INVENIRE

The National College Athletic Association's (NCAA) March Madness tournament is big business. That is obvious. According to SBNation, the NCAA's TV deal for the tournament with Turner Broadcasting System, an American media company, is worth US$19.6 billion in total. The first deal was originally signed in 2010 and was originally written so that Turner would pay US$10.8 billion over the course of 14 years for broadcasting rights for the tournament. The deal was extended in 2016, for an additional 8 years. This cost Turner another US$8.8 billion, and it means that the company will have broadcasting rights until 2032. The tournament is by far the largest source of income for the NCAA. The NCAA's official financial statement for the 2017-18 year shows that the Association generated US$ 844, 267, 484 in revenue, from television and marketing rights fees. Over 777 million dollars from this was the result of their evidently lucrative deal with Turner. Considering all of this, ...

George Crossfield is back with his set of weekly predictions for the Premier League! We are now almost halfway through the international break, with nearly only a week to go until the Premier League kicks off again with a set of intriguing fixtures, including Liverpool vs Tottenham Hotspur in a vital match in the title race, and Brighton and Hove Albion vs Southampton at the other end of the table. But who does George think will blow through their opponents, and who will “slump like a sack of potatoes”? Fulham vs Manchester City (Saturday 30th, 12:30) Fulham have much better than I thought that they would in their last two matches against big six opposition, limiting both Chelsea and Liverpool to narrow 2-1 victories. I can see them possibly drawing this one. I can also definitely see vulnerabilities in City. The last time they won a game by two clear goals without conceding in the Premier League was all the way back in early Feb, with that 6-0 battering of Chelsea. Since then, apart f...

Invenire Football analyst George Crossfield returns with his predictions for this week’s set of Premier League fixtures, ahead of the huge Arsenal-Manchester United game. Chelsea are also fighting for a Champions League space. But who is George backing this week? Crystal Palace vs Brighton and Hove Albion (Saturday 12:30) Crystal Palace are in the middle of a great run of form right now, and I expect it to show here. Even though Brighton got that much-needed win against Huddersfield last week, I don’t think that they can get anything from this match, given that they are not currently in the relegation battle, and they have a game in hand. George predicts: 2-0 to Crystal Palace Southampton vs Tottenham Hotspur (Saturday 15:00) Tottenham will be happy with their result in the North London Derby, given that Arsenal missed a last-minute penalty, and that their own penalty was arguably not a penalty. I am expecting them to go and win here, but Southampton will push them all the way. We saw ...

George’s Predictions: Matchweek 29 Invenire Football Analyst George Crossfield is starting a new series: George’s predictions. George speaks exclusively to Invenire, telling us each week about his predictions for the upcoming Premier League fixtures. Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal (Saturday 12:30) Tottenham are in danger of losing their space in the top 4 now, because if they lose this match, which they might given their recent form, then Arsenal will be just one point behind them, and Manchester United will be 2 points behind them if they win against Southampton. If Spurs win then I think that they would have secured a top 4 finish, but if they lose then they will have to fight hard for that space. A draw would not be a good result for them: they need 3 points here in the North London derby. Spurs need to pull themselves together. They need to break this run of bad form against Arsenal, and I can see them just edging this one. George predicts: 2-1 to Tottenham AFC Bour...

In some American towns, high school football (or American football to the rest of the world) is a big deal. In the state of Texas alone, there are 50 stadiums  (with a capacity of 11, 000 are more) that were built with the purpose of hosting high school football games. To many Americans, this is no news story, but many others across the world likely have many questions. How large is high school sport exactly? When did this frenzy over youth sport begin? And how much money is being spent on the game? For many towns across the United States, there is little to do on a Friday night. Take the example of Aledo, Texas. It has a population of just under 3,000 and, therefore, is understandably void of the amenities found in a major city. The town's eponymous high school provide the entertainment on a Friday night with weekly American football matches in the autumn. The Aledo Bearcats, as they are named, are something of celebrities in this rural community; how else would they fill t...

Thomas Burke, the first Men's 100m winner at the Olympic Games, ran the final in 12.0 seconds. Since the Men's 100m sprint was first contested at the Olympic Games, the level of sprinters has increased dramatically. Today, many regional-level U14 athletes would have been crowned Olympic champion in 1896. Athletes have become taller and more muscular, as the science involved in sprinting has advanced. Sprinters have also specialised more in one event. For example, Jesse Owens won the 100m, 200m, the long jump, and was part of the winning team in the 4 by 100m. In his 100m final, his time was 10.3 seconds. However, athletes today rarely compete in both track and field events. Specialisation allows athletes to adapt their physical features to increase their performance in their chosen sport. Even in business and economics, Adam Smith noted that specialisation in pin-making increased production. A worker who has specialised in making the head of a pin makes the ma...

The knockout stage of the 2018 World Cup is currently underway, and Invenire has been researching the financial and economic impact of the world cup. The FIFA World Cup is both the most expensive and the most lucrative of any football tournament in the world and has occurred every four years since 1930 when it was won by Uruguay. The only exceptions to this are the years 1942 and 1946; the tournament was cancelled as a result of World War II. An estimate by Russian regional governments has placed the cost of renovating, restoring and constructing stadiums at a total sum of GBP2 million to GBP6 million. This includes building stadiums in cities that do not have any professional football teams, like the host city of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, in Sochi.  Further upkeep and operation of World Cup venues are expected to reach costs of over GBP24, 000, 000. For example, the city of Nizhny Novgorod wishes for Moscow to pay for the upkeep of the stadium for at least three y...