The business of sport: times are changing!

The Bob Dylan lyrics 'wherever you roam, and admit that the waters around you have grown' hints at changes wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

The same can be said of some sport and entertainment; right here, right now. Change is happening.

Take Tyson vs Jake Paul. It wasn't boxing (as we are used to) - it meant nothing in those terms and probably offended the purists. It wasn't just social media (it was more interesting than that) - and probably offended the YouTube purists ("who's the old guy?").

It was pure entertainment on the border of sport and competition, mixed with influencers and social media and (money aside) designed to capture eyeballs. But that's the game right? More eyeballs means more broadcast revenue, more advertisers, more sponsors and so the circle begins. Thats entertainment.

The important thing to note though is what does it really do - behind the camera flashes and the enormous pay checks - what did that event really do?

New eyeballs. It brought a larger combined audience - merged from out-and-out boxing fans, from the older generation who remember Mike Tyson is his prime, the You Tube and Prime drinking generation.

Did it introduce boxing to a wider audience than it normally does? Probably. Will it encourage kids to take up boxing? Potentially. Does it promote athleticism and physical activity and address the global obesity issue? Probably not. I feel it is a shallow effort and as someone with eyes on the legacy prize for grassroots and development, it doesn't cut it.

Take LIV Golf - their mantra to 'grow the game' as yet doesn't seem to be anything more than a strap line. They may be allowing refugees and the forcibly displaced to access sport but its real impact isnt a story that's big enough to release....yet! You could say the same about the PGA TOUR Tour (although its support of charities is significant but perhaps in their case - a story that's never quite been told well enough).

While the battle/merger (call it what you will) between LIV and PGA Tour seems to be more subdued now than in recent months - the game isn't back together yet, with damage repaired and everyone friends again. But perhaps LIV has forced the PGA and DP World Tour to shake things up; different ways to broadcast; alternative formats; some team action (nothing beats the Ryder Cup though!); and a bigger/better and perhaps different spectacle.

However the professional golf industry dispute plays out, I think as one or as few, the activities in golf will contribute to something bigger than any bit part in it. Im not sure about boxing - it has always seemed very focused on the short term - one bout at a time.

Football and rugby too could join golf, boxing and more sports besides - all with a need to be shaken vociferously and reset - putting inspiration, engagement, education and enablement front and centre. I don't believe there is one example of any single sport doing it ALL in the way that it should or could.

And so, while the business of sport is still a business (money is important, balancing the books and repeatability and scalability key in key operations and lets not forget supporters and participants need to be engaged too) - but while there is evidence of movement and change here and there, the business of sport needs more innovation and more collaboration. On a far wider scale - it needs to do more!

Else the old ways of doing things ("database A and database B" - personal joke - IYKYK) will lead many sports, events, venues, operations, to fall behind, falter and potential fail causing supporters to ultimately lose out. Time to explore beyond the safe haven you have created. Recruit different. Blue sky think. Try and fail. Its time for new...

So, all that said, I think Bob Dylan probably deserves the final word here.

'If your time to you is worth saving, and you better start swimming (other sports are available)....for the times they are a changing'.