Thread by @DavidCushnan

After the most unpredictable year of all, get set for another one. Here, in handy A-Z form, are a few pointers and things to keep an eye on across the global sports industry in 2021. #sportsbiz.

A - Action: With global movements gaining real momentum, this has to be the year for more tangible organisational action - staff training, recruitment practices, coaching, mentoring schemes and leadership education - across the industry to make sport a more inclusive place.

B - Bundesliga and the big 5: Across European football, getting fans back into stadiums remains the top priority, but there are challenges everywhere as clubs flex their muscles, the @Bundesliga_EN searches for its new CEO and Ligue 1 tries to sort out its TV and financial mess.

C - Cazoo (@CazooUK) and other online services: In a tricky sponsorship market, these companies - emerging rapidly, seeking brand exposure and market share - provide a glimmer of hope for rights-holders as other brands pull back on marketing spend. Deals far from a given, though.

D - Domenicali (Stefano): #F1’s incoming President and CEO has all the credentials - ex-Ferrari team principal and Lamborghini CEO - for the job, but a daunting in-tray: new rules, new venues, numbers to hit for Liberty and keeping the sport’s many stakeholders onside.

E - Euros: Uefa’s multi-city, pan-European format for #Euro2020 seemed appropriate (if complex) pre-pandemic. Now delayed by a year, 12 host cities feels potentially problematic. Might there be a late change to plans prior to the summer, with a return to a single host country?

F - Fury v Joshua: When and where is still TBC, but the most heavyweight of heavyweight title fights looks on at some point over the next 12 months. Promoters @BobArum and @EddieHearn, plus broadcasters ESPN, DAZN, Sky Sports and BT Sport will play key roles in making it happen.

G - Gosper (Brett): His appointment to run the UK and Europe operation is a statement of intent from the #NFL, but it’s worth monitoring the international strategies of all the US major leagues in 2021 for signs of how they may evolve, given the restrictions of a Covid world.

H - Hundred, Racing League, Extreme E and other start ups: A less than ideal time to be starting a new sports series but several will be trying (or trying again) this year. Will @thehundred hit the mark? Can @ExtremeELive cut through? Will @RacingLeagueUK capture the imagination?

I - Institutional investors: They’re here, at least for a while. Private equity firms and a flock of SPACs, sensing opportunity around not only teams, but events and leagues in need of a swift funding boost. Is there anything in sport that’s not for sale? We’re about to find out.

J - Jeddah: #F1’s latest new city venue with the first Grand Prix there scheduled for November, part of a planned record-breaking 23 race season. There will be scrutiny, as Saudi Arabia further flexes its major sports event hosting muscle.

K - Kraken (Seattle) and other new team brands. @SeattleKraken already look the part before they hit the ice at some point in 2021, but also look out for @AustinFC’s debut in @MLS, plus Aston Martin and Alpine in #F1. New names coming too for @WashingtonNFL & Cleveland @Indians.

L - Looking ahead: In 2021, don’t forget 2022 and beyond. @Beijing2022, @birminghamcg22 and Qatar’s World Cup will be here before you know it, while preparations for @Paris2024 and @LA28 will accelerate again. Expect recruitment, new partners, big decisions and bumps in the road.

M - Michael Jordan: The Last Dance becomes the fast dance in 2021 as Jordan launches his new @NASCAR team. With @BubbaWallace and @dennyhamlin along for the ride, @23XIRacing might just end up becoming one of the most impactful sports platforms of the year. #Nascar

N - New Zealand: Quietly and effectively becoming a significant major event host, this year (Covid-permitting) NZ has the @americascup on its shores and @rugbyworldcup in its stadiums. It’s also gearing up for two more World Cups: 2022 women’s cricket and 2023 women’s football.

O - @Olympics and @Paralympics. The rescheduled @Tokyo2020 will surely happen but will likely be a Games like no other. Pandemic protocols and athlete protests may dominate, but here’s hoping Japan has the chance to see its efforts rewarded with great stories & great sport.

P - Protest and advocacy: A generation of truly digitally native athletes increasingly empowered to use their platforms to highlight issues, influence policy and protest injustice. It will be inspirational, it might sometimes be controversial, but it’s not stopping any time soon.

Q - Queen’s Gambit & other original programming: By accident or design, drama or documentary, they’re now a key strand of any major rights-holder’s fan acquisition strategy. Expect many more peeks behind the curtain, although probably with ever more carefully controlled access.

R - Ryder Cup and Lions Tour: Two events - one delayed for a year, the other four years in the making - where fans and the fan travel experience are integral to the commercial value. If they have to happen without fans in 2021, they’ll feel particularly soulless. #RyderCup #Lions

S - Structures: Be it expanded European football tournaments (or even a breakaway), golf’s major tours merging, or a globally aligned rugby union calendar, if there was ever a moment for big, bold change this is surely it. But will any sport or governing body take the plunge?

T - Twitch & TikTok: Watch for Amazon further utilising Twitch to drive new audiences to its live sport & how Twitch’s new sports focus plays out. Is there a way for sport to jump aboard the #TikTok train? And which platforms - #OnlyFans? #Discord? - will become ‘must have’?

U - Uncertainty: Don’t bother pinning a 2021 sports calendar to your wall. Consider everything provisional. Another year of disruption - cancellations, postponements, rescheduling, compressed seasons, revised formats, short notice changes of plan - beckons. #disruption

V - Vaccine: The biggest story in the world. Roll on the rollout. For sport it could be the key to the return of capacity venues on a permanent basis, but it also raises difficult questions. Will/should it be mandatory to access stadiums? And will/should athletes be prioritised?

W - WTA/ATP: Men’s and women’s #tennis flirted briefly with a union in 2020, but little visible progress was made. A merger looks a way off, but with the new Italian management at the @atptour bedded in (its showpiece finale heads to Turin in 2021) closer ties surely makes sense.

X - xG (and other analytics): Data’s been the new oil for some time and the well is overflowing. Athlete #data, betting data, fan data, predictive data. But has quantity overtaken quality? How much do fans really want? And how much more do you really need to know about your fans?

Y - @YouTubeGaming: Keep one eye on the streaming wars, of course, but keep the other on the gaming battleground as YouTube, @FacebookGaming and @Twitch invest. Lots there for sport to learn about fan interaction, communities, broadcasting, content creation and distribution.

Z - Zoom (or your video conferencing platform of choice): Love them or tolerate them, they’re here to stay so look out for teams getting innovative and bolder in how they’re using them to create tailored virtual hospitality products and better quality fan-athlete interaction.