Talofa, Ma’lele’i, Bula and welcome to Season 7 Episode 85 of Breakfast Bites, the FIJI & PACIFIC SPORTS NEWS PODCAST, by TeivovoSports.com – a wrap of Pasifika people’s sports news, on a sunny and bright Sunday morning 31 December 2023.
Coming to you with tons of hanisi from the 180th meridian, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Talofa, Ma’lele’i, Bula and welcome to Season 7 Episode 85 of Breakfast Bites, the FIJI & PACIFIC SPORTS NEWS PODCAST, by TeivovoSports.com – a wrap of Pasifika people’s sports news, on a sunny and bright Sunday morning 31 December 2023.
Coming to you with tons of hanisi from the 180th meridian, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
In rugby union and rugby league
“Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” 2023 has been a fantastic year for sports all over the world, and especially for the Top Sports People, with their earnings, driven by record live gates and viewership on broadcast TV and streaming platforms going absolutely nuts! Long may it last!
The Rugby World Cup 2023 in France was an outstanding success, even though hosts France and pre-tournament favourites, Ireland both came up short.
So in the end, it was left to Ian “Fozzy” Foster’s All Blacks to try and stop the mighty Springboks, and with “nearly always absent” ABs Captain Sam Cane red carded, the 14-men left, led by Ardie Savea almost pulled off an incredible upset.
Congratulations Siya Kolisi and his Springboks!
In football
Man City Manager Pep G has advised players not to flaunt their wealth online as they are always being watched.
It comes after football star Jack Grealish, 28, lost £1Million in watches and jewellery in a burglary on Wednesday night while Man City was playing Everton in the Premier League.
“They have security but unfortunately it’s happened. It’s happened many times,” Guardiola said.
Finally a wrap of US Sports for the year
2023 was a transformational year in US sports: Deion Sanders turned Boulder into Hollywood, Las Vegas emerged as the next sports capital, Taylor Swift entered the NFL consciousness and Lionel Messi made MLS matter.
Saudi Arabia splurged billions on sports, streaming giants invaded live games and the Pac-12 blew up.
Japanese baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani hit a US$700Million homer, crypto-currency took a nosedive, media rights got a facelift and ESPN had its own plot twist.
After winning his first FIFA World Cup in late 2022, Lionel Messi was the center of the soccer universe for the bulk of 2023.
Speculation mounted about the Argentinian legend’s future after a brief stint with Paris Saint-Germain; among his suitors: The Saudi Pro League attempted to lure him with a US$1.6Billion offer. Ultimately, MLS—and the allure of playing in the US—won out.
The NFL is on pace for its best television performance in eight seasons, with audiences growing 7% from 2022, to 17.5 million average viewers through Week 15. Did a pop star play a part in that? It’s hard to quantify how many Swifties embraced pro football due to the singer’s romance with Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce.
The 40-plus years of security that teams enjoyed from their cable deals is giving way to a much more turbulent and uncertain future.
The long-expected invasion of live sports by giant streamers became a reality this year:
· Amazon Prime Video aired its second exclusive season of Thursday Night Football,
· Google’s YouTube TV took over NFL Sunday Ticket, and
· Apple began its 10-year, US$2.5B MLS deal. (Netflix experimented with exhibitions like The Netflix Cup but remained focused on documentaries.)
· With Prime pulling near-broadcast-like audiences of 12.1 million viewers per game for TNF this season, the writing’s on the wall for legacy media companies.
In 2023, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund showed no signs it would stop pumping money into sports – the biggest splash:
· In June, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, along with LIV Golf—backed almost exclusively by the PIF—entered into a framework agreement with the PGA Tour to mend golf’s divide at a cost of US$2B flooding into a united pro golf effort.
· In the Saudi Pro League, Cristiano Ronaldo inked a contract with top Saudi Club Al Nassr that pays him roughly US$200Million per season through 2025.
Las Vegas, home to Super Bowl LVIII in February, took center stage in 2023, hosting its first Formula 1 race in four decades, plus the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament semifinals and championship.
And in case you missed it, MSG Entertainment’s Sphere opened, immediately becoming the most eye-catching venue in sin city.
As crypto crashed and burned, led by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and others at the failed crypto giant facing federal fraud charges, and SBF found guilty, current and former athletes such as Stephen Curry, Tom Brady and Shaquille O’Neal—along with the Golden State Warriors—remain defendants in a civil case.
2023 – was a year of uncertainty for ESPN. During the first half of 2023, layoffs cast a long shadow over Bristol, culminating with the June departures of well-known hosts Jeff Van Gundy, Suzy Kolber, and Max Kellerman.
The once-mighty ESPN looked vulnerable, but battled back in the second half of the year with their Monday Night Football audience growing 23% to 16 million average viewers.
ESPN also grew into the most-followed brand on TikTok, with 44 million fans, while separately launching ESPNBet.
In October, Disney released data showing that ESPN generated more profits, US$2.9Billion than the mighty Mouse’s entire entertainment business in fiscal 2022.
Bottom Line: However bad the year may have looked, it’s too early to underestimate the most powerful four letters in sports media.
And that’s a wrap!
For TEIVOVOsports.com I’m Culden Kamea – Mahalo, vinaka and thank you. Please hit the subscribe button below if you would like to receive more Pasifika sports highlights on Breakfast Bites. And tank you all too mas for all your love and support.
Mahalo, vina’a and tank you all too mass for all your love and support.
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