims their first title having been added to the expanded competition in 2030.

July: The Singapore Slingers finish top of the regular season ladder in the Asian Basketball League for the third time in six years. Coach Oscar Forman guides the Illawarra Hawks to the NBL crown and they earn promotion to the ABL for the following season with the Sydney Kings relegated.

August: For the first time since it’s inception in the mid 10’s, the Drone Racing League World Championship is won by an Australian team with the University of Canberra-backed UCAN Stars beating a team from Korea in the final.

September: The world record in the men’s marathon is lowered to 1:59:57 – the first time it has dropped below 2 hours in its history. The record has gradually been lowered at least once a year since 2019 by athletes from several nations after American Galen Rupp first broke the existing 2:02:57 record in 2019 (a record which had stood for nearly four years itself).

October: Australia fall 2-1 in their test series to Zimbabwe which sees them relegated to the third division of Test cricket. Paradoxically, Cricket Australia’s policy to only select players under the age of 27 for Test cricket has seen their national side the ‘Southern Smashers’ dominate international T20 cricket having won the annual World Cup in four of the last six years with victory in Sri Lanka in the same month.

November: Olympics Blitz celebrates its third event with the Olympics off-shoot in its infancy. The event came about after the International Olympic Committee purchased the intellectual property to the X-Games in the last decade. Using a purpose built-facility in Utah for the winter event the old X-Games has undergone a revamp with it to run the year following the Summer Games for the ’dry’ events followed the winter version two years later.

December: Socceroo legend Harry Kewell becomes the first Australian to have managed three top-flight sides in England when he is appointed to the role at FC United of Manchester after the club, now ground sharing with the original side they broke away from, parted ways with Ryan Giggs after they failed to win in a match in the first four months of the Premier League season.

This prediction for 20 years time first appeared on From the sideline of sport.

About Hamish Neal

Born in Lower Hutt New Zealand Hamish is forever wedded to all things All Black, All Whites, Tall Blacks and more. Writing more nowadays in his 'spare time' (what is that anyway?) but still with a passion for broadcasting. Has worked in various sports development roles in England, Northern Ireland and Australia.

Comments

  1. crankypete says

    who wins the Flag? surely Richmond, finally?

  2. You are in luck CrankyPete they have saluted, and well before 2037. The Tigers are victorious in 2026 with the relocated Tasmanian Giants the 2037 winners.

  3. Great stuff Hamish and a little frightening just how realistic it reads. I don’t know if I agree with your T20 prediction. I reckon people will have lost interest and it would be replaced with the Ten Over Bash only to have that replaced by Tip and Run. By 2037 administrators are tinkering with this format and French cricket is on the rise.

    Stupid hats like the Watermelon and the KFC bucket will of course still be around.

  4. Rick, I think we can all get on the French Cricket bandwagon, but hopefully sans the bucket hats.

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