Digital opportunities offer club owners “an open ended opportunity”, says sports media titan
Alamy
Michel Masquelier rose from IMG intern to become chairman at the time of its multi-billion merger with WME. He witnessed and partook in some of the sports industry’s biggest changes over the past four decades.
In a wide ranging interview with Off The Pitch, Masquelier reflects on an extraordinary career in sports management, discusses the latest developments and opportunities in the broadcast market, and talks about his recent memoir.
Why it matters: As a doyen of the international rights market, Masquelier’s views and inputs shaped the globalisation and growth of sport since the 1980s.
The perspective: Football’s broadcast rights are “more and more sophisticated and risky” than ever before but digital and OTT offers “an open ended opportunity.”
11 October 2022 - 12:00 PM
One cold winter’s day in early-1985, a French-speaking Belgian packed up his belongings into a battered old Ford Cortina and set out on the journey from his hometown of Liege to London.
“The distance could have been a million miles and I would not have cared,” recalls Michel Masquelier. “The fact that I spoke not a word of English and had no friends to welcome me and nowhere to stay didn't matter. What counted was that I was on my way. I had no
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