Barry Kahn in a www.frontofficesports.com interview in its Sunday (July 13) edition said: “I think the question is, how do you take something that has historically really been an amateur or participatory sport and turn it into an entertainment property?”
Kahn was interviewed for an article that took a look at what has happened in track and field with regard to several wealthy investors who jumped in, believing they could fix the problem the sport has faced for years, turning the millions of Americans who run and watch the Olympics, into casual track fans.
The article headlined: “Track’s New Money Is Running Into Old Problems” written by Dennis Young for www.frontofficesports.com with Daniel Kaplan and Margaret Fleming contributing reporting.
According to Young last year, Duael Track announced its grand plans to make track popular again. There would be head-to-head brackets, a half-million dollars in prize money.
The first event was supposed to be in March 2025 cofounder Kahn told Front Office Sports there will be no standalone Duael event in 2025.
Kahn is alluding to the fact that after the Paris Olympics, a number of mostly track, not track and field—start-ups were founded to capitalise on the quadrennial interest in the sport. Post Paris Olympics, start-ups included Kahn’s Duael, Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track, and Alexis Ohanian’s Athlos promised prize money that offered the best athletes a chance to earn a living.
The article went on to say Grand Slam launched with $30 million in funding from hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman’s Winners Alliance. Ohanian spent millions on his inaugural meet in New York City. They all faced significant challenges.
Another important point the article made is this: Independent operators have the same problem as all US sports trying to become the country’s fifth-or sixth-most popular sport: How do you convert energy and interest into money?
Where does that leave T&T and the Caribbean?
How many people have seriously considered the implications of Digicel’s closing down Sportsmax?
I found Chris Dehring’s perspective on the closure interesting. Dehring, who conceptualised and launched Sportsmax in 2002, said he was not surprised by the development which will see Sportsmax shut down on August 8.
“Everything has its time,” Dehring said on the Mason and Guest cricket radio show on the Voice of Barbados. “It’s now time for Sportsmax to die. It’s been a good 20-odd-year run for the company and for the brand, and it’s time to move on.”
Dehring sold Sportsmax to Digicel in 2014. While Dehring’s brutal summary of Sportsmax’s fate may be seen as a business reality. He and his original founders made their return on investment and probably so did Digicel. The fact that Sport in the region is the loser for Dehring and the business and entrepreneur czars and visionaries is not an issue. Let it die. It’s just business.
Harsh, brutal but real, transactional. Based on the figures who can argue with Dehring and Digicel?
To my mind, it’s not only about figures and singular business metrics. What it highlights is the fact that there is no counter to Dehring’s narrative. However, I do believe there is an opportunity for the Caribbean to have clear-eyed discussions about what is the implications of the Sportsmax close down. Where are the opportunities for innovation and creation of a new business model?
A good starting point could be - How do you convert energy and interest into money? How do you take amateur and participatory sport and turn it into an entertainment property?
