Gordon Kane Aspiring Author
About Gordon Kane
I'm an aspiring author with a deep love for thrillers and sport. Combining these two passions I hope to entertain (and maybe keep you up at night).
With over 30 years experience in sport management, I have been fortunate to write articles, contribute to books, and guest lecture at major universities about the future of sport. Naturally, I now want to add a few murders to my portfolio.
Publications
Sports Business Journal
Sports Business International
Books
"Sharp sponsors demand sharp ROI". 2003
"Memories of the greatest" (Ali). 2010
"2012 shaping up as a bright Olympic year". 2012
"IOC's Agenda 2020 details bold change". 2015
"2024 Bid a testament to global relationships"2015
"A shift in sponsorships ... toward B to B". 2019
" LA will once again rewrite the playbook" 2020
​
​
​" Don't show me the money" 2004
"America adapting to the end of the monarchy". 2004
"A bold and inspirational choice" 2015
"Sports Sponsorship" - Contributor
- John Fortunato (author) 2011
"The Rise of Major League Soccer - Expert Perspective
- Burton and Reilly (authors) 2025
​
University Presentations.
Presentations on campus focused on sports marketing, sports management, Olympic Movement , global and US soccer.
Schools include: University of Oregon, University of Wisconsin, University of Iowa, Marquette University, Miami University, University of Illinois, Northwestern University, Ohio State University and DePaul University
Senior Lecturer - Ohio State University
"Thank you once again for your great presentation. You are a perfect guest speaker. Thank you very much!!!"
Kellogg Marketing Club
"Crushed it!! So great to have you as our keynote this year"
Director of Sports Business Program - DePaul
"Gordon does an amazing job of combining storytelling with business lessons which leaves the students both entertained and smarter .... not easy to do. Always a highlight of the quarter"
ARTICLES
Once In A Lifetime - Again.
In 1998 Scotland (the land of my birth) was selected to play the opening match of the World Cup in Paris, against Brazil. I remember my father's sense of amazement. Imagine. Scotland. In Paris. Against Brazil, the best team in the world. It didn't take long to figure out that we had to go. We had to be there. This was going to be truly once in a lifetime.
Paris did not dissapoint. Thousands of Scots roaming the streets, the cafe's - and the occasional pubs - adorned in full Tartan Army attire. Embraced, before during and after the match, by the Brazilian fans, who, I think understood that we were at the center of a party that rarely invited the likes of us.Sport had put us at the center of something that was truly unique, and we were going to make sure we took full advantage of the moment.
In the 27 years since then, Scotland has failed to qualify for the World Cup. No parties, no Tartan Army, no visits to the world's stage. Until yesterday. In qualifying matches that defy description, concluded with a match at soggy Hampden that defied belief, Scotland have qualified for the 2026 World Cup.
The Tartan Army will be heading to North America. For a whole generation of Scots this will be their chance to see their team on the world's stage, to accept that illusive invitation to the party.Sport has given us a once in a lifetime opportunity - again.
FIFA Club World Cup:
The Good, the Bad and the (potentially) Ugly.
FIFA had a challenge. They generated $5.77 billion in revenues during the 2022 World Cup. UEFA (the European member of FIFA) generated $5.1 million from their European club cup competitions. FIFA owned a club competition of their own (Club World Cup) but it was being dwarfed by UEFA. From an offensive and defensive perspective FIFA needed to make their club competition bigger and more relevant. So - expand from 7 teams to 32 teams, dramatically increase the prize pool, bring it to huge venues in the USA and put it on TV globally. A quick recap on how it went:
1) Attendance: The "good" is that the final few matches all played in front of 70,000+. The whole tourney averaged around 35,000 per match (also good). The "bad" is that early rounds were poor, and many fans complained about exorbitant pricing for mediocre matches. FIFA even had to discount tickets for the final to ensure a sellout crowd on TV.
2) World Cup Planning: The "good" is that several Host Cities got a great test of their facilities/capabilities before next year. The "bad' was that teams complained of excess heat (water breaks each half became standard fair) and that many of the fields felt inferior to the players ("dead cat bounce" for example).
3) Predicability: The "bad" was that the betting lines didn't give any teams other than European teams any chance of winning. (If you end up with all European teams - you have just re-created the European Champions League). The good - in a word - Brazil. Fluminense and Palmeiras came to play (and brought great fans!). A terrific opportunity for Euro-centric fans to be introduced to players like Estevao, Aries, Hercules etc. Also - shout out to Al Hilal beating Manchester City - the upset of the tourney.
Conclusion: Was it a money grab by FIFA? Probably. Was it entertaining? Definitely. Does it have a future? Absolutely.
Caveat: Players will now go from a tough, heat-filled tournament to a full league season followed closely by a heat-filled US World Cup without much of a break (the players union just approved a mandatory 3 week break per year for players). Will we see an increase in injuries both during the upcoming league season and next summers World Cup - as we stretch these players to the absolute limit? I hope not - because that would be ugly.
This 'yuppie scum" will be pulling for the Pats this weekend.
In 1992 the NFL asked a group of consultants (myself included) to help the Patriots "function normally" during an ownership transition. The team was poor, the facilities (Foxboro) were outdated, ticket sales were miserable, and the prior owner (Victor Kiam) was having some financial troubles.
James Orthwein (a delightful man, if I recall) bought the team for $110 million and looked to us to help him determine how to stabilize/enhance his investment. Nothing was off limits: Updating the stadium (the toilets often "malfunctioned"): Reviewing the Front Office, the coaches, the logo, the marketing plan - and we even discussed, at some length, whether we should suggest changing the name to the Boston Patriots. (If you went to Boston to buy Patriots merch you wouldn't find it. The city embraced the Red Sox, the Bruins and the Celtics but the Pats were an afterthought).
It was even believed that the fans were a little on the drunk and disorderly side of most football spectators. (They were "banned" from Monday Night Football telecasts from 1981 to 1995 because of the "tumult that ensued after dark" -NYT). At one game I diligently stood on the sideline in my khakis and blue blazer, carrying my clipboard and taking notes. I had to go to the office at the top of the north endzone. As I stepped off the field and into the stands a fan stood up, pointed at me and yelled "Die, yuppie scum". By the time I reached the top it had become a full-on chant with (what seemed like) hundreds joining in.
After one season Mr. Orthwein sold the team for $172 million to Robert Kraft. We were thrilled that we had (in some small way) increased the value of the franchise by 56% in just one season.
As the Patriots prepare for the 2026 Super Bowl, under the ownership of Robert Kraft the team has won 6 Super Bowls and now has an estimated value of $8.76 Billion.
There is little, or nothing, that connects the team I knew in 1992 with the current franchise. But, this yuppie scum can't help feeling some warmth towards them.
​
AND THE WINNER OF THE 2026 WORLD CUP IS............
While many may predict, with 100 days to go, that the favorites are Argentina or maybe England. I am going another way - my winner so far is Kansas City.
Let me explain:
FIFA (you know them - the folks that give out the Peace Prize) have changed the way they deliver a World Cup. Instead of a centralized Host Committee (like you would see for an Olympics, for example). They have decided to act as the central Committee themselves - thus grabbing all the revenue from TV, sponsorship and tickets - and letting each individual Host City manage match delivery (infrastructure, transport, security etc).
But wait - if the Host City takes on all the costs, and FIFA controls all the revenues - how do cities generate the monies to cover their expenses? Great question. Well, each City can sell a few local "non-competing" (with FIFA) sponsorships. But the major benefit is the incremental revenues the Host cities will see from tourism (hotel sales, restaurants etc.) It's a tough model - one that is making Host Committee's rethink expenses such as watch parties or legacy projects.
Kansas City may just have found a different model.
The smallest Host City (of the 11 US Host's) has focused heavily on becoming the Base Camp for participating teams. England, Argentina, Holland and Algeria will call Kansas City home for the month long tourney. Having three top 10 teams - each with rabid fan bases, who travel- will have two positive consequences:
1) Short term tourism bump. It is anticipated that over 600,000 tourists will visit Kansas City during the tournament. Not just to watch the six matches there, but also to be in the same city as their beloved team. To watch them practice, to see them in the streets, etc. (Something much easier to do in KC than in, say, NYC). For perspective - 600,000 tourists are planning to visit a City with a population of 500,000!
2) Long term economic impact. When English people (for example) travel to the US their normal haunts are places like New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago. Big cities that have global reputations. Moving forward, what happens when hundreds of thousands of visitors go back to their home countries and tell people how great Kansas City was? It is cheaper than the other cities, it is more centrally located, the food is great, and the people are... flat out nice! Is it any wonder that "Kansas City" is now seeing massive increases in searches - worldwide - on google?
Thanks to the hard work of Pam Kramer, Mike Goff, Jacob Reid and others, Kansas City has scored early and are well on their way to delivering a winning plan.
Contact
For any inquiries, please feel free to e mail me:
Phone: 312 287 6402
Connect with me:
Linkedin.com/in/gordon-kane-victory