1. Future Trends in the Sport
and Recreation Industry
Kevin Strybosch
December 17, 2014
Presented to: David Legg
HPED 5400

2. Las Vegas
Everyone knows that Las Vegas is an incredible tourist destination and that the demand
to visit is quite high. It’s filled with bright lights, towering hotels, and large casinos.
Accompanying all of these entities is a wealth of money in the Vegas area due to the amount of
tourism and attractions. But there is still one thing missing in the city of Las Vegas that basically
every other major American city has, and that is a professional sports franchise.
It is a minor mystery as to why this city has never been the home to a professional sports
team. The city has plenty of visitors, a wild and vibrant atmosphere, and people wealthy enough
to own a sports team. There is currently a 20,000 seat venue being built that could host a variety
of events, and also be the permanent home to an NBA or NHL franchise. According to Sports
Business News, this new facility could host 100 total events annually and an anchor tenant such
as the NBA or NHL would be an additional advantage (Sports Business News, 2014).
The National Hockey League has been the one professional sports league that has shown
the most interest in putting a franchise in Las Vegas. They like the idea that there is already and
NHL caliber building under construction and a willing ownership group that would like to bring
in a team. The NHL also recently gave the head of this potential ownership group, William
Foley, permission to do a season ticket drive around Las Vegas to see what the interest level is
like. This is also not the first time that the NHL and city of Las Vegas have interacted; the
annual NHL awards have taken place in the city in 2012, 2013, and 2014.
Clearly there is interest from both the NHL and the city, and if the season ticket drive is a
success, I believe that the NHL will grant Las Vegas a franchise. All of the pieces are there to

3. make the league happy, such as a state of the art arena, strong tourism market, wealthy
population, and interest from potential owners.
This is going to be a very interesting story to follow, especially when the NHL does
eventually land in Vegas. But it is a good idea for the NHL to look at this situation seriously and
make sure the research is done to ensure success from this new franchise. It all looks promising,
but I’m not completely convinced that it would work out well. The population of Las Vegas in
2013 was just over 600,000 (U.S Census Bureau, 2013), which is smaller than 18 other NHL
cities. With the weather in Las Vegas being as hot as it is, there is not really a huge contingent
of hockey players coming out of that area and therefore, the interest level seems quite low.
People know and love Vegas for what it is, a destination where life can get crazy for a weekend
and wild stories can be made. It really screams the opposite of a place where NHL hockey can
be successful. Looking at other warm-climate NHL franchises, the Arizona Coyotes had a
massive ownership crisis where the NHL had to take over the team, and the Florida Panthers are
seeing record low crowds. Along with the desert atmosphere, it is not the most ideal place for a
bunch of rich athletes to be living. The temptations of gambling, alcohol and the Vegas party
life could put players in a dangerous situation in terms of addiction. These types of things could
be hard for a popular, wealthy athlete to turn down and that could not only affect their
performance, but affect their life as well.
The National Hockey League looks as though Las Vegas is their number one expansion
city. With a new arena planned it looks to be a solid place to place a new franchise. The tourism
is great and there are passionate people who want to see a professional sports franchise in Las
Vegas. It just does not seem like hockey would be overly successful in the city due to the warm
climate, relatively small population, and party temptations.

4. Major Games Taking Place in Qatar, Dubai, and Abu
Dhabi
“Where once, sport looked west for investment and inspiration, now it looks east” (Smith,
2014). This quote just sums up the changing of the guard in terms of where the future of sport is
going globally. As a western society, we don’t fully understand the amount of wealth that there
is in the oil-rich gulf near Dubai, Doha, and Abu Dhabi. In Dubai, you will find one billionaire
in every 200,000 people (Smith, 2014). In Qatar, 14% of households have one million in a
private bank fund (Smith, 2014). That is a staggering amount of money for one region of the
world.
What we are finding with this immense amount of wealth is that billionaires from this
area are investing part of their fortune in sport. Major athletic events are now making their way
to the Gulf and getting huge amounts of money to take place there. Two of the world’s most
famous Formula 1 drivers, Louis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, along with the rest of the F1
circuit, competed in the final Grand Prix of the racing season on the Yas Marina Circuit which
was built for a subtle $1.5 billion (Smith, 2014). As well, two of the most prominent golfers in
the world, Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson, competed in the final European Tour event in
Dubai (Smith, 2014). This part of the world is really becoming a hub for internationally
recognized sporting events. Over the next year or so, Qatar will host world championships in
boxing, swimming, squash, handball, and para-athletics and will also stage over 40 other
sporting events (Smith, 2014). The overwhelming amount of wealth in the area allows investors

5. to build the facilities necessary for these events and can attract such big spectacles due to the
amount of money that is being put forward.
The world championships are nice and major racing and golf tournaments gather global
attention to a certain extent for this area. But there is one major event heading to Qatar that will
really show where the future of international sport is headed, and that is the 2022 FIFA World
Cup. With soccer being recognized as the “world’s sport” this event will be a huge showcase
for the country of Qatar. Although there is certainly a fair share of controversy surrounding the
decision to bring the World Cup to Qatar in 2022, it seems to be the trend that is happening in
terms of large scale sporting events. The countries with the most money and “fanciest” ideas are
most likely to land the World Cups and the Olympics. As we recently saw in Sochi, they set an
entirely new precedent for the Winter Olympic Games by spending $51 million to host them
(Yaffa, 2014). Now this may have not been the smartest decision for Russia, but it is still a trend
that is worth noting, the IOC likes to head to places that spend money. We are even seeing now
that countries are shying away from bidding for games due to the pressure to spend billions of
dollars. Stockholm, Olso, Krakow, and Lviv all cancelled their bids for the 2022 Winter
Olympic Games and for the most part, the main reason was because citizens of each country did
not want to spend the money that was necessary to host the games.
There is going to be a lot that is said about financial benefits when it comes to the future
of sport. Major sport organizations such as FIFA and the IOC will be looking for certain things
when picking hosts for their events and money is definitely high on that list. Looking no further
than Qatar, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi as potential hosts for events is a trend that we are already
seeing in today’s sporting world, and it will continue into the future. There are already world
championships, high profile races and golf tournaments, and numerous sports sponsorships in

6. these three places. Qatar is set to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which will be the first of many
major sporting events to grace the Gulf area. Doha, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi will soon be
considered the sporting centres of the world due to their ability to spend massive amounts of
money on events.
Fighting in Hockey
The days of the big, burly, tough hockey enforcer are seemingly out the door in the NHL.
From the beginning of the 2014/2015 season, we have already seen the typical “tough guy” being
taken out of the line-up in favour of a faster or more skilled player. The game of hockey is
becoming so much more about skating and quick transitions than it is about pure intimidation of
your opponent. We saw that on opening day of this NHL season when the Toronto Maple Leafs
released two fourth line fighters down to their AHL affiliate. The interesting part is that both of
these players had roster spots the previous year. Toronto is not the only example of this
happening. Brian McGrattan of the Calgary Flames has only played in eight of the team’s 33
games this year, showing that skill will be the future over fighting.
The changing of the way that the game is played is reason enough for teams in the NHL
to stop fighting. But when you add in the mental toll that it can take on the enforcers, the idea of
banning fights seems like a good idea. Derek Boogaard, Wade Belak, and Rick Rypien are three
former NHL tough guys who each battled significant demons and ended up taking their own
lives. Boogaard was a notorious tough guy who gained popularity among the fans for his antics
on the ice. Starting when he was 16 years old, he had fought over 100 times before he even

7. reached the NHL and had never scored more than two goals in a season (Davidson, 2014). Is
that type of production really going to help a team, especially if the consequences were as drastic
as they ended up being? Many other NHL tough guys had a very similar road to the NHL and a
lot cannot handle the pressure that comes with being expected to fight every night.
With as much at stake as there is for the NHL and its fighters, it is likely that there will be
a ban on fighting within the next ten years. No other professional sports league allows players to
punch each other, so why should the one sport with skates and ice be the only one? It is a very
dangerous phenomenon and can spark heated debate when brought up around a diehard hockey
fan. The opposing argument is that the players will not be able to police themselves and there
will be more serious injuries because of the lack of accountability. But with research done on the
brains of fighters, there is enough evidence to say that the amount of concussions that they
receive makes it dangerous for them to be doing it every night. And with the game of hockey
moving towards a more fast paced and skilled game, there is no sense for the NHL to keep
fighting in the game.
Digital Ticketing
Tickets for sporting events can be a piece of memorabilia that has special meaning as
someone’s first game or an important game that someone was at. But for the most part, sporting
event tickets will get you admission into the game and then most people will throw them out.
That is where digital tickets will come in. With nearly everyone owning a smartphone it only
makes sense that teams should start looking at distributing tickets digitally.

8. The Washington Wizards are one example of a team that has started to migrate towards
this new trend. They are currently only offering to season ticket holders, single-game, and
group ticket buyers, but the premise is that one can go access their account and download the
ticket onto a device without any hassle (Washington Wizards, 2013). This new development will
make life easier for the fans to access their favourite sporting events using their familiar
smartphone and do not have to worry about going through the effort to print tickets off.
Same Emphasis Placed on Participating as Winning in
Youth Sport
Positive experiences in sport can be everything for some athletes. Just one negative
experience can make a young athlete want to quit a certain sport, and in some cases, quit sport in
general. It is no secret that some coaches can become too obsessed with winning. For some
people it is a feeling that they crave and a feeling that they must achieve in order to feel
accomplished. But it can cross a line when the athletes are young and still learning about the
sport. Coaches yelling and acting to intense can take the fun right out of a sport for young
athletes. In fact, two out of three children in the UK feel under pressure to start cheating at
sports in order to win (Richardson, 2013).
There has already started to be a shift in the mind-set of winning vs. participating.
Children are now receiving medals and ribbons even if they do not win or place high in a
competition. This idea is to endure that some children do not feel left out or feel incompetent on
an athletic level. Plus, if the pressure to win is so high that athletes will resort to cheating, it will

9. completely ruin the integrity of any sport. The idea of rewarding young children for
participating will also help ensure that they’re having a positive experience with active living.
The new emphasis on participation over winning is a great concept for providing young
athletes with rewards for being active. However, the one issue found with it is that there is then
the idea that children will not learn how to win, and just as importantly, how to lose. These are
two things that are acquired and do not come naturally to a person, so it could negatively affect
them at a higher level of sport. There must be a balance between rewarding participation and
placing emphasis on winning without going overboard. But right now looking towards the
future, participation seems to be taking over for winning.

10. References
Davidson, N. (2014, October 7). The sad rise and fall of Derek Boogaard. Retrieved December
17, 2014, from http://globalnews.ca/news/1603417/the-sad-rise-and-fall-of-hockeys-derek-
boogaard/
Richardson, H. (2013, April 14). Pressure to win 'turns children into sports cheats' Retrieved
December 17, 2014, from http://www.bbc.com/news/education-22126301
Smith, B. (2014, November 25). Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai: New centre of the sporting world?
Retrieved December 16, 2014, from http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/30180206
Sports Business News. (2014, December 8). Expansion to Vegas worth the gamble. Retrieved
December 16, 2014, from http://sportsbusinessnews.com/content/expansion-vegas-worth-gamble
U.S Census Bureau. (2013, July 1). Population Trends. Retrieved December 16, 2014, from
http://www.lvcva.com/includes/content/images/MEDIA/docs/Population-2013.pdf
Washington Wizards. (2013, September 25). Monumental Sports & Entertainment Adds Mobile
Ticketing Option to Digital Card System and Events at Verizon Center and the Patriot Center.
Retrieved December 17, 2014, from http://www.nba.com/wizards/news/monumental-sports-
entertainment-adds-mobile-ticketing-option-digital-card-system-and-events-ver
Yaffa, J. (2014, January 2). The Waste and Corruption of Vladimir Putin's 2014 Winter
Olympics. Retrieved December 16, 2014, from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-
02/the-2014-winter-olympics-in-sochi-cost-51-billion