Sport’s dilemma when it comes to commercialisation and integrity

Earlier this month, I travelled to London to take part in the Leaders in Sport and the ASPIRE4SPORT summits. The events gathered some of the finest minds from all corners of thesports industry. High-profile names talked on-stage about emergingtrends and challenges the industry is facing. Numerous keynotes andpanels discussed how digital technology is changing sport, how fans aremore ‘engaged’ than ever before and how social media is ‘disrupting’what we watch and how we consume sport.  For me though, two panels particularly stood out. Firstly, during a session covering governance in sport, IAAF President,Seb Coe, gave a fascinating insight into the experiences and lessons helearned during the governance reform process the IAAF has undertakenover the last 24 months, the challenges he has faced leading a214-member organisation and what the future holds for athletics and manyother sports. Whilst the resulting headlines following the session focussed around newformats and potential changes for athletics on the track, theacknowledgement that these changes are not possible without the sweepinggovernance reforms the IAAF has made off the track following itsintegrity crisis is a point that particularly resonated. Having spent an entire career working with NGOs and both the public andprivate sector in the field of anti-corruption and ethics, I have seenfirst-hand the significant benefit and positive impact of leaders whoare committed to good governance, compliance and anti-corruption, aswell as how their efforts can positively transform public opinion andinspire greater trust in a particular sector or industry. The IAAF is just one of a handful of governing bodies that have taken alead in reforming their governance over recent years, in comparison tomany other case studies and innovative approaches to corporategovernance and compliance that exist in the public sector and commercialworld. Indeed, for all the recent talk of digital ‘disruption’, commercialtransformation and how the likes of Amazon, Google and Apple could soonbe entering the sports rights marketplace, there is no doubt that thepace of change and the ever-increasing commercialisation of the sportsindustry has now created a significant dilemma when it comes toprotecting the integrity of sport.On one hand, and as former Disney CEO and now owner of PortsmouthFootball Club, Michael Eisner, so eloquently pointed out, many sponsorsand organisations have never been so attracted to investing in sport’sunique storytelling power. However, on the other, we are living at atime when the governance of sports organisations is under more scrutinythan ever before. As a result, modernising and professionalising existing governance andcompliance measures in sport is critical to its future success –particularly if the likes of Amazon, Google and Facebook (who have theirown compliance measures to adhere to) are going to enter the sportsmarketplace. Indeed, the term ‘collective action’ is something I have used on numerous occasions and one I passionately believe in. Only by bringing together specialist knowledge and professional,independent expertise from a range of different sectors – includingbusiness, government and civil society – can we ensure that the sportsindustry is less vulnerable to corruption and fraud and has modern and‘fit for purpose’ governance structures and compliance measures in placethat work in the very best interests of all its members and all thoseinvolved in the sports industry. Since joining the ICSS as Group CEO in June 2016, we have made greatstrides as an organisation and have several exciting announcements inthe sport integrity space coming up over the coming months. I hope you will support these upcoming projects, as well as our ongoingwork with partners across all sectors, to help strengthen and safeguardsport. If you or your organisation is interested in learning more about theICSS Sport Integrity services, advice and training and would like tospeak to one of the ICSS team, please visit www.theicss.org or contactinfo@theicss.org