1.
#DAZN #Matchroom
#disruption #sport
#Legacy v's #PurePlay specialists
This week #EddieHearn announced the worst kept secret in sports broadcasting - He's taking his show, Lock Stock, to Mr #Blavatnik first-mover streaming service.
#Thread with a different perspective...🧐
2.
This is exciting for #Sports fans - Especially #boxing
Lower cost access
More shows
Bigger production
Interesting, it's announced a week after #SundayTimes named the owner of #DAZN as the richest man in the UK (again)!
That rich list is an good starting point to explore
3.
We're living through changing times;
Technology
Business
Societal
Cultural
Political
GeoPolitical
What's that got to do with #DAZN & #Sport 🤔
Well, Sport & #Entertainment is big business 💰
It's also used by powerful people to influence Hearts & Minds...
#Sportswashing
4.
Back to that #RichList & a brief look at the concentration of power & money in todays societies.
x3 of the gentlemen in the #UK top ten richest come from the Old Soviet Union.
They're super smart - Connected - Ruthless
AND
Understand the value of #Sport & it's #Influence
5.
Between them, they control a number of high profile sporting interests & have a combined net worth greater than many small countries 💰
They are part of a cohort of #winners from the end of the #coldwar & the break up of the #sovietunion
They have outsized influence on the🌐
6.
In 2nd place on that #TheSundayTimes #RichList are the Reuben Brothers.
Born in British India, they also made their money in the #GangsterCapitalist Robber Barron period of the 1990's
#SovietUnion split when some of the most valuable natural resources were up for grabs!
💸🧐
7.
Another big player from that period was the shyster #RobertMaxwell
The father of the now infamous #GhislaineMaxwell
#FollowTheMoney
Interestingly, he had licence for #Tetris
Old school #CandyCrush #DCFC
#Blavatnik making film about #Tetris 🤔🎬
8.
Again, if you look at that period from 1989-2008 & how much wealth was acquired by so few!
Incredible corporate & geo-political battles
It informs perception on major events today;
#Brexit
#CambridgeAnalytica #SCL
#Weinstein #BlackCube
#TrumpRussia
#Saudi #Khashoggi #Putin
9.
So, back to #DAZN for a second.
It's a really ambitious business
Takes really smart people to make it happen & huge amounts of financing! 💰
Last year when 😷 hit, there were no events.
#DAZN could have been in big trouble - Especially after settling with #Canelo
Len=💰
10.
Money makes the world go round - So they say!
That's partly true.
What you do with that money & how you use it to influence, build networks, control, create power bases, cross borders & industries is more powerful!
Old school Oil & Natural Resources 💰➡️ Sport, Film, Tech
11.
#DAZN is a power play in broadcasting, media & sport.
It's the next step in controlling industries - Being first!
#SuperLeague #Rights #Control
#MoveFastAndBreakThings
The old order is in decline...
The Oligarchs & winners from the old #USSR are quietly on the march!
12.
So what? Changes in power dynamics happen in every generation...
Well, it's worth bearing in mind where these guys came from, how they got rich & how they stay rich!!
They're a loose network - Connected by ties many westerners don't see.
Combined, they're a massive force
13.
⤴️ That might be harsh though - we can't bestow the stigma of a gangster kleptocracy mafia/state on every smart and successful businessman who has connections that region.
I mean, #JFK dad was a wide-boy ruthless businessman. He washed reputation through his sons/politics
14.
For the Sports & Business angle on this - Read @mjshrimper at @TheAthleticUK
For background on the Old Soviet oligarchs and western business today, read @CatherineBelton #PutinsPeople
For #SportsWashing #Cultural read @Prof_Chadwick & @Fire_and_Skill
🧐 All excellent!
This is a great long read from @FT @HenryJFoy @maxseddon
#DAZN Broadcasting, Rights, Disruption
To me, he seems like he successfully did what Khodokovsky tried to do - Sell up and move his money round the world freely, becoming part of the global elite
ft.com/content/c1889f…
Another example to keep an eye on⤵️
Again, super smart & successful people from that region should NOT be automatically branded as 'dodgy/corrupt'
But if we don't understand their backstory, links & implications, our markets are open to infiltration🧐💸
@threadreaderapp Could you unroll please? Thanks!
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