Almanac Weekend Reading : February 20-22

Another weekend us upon us.

This weekend, the cricket continues, the EPL and the A-League roll on, and the AFL pre-season challenge is only a few sleeps away. There’s a definite ‘business of sport’ angle to the selection for you this weekend as the EPL announce at multi-billion dollar TV rights deal and Tim Harcourt – the Airport Economist – crunches the numbers on the ICC World Cup.

Enjoy!

 

From ESPN…

For many of those who remain in Christchurch, the trauma of the 2011 earthquakes and its aftermath will be with them forever. As the rebuilding effort continues ESPN’s Wayne Drehs asks if the ICC World Cup matches set to be hosted in Christchurch will help survivors move on? [Written before the start of the tournament, the

“Maybe it could lead to a lot of people finding happiness and hope,” Mutze says of the tournament. “And right now, after everything we’ve been through, we need that. We need hope.”

Read the full article HERE 

 

 

From The Hip Pocket…

And while we’re on Cricket, Almanacker Tim Harcourt – a.k.a The Airport Economist, has put together this succinct and enjoyable read on the business side of the ICC World Cup – particularly where teams from the sub-continent are concerned and the economic and international relations impacts of the tournament for Australia.

“The huge crowd at Adelaide oval is indicative of how effective the World Cup has been attracting cricket lovers from near and far and driving related business opportunities, particularly in tourism.”

Read the full article HERE.

 

 

From The Age…

You’ve read some of Megan Ponsford’s words in the Almanac in the past, so we were thrilled to be tipped off to this Peter Hanlon yarn in Melbourne’s The Age newspaper. Megan’s currently writing her PhD thesis on cricket and spent some time chatting with Peter about some of the gems she’s discovered during her research.

“It might not be every girl’s dream to spend seven years of their adult life writing a doctoral thesis about a cricket series, but Megan Ponsford relishes the undertaking even more now than when she began. “I’ve been told you should hate your topic by the end of it, but I’m loving it, I keep finding more…”

Read the full article HERE.

 

 

From The Guardian…

Joe Gorman is one of Australia’s best sports writers. If you’re not a soccer fan, however, you’re quite likely to have never heard of him but we’re about to fix that up for you. How to consolidate on the success of the recent Asian Cup tournament has been a talking point in round-ball footy circles since the Socceroos walked away with the chocolates earlier this month. Unfortunately, as Joe writes, opportunities to strengthen Australia’s place in the Asian soccer world aren’t new, but the relationship has been all take and little give for too long.

“On his return home, Kim was immediately re-integrated into the South Korean squad for a World Cup qualifier against the Socceroos. His old housemate, Colin Bennett, was part of the Socceroos squad and remembers the joy of meeting Kim’s parents in Korea. But while Bennett spent the rest of his career in Australia, Kim went on to much greater heights.”

Read the full article HERE.

 

 

From the BBC…

To finish off, the English Premier League announced a new broadcast deal worth €5.136bil ($AUD10 billion) this week. While the EPL is among the worlds most recognisable brands, the implications of this windfall for sports broadcasting in Australia are significant and the devil will be in the detail. You can be sure that the powers-that-be at Docklands and at Moore Park will have been watching the development of this deal with great interest as will those who fear for what these sums of money for TV rights means to grass-roots footy and the fans who attend the games. [And if you’re playing at home and you want to do the conversion, $AUD1 = €0.69. – Ed]

“How can £10.2m per game be good value for money? The only answer to that question is because both Sky and BT believe it is. The breakdown of the bidding means Sky is paying an average of £10.8m for each of the 126 Premier League games it will broadcast each season from 2016-17 until 2018-19, and BT will pay around £7.6m for each of its 42 matches.”

Read the full article HERE.

 

Enjoy your weekend!

 

 

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