As we head into the second week of the Tokyo Olympics we will see lots of track and field, some baseball, more gymnastics and a host of other sports and disciplines which may catch our attention every few years. However we thought it would be good for the disruptive first adopter to look past Tokyo and even past Paris and towards Los Angeles in 2028 for three opportunities to get in a longtail, not for time honored Olympic sports, but a trio that are fast paced, new to the programme, have international appeal and present an opportunity, if done right, for low coast engagement with a chance at a bigger payoff if any, or all succeed to story tell and build stars, since the US participation as the host country is guaranteed in 2028.
No its not surfing or skateboarding or even BMX, or even the newly accepted sport of break dancing. It’s not ballroom dancing or dressage or modern pentathlon.
Heck they are three sports which the US on the men’s side wont come near the podium in Tokyo (two of which the national teams didn’t even QUALIFY for Tokyo…more upside, and the third the men dropped out in the early rounds, but have been successful for the past several years on the international side. On the women’s side, Team USA medaled in one, again didn’t qualify for another and is in medal competition for the third, which is also good news.
What are they? Team Handball, 3 x 3 basketball and Sevens Rugby. Somehow I have actually been involved in the past with all three, and have seen the potential past, and the value going forward (I have no connection to any currently). Why these three?
Here’s why:
Sevens Rugby: When the IOC approved the discipline of Sevens, not the traditional 15, one former Olympic official made it akin to putting 3×3 in the Olympics. “It is a faster, practice version or real rugby,” he said at the time. P.S., Sevens and 3×3 are now in the Games.
Why? Sevens is constant action, played on a big field with a shortened time clock and fits multiple screens that the current non traditional consumer will enjoy. It is also growing really well for men and women on the college and high school level in the States, and has a great opportunity for crossover for future Olympic athletes from sports like American football. Several of the best American men…Carlin Isles, Perry Baker and until recently Nate Ebner of the Patriots, all found their way to the national team. It is perfect for a former option quarterback or a defensive back as it is a speed game.
The US has also been pretty successful both and the men’s and women’s sides, and until the last two years, the well organized Collegiate Rugby Championships drew over 30k to PPL Park in Philly. Sadly, that event has disappeared at the wrong time, but a group is trying its hand at a professional sevens league similar to the Premier Lacrosse League model. It’s going to be very tough to pull off, but even without a pro league, Sevens Rugby is one to get in on as we head towards LA.
The sport has embraced digital and social media as a key way to grow the personalities of the game around the world, and the business opportunities for sponsorship and brand engagement amongst a young and active audience increased greatly with Olympic acceptance.
3 x 3: If you go to many places in the world, or even to any playground in the US or North America, you will get the basic concept of 3 x 3 basketball. If you watch BIG 3, you see a form of 3 x3 basketball. If you see the Olympics, you see the small footprint, high energy game that 3 x3 has become, and it is just a matter of time before 3 x3 specialists see the opportunity bigger in the U.S. and the interest and commitment grows.
Team Handball: Team Handball is a thing.
No it’s not the old school hitting the ball against a concrete wall many grew up with in the inner cities of the U.S. It is one of the most engaged training sports in the world. Ask many basketball players or soccer players about Team Handball and they will know what it is. In Europe it is a competitive sport for men and women, combining parts basketball, soccer and even dodgeball, in small bursts of action on a court the size of a basketball or hockey rink. It is affordable, fun and has lots of action.
And other than some very brief moments, it has never caught on here, the victim of lack of focus, infighting at the leadership levels, and very deep competition amongst national governing bodies with never any success even qualifying for elite competition at the international levels.
How do I know about Team Handball? Two reasons. It was a required sport for gym in the City of New York in the 1970’s and 80’s, and we played it once a week. Even more importantly, I ended up being the venue chief at the 1987 Pan Am Games in Indianapolis for one of Team USA’s rare shining moments, a chance to win a gold medal against the evil empire of the Cuban National team, which ended in an overtime loss and a bench clearing brawl between the two countries that caused one of the few international incidents at the Pan Am Games, in the Hoosier Dome, in front of 6,000 people, that summer. One of those on hand who caught team handball fever was journalist Chris Thorne of the Newark Star Ledger , who wrote an extensive piece on team handball and all its elements being “The Sport of the Future.”
And then it was gone.
Recently Team Handball has pulled in new leadership, and least year got an unlikely and unique boost, bringing in Verizon as a major sponsor for the National Governing Body despite the fact that neither men’s and women’s national teams qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. What they will have is the guaranteed exposure in 2028 in Los Angeles as a host sport, and Verizon can take a chance on a sport not within in the limelight yet, to get a great buy on something that is established outside of the States, has great training elements, somewhat of a grassroots presence, and no downside at all.
The footprint needed is very small…Futsal is trying the same approach in venues…and the action and content can be very strong.
In a world where we are all about digital, high action, short bursts and easy to understand activities, Team Handball makes some sense for activation. It is an easy IP to own and build out. The sport also screams for the opportunities for some multisport athletes who have an interest in Olympic affiliation to take advantage of as we move towards LA. Here too, think about option quarterbacks, or fast receivers or even sprinters or basketball players who may be a step below those elite sports but still have interest in the glory of wearing Team USA. Team Handball has all those elements and can bring the spotlight to athletes with amazing stories down the road.
An overnight sensation decades in the making, check it out, you might become a fan like Verizon has.
Now is it easy for all to catch on over the next seven years to make an LA splash? No. There are politics, and dollars and infighting, and more politics…but…there is a chance. And for brands…heck even media companies…who are looking for an Olympic way in with low risk and a nice upside, for both men and women, take a look at Sevens, 3 x 3, and Team Handball.
Coming to a small screen, and a household, maybe near you in the next few years.
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