Welcome to The Big Deal.

Making the last 16 of a FIFA World Cup is always a big deal for Australia.

And after a reasonably long and drawn out process, the Socceroos have gone back to the well and re-contracted Graham Arnold for 2026.

Novak Djokovic is also celebrating today after taking what he claims is the “biggest victory” of his career. This one was pretty special it seems for Novak after the events of last year and an especially challenging last 12 months.

Oh, and if you missed last week’s podcast, swimming superstar Kyle Chalmers opened up about how the media nearly drove him to quit his sport … catch up and subscribe now on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Now, here’s what’s been happening in sports business at home and around the world.

IN THIS WEEK’S WRAP OF THE BIG DEALS

• Arnold Australia’s $6 million man

• Djokovic claims ‘biggest victory’ of his career

• TV ratings not so sweet for Nine

• Magpies appoint Craig Kelly as CEO

• Exclusive: Chalmers opens up on media battles

• Taipans swallow pride in singlet drama

• English soccer clubs’ record spend

• Pole vaulter strikes AI gold

• Hot tickets for LeBron

• BCCI enjoys another big pay day

  Got a Big Deal you want to share? Get in touch

ARNOLD BECOMES AUSTRALIA’S $6 MILLION MAN

Graham Arnold will remain at the Socceroos as head coach for the next three and a half years in a deal estimated to be worth $6 million.

The 59-year-old has rejected overtures from clubs in England, Scotland and The Netherlands to recommit to the Australian game after taking the Socceroos into the round of 16 at the World Cup in Qatar.

His new deal expires after the 2026 World Cup to be shared between the USA, Canada and Mexico.

While the desire to extend Arnold was clear after the Socceroos’ bold showing in Qatar, the private and public affirmation from players made his retention a must.

“I love Australia and I love Australian football, and nothing in football can ever match the elation, pride and sense of achievement, I and the entire set-up felt in Qatar,” Arnold said.

“The hunger to continue in the role has never been stronger and I know I have more to give to the Socceroos’ program and Australian football.

“Football Australia is ambitious, where we expect continued progress and results from our senior and youth national teams, and through our discussions with Graham over recent weeks, we know our thinking is aligned on the future direction of Australian football and the Socceroos.”

The appointment does however represent a significant renaissance for Arnold who came perilously close to losing his job as Australia’s qualification for Qatar faltered over the final stages.

The Socceroos failed to automatically qualify behind both Saudi Arabia and Japan and needed to beat the UAE and Peru (on penalties) before securing their place.

JOKER JOINS NADAL ON 22 GRAND SLAMS AFTER SWEET VICTORY

An emotion-charged Novak Djokovic has claimed his 10th Australian Open title and his 22nd grand slam, joining Rafael Nadal as the most prolific grand slam winner in men’s history.

Novak Djokovic @DjokerNole

🏆2️⃣2️⃣🙏🏼❤️

2:40 PM ∙ Jan 29, 2023

---

279,599Likes33,487Retweets

Djokovic, who called it the “biggest victory” of his career, eclipsed Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5) to clinch the title and the winner’s cheque of US$2.1 million A$2.95 million.

It came 12 months after he was deported from the country for failing to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

The victory allowed him to reclaim the world number one ranking, climbing the peak for the seventh time and demoting young Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.

“I have to say this has been the most challenging tournament I have played in my life … not playing last year, coming back this year,” Djokovic said.

“Only the team and the family knows what we have been through in the last four or five weeks.”

Rolled into the bargain, Djokovic battled a hamstring strain through the early part of the tournament he said he would have withdrawn from, had it not been a grand slam.

TV RATINGS NOT QUITE AS SWEET FOR NINE

Despite the historic nature of the final, a series of circumstances has led to a 40 per cent drop in viewership for this year’s Australian Open.

It represents a body blow to the Nine Network which shelled out $500 million to renew its rights deal with Tennis Australia.

The network already knew that the retired Ash Barty would not be a part of this year’s event.

But the withdrawal of love-him-or-hate-him Nick Kyrgios as well as Australia’s top female player Ajla Tomljanovic soon had viewers turning elsewhere in their numbers - in excess of three million of them.

Carlos Alcaraz, who was world number one before the tournament, also failed to show because of a leg injury.

Nine would have budgeted on some sort of a drop off after last summer’s bumper figures.

But the size of the turn off may have been more than it expected with the coverage also drawing its share of criticism.

Media analyst Steve Allen told News Corp: “Whoever is producing and directing it at Nine doesn‘t quite understand tennis.

”What Nine seemed to have done is they’ve pursued Australian players and they’ve pursued men players at the expense of female players and to the expense of other key overseas players.

“It hasn‘t worked, that just isn’t the recipe.”

PIES APPOINT FORMER PLAYER, MANAGEMENT GURU, AS CEO

Collingwood has landed a big fish as its next CEO, wooing former player Craig Kelly from his player agent empire TLA.

The 56-year-old Kelly sold his controlling stake in the business three years ago and has now stepped down from all board and executive roles with TLA.

The Magpies are now confident his new role does not constitute a conflict of interest.

Kelly was recruited by new President Jeff Browne and will begin his role at Collingwood on February 20.

“There is momentum at Collingwood, and I look forward to building relationships across the Club and working alongside the Board, staff, coaches and athletes as we enter the next phase,” Kelly said.

“It has been an incredible 26 years growing ESP/TLA alongside our dedicated staff – both past and present. I would like to thank everyone at TLA, in particular the outstanding executive team and our amazing talent – a lot who are lifelong friends of myself and my family. Without the talent, and the incredible sports and long-term clients we work with, the journey would not have been as fun or fulfilling as it has been.” 

EXCLUSIVE: CHALMERS OPENS UP ON MEDIA BATTLES

Superstar swimmer and Olympic gold medallist Kyle Chalmers has spoken exclusively with The Big Deal, opening up about his ongoing battles with the media.

Chalmers has had an uneasy relationship with the fourth estate which boiled over around last year’s Commonwealth Games, leading him to reconsider his future in the sport.

“It obviously impacted me a massive amount, to the point where I wasn’t sure if I wanted to swim anymore,” he said.

“I was definitely contemplating retirement when that all happened, I wrote down a retirement speech.

“Luckily I had good mates and family over in Port Lincoln that sat me down and told me retirement would just be letting the media win. For me, I wanted to stand up and do what I love.”

Social media, as well as mainstream media has created its challenges for Chalmers.

“You can’t avoid it, as much as I tried to. People will send it to you, you go onto Facebook you’ll see something. You go onto Instagram, you see something. You turn on the news, you see something. You can’t actually avoid it,” he said.

“My coach would tell me ‘just don’t read the articles’. I’m not reading the articles, all I’m seeing is this shit on Facebook or wherever, it gets very challenging.”

Catch up on the episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

TAIPANS SWALLOW PRIDE IN SINGLET DRAMA

Pride has got in the way again as another code and another club walk the tightrope that is the meshing of sport and politics.

This time it was the NBL and the Cairns Taipans who made a last-minute decision not to wear a pride singlet in the league’s specially designated round.

The Taipans released a statement explaining the decision saying: “This initiative should be a celebration; however, our team has already been subjected to a barrage of abuse and harmful commentary that has led to individuals being targeted and shamed.

“This is a negative distraction to what should be a positive experience across the game, and now we feel as though our only choice as a team is to collectively opt out of this season’s uniforms.”

The late decision did not impress the Taipans’ major sponsor, CQ University, which expressed its disappointment and lack of knowledge of the decision.

While neither the NBL or the Taipans was prepared to force players to wear the pride singlet, the decision to abandon it is believed to have stemmed from several players who had privately vowed not to wear it.

The Taipans were concerned the pride singlet was becoming a distraction and hence made the decision to walk away from it.

Cairns lost the game to SE Melbourne 85-80.

ENGLISH CLUBS BREAK RECORD SPEND

Soccer’s mid-season transfer window is about to close again but not before the spend from English clubs in 2022 passed an eye-watering US$2 billion (A$2.82 billion) for the first time.

The top 100 transfers accounted for more than half of the US$2.2 billion outlay.

Antony’s move from Ajax to Manchester United was the most expensive single transfer at US$106 million (£85.6 million).

It comes at a time both United and Liverpool are on the market for outright sale with Everton also seeking new investment.

The Toffees are second bottom and might also need a miracle to remain in the top flight, having been there since 1954-55.

They have just agreed the £45 million sale of winger Anthony Gordon to high-flying Newcastle.

And they are poised to give former Burnley manager Sean Dyche the task of keeping them up, having sacked Frank Lampard after less than a year in charge.

Meanwhile, Lampard’s former club, Chelsea, are determined to lead the charge to a new spending record in 2023.

The Blues have already shelled out £159 million in this January window alone - more than every team in Serie A, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga combined!

POLE VAULTER STRIKES AI GOLD

Former Australian Olympic pole vaulter Simon Arkell has hit the jackpot in the artificial intelligence domain.

He’s sold the AI-driven healthcare platform Deep Lens that he co-founded with two others in 2017 for $127 million.

The former Adelaide-based Arkell who now lives in California, won nine titles in his career, culminating in gold at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland.

His best Olympic finish was 22nd at Barcelona in 1992.

But he’s struck more gold in the business world with the AI platform that matches cancer patients with drug trials.

It’s also a boon for investors of his project which stand to receive a return of 14 times their investment.

The sale was part of a $280 million takeover from New York-based company Paradigm.

HOT TICKETS FOR LEBRON

Ticket-holders are looking to cash in as LeBron James nears Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA record of 38,387 points.

While it’s not certain which game will see him pass the old mark, tickets for those games in the window are selling for an average of US$1123 ($A1480).

It represents a mark-up of as much as 305% on the value of some of those tickets at the start of the season.

Fans who dig deep for the Lakers’ home games against the Thunder and the Bucks sure will be disappointed if the great James goes on a hot run and breaks the record in New Orleans a couple of days early!

BCCI BACKS ANOTHER WINNER

Indian cricket is rolling in more cash after selling the rights to five women’s IPL teams ahead of the inaugural tournament in March.

The board has banked a staggering $806 million with IPL team owners Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore joined by new franchises owned by Adani Sportsline Pvt. Limited and Capri Global Holdings Pvt Limited.

Adani is owned by one of the world’s richest men, Gautam Adani, and bid $222 million for the team to be based in Ahmedabad.

The windfall comes days after the BCCI announced it had sold the rights for the first five seasons of the women’s IPL to Viacom18 for $164 million.

It all adds up to a massive financial boost for women’s cricket.

Thanks for reading our weekly wrap!

Stay tuned for the podcast (Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) later this week.

Let us know your thoughts, and share it with your friends. 

Share