sportsbiz Archives - Wakeman Consulting Group

Ticketmaster Won. Everyone Else Lost. That’s Why Tickets are Broken.

February 18, 2026
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Hi! This is a longer piece that I’ve been working on for a few days… Consider this my collected thoughts about tickets heading into 2026. If you like this one, share it! Share I started this piece thinking that everyone had lost. The ticket ecosystem was broken. No one was coming out ahead. I was […]

Outline: 21 Ways to Improve Premium Sales

Hi! I’ve been working away in my secret lab the last few days, putting together an outline for a new training on premium sales that I’m going to roll out. Today, I wanted to share the outline with you with a few points on each topic to give you a taste. Here’s a quick look […]

UFL: Is Spring Football a Viable Spring Business?

The UFL’s second championship game ended with the DC Defenders winning their first spring football title. Attendance was down from 27,369 in 2024 to 14,559 in 2025. TV ratings also fell 39% to 983,000 viewers on ABC. This was the story of Year 2 of the UFL: It leads me to the question: Can the UFL become a growing […]

The BIG Ticket: Ligue 1 in a “Financial Crisis”

Ligue 1 has hit a “financial crisis”. The league’s deal with broadcast partner DAZN collapsed, leaving the league scrambling to find a new broadcast deal for the second time in five years. Ligue 1 is a top 5 European league, generating $2.53 B in revenue in 2023-24. Mostly from broadcast rights and player transfer fees. […]

The BIG Ticket: Washington Spirit Mentorship Program

Hi! I was going to share a model I’ve created around strategy that includes how I look at: You’ll probably get that tomorrow. Instead, I received an email today from the Ministry of Sport that shared some information about the club I’m on the board of in DC. Jane Dawber works for my club. She’s a […]

The BIG Ticket: The Masters “Crackdown”

I’ve been following this for a week. Scott Friedman and Darren Rovell have covered this the best. I grew up in the shadow of Augusta National and remember Masters Week from my childhood. But it isn’t something I spend much time thinking about. Then, I realized it perfectly explains sports business now. I ask myself, “Does […]

The BIG Ticket: The Masters

Hi! I kept my head down about The Masters and the ticket story that Darren Rovell and Scott Friedman seem to have been on top of all week. Then, I read a piece about personalities from Ted Gioia this morning. The Honest Broker Is This the Dominant Personality Type of Our Time? Filmmaker Sergio Leone […]