A new year and the beauty of sport is that it delivers enough of the familiar to be comfortable with, as well as enough of the unexpected to keep us excited.
We will be looking ahead to many of the biggest events and the most interesting themes at The Sporting Year Ahead on Thursday morning, January 25th and look forward to seeing many of our members and friends there.
In the meantime though here are a few thoughts on where we might find the highlights of the next twelve months…
A
Adeleke
Rhasidat Adeleke has the potential to be our greatest-ever track star. She has the talent and the personality to become a globally recognised ambassador for the sport, and with the Olympic Games in July and August, she may have the stage on which to shine bright.
B
Basketball
Plans have been submitted for the redevelopment of the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght. The sport is thriving with more teams than ever before entering the National Leagues and healthy advances at school and college levels as well.
C
Carton House
After two years of reestablishing its position on the Ladies European Tour at Dromoland Castle, the KPMG Women’s Irish Open is moving to Carton House at the end of August, looking to set new attendance records and perhaps a hometown win for Leona Maguire or one of the six Irish golfers that made the cut in 2023’s event.
D
Darts
If you have never been wrapped up in the World Darts Championship at Ally Pally, then perhaps the arrival of 16-year-old Luke Littler is your entry point. There are some for whom it is not a sport but the skill and the pressure are a match for any of the many endeavours that would go unquestioned. Dublin and Belfast Premier League ties in March are long since sold out and this is a game that is open to all.
E
Euro 24
I know that neither Irish team has made it to the Finals but this will still dominate the airwaves and the sporting landscape during June and July. In 2021 eight of the Top 50 Most-watched TV programmes of the year came from the tournament that was played across the continent, though sadly not in Dublin.
F
FAI
With a new Chair and a new President in place off the pitch and Eileen Gleeson installed as the new permanent manager of the Women’s team, all we await now is the appointment of a new Senior men’s team manager to replace Stephen Kenny. The draw for the Women’s Euro 25 tournament qualifiers takes place on March 5th,
G
GAAGo
This is the second year of the contract where more games than ever before are broadcast from the GAA Championship season. There were complaints last year about hurling being hard done by and this year if Cork are flying they will be doubled. The alternative to the paywall though is for the games not to be shown at all, and the rates and the concessions for clubs and care homes are way beyond what any other broadcast partner would deliver.
H
Harte
The Ulster Football Championship is never short of drama and excitement. In 2024 that will redoubled with the return of talismanic manager Mickey Harte not to his native Tyrone but across the county line to the sworn rivals of Derry. You won’t be able to look away.
I
Infrastructure
The Government has indicated that the second round of funding for Large Scale Sporting infrastructure projects will be opening in the first few months of 2024. This is the funding that will be sought by projects that will change how sport is played and viewed across the country. Dalymount Park will be one of the first knocking on the door and they will not be alone.
J
Judgements
With decisions on the participation of athkletes from Russia, Israel and perhaps more in international sporting competition and the courts also involved in determining whether a European Super league can take flight in football, the judiciary has never before had a potentially more involved role in international sport.
K
Katie Taylor
With the comeback win secured, thoughts straight away turned to a trilogy of Taylor-Cameron bouts and inevitably more talk of Croke Park. It is unlikely that anything like the required number of tickets would have been sold in November but maybe, with a more egalitarian pricing structure and a narrow window in a busy stadium schedule this year, it might yet happen.
L
Leopardstown
The only racecourse in County Dublin and set to embark on what could be a major transformation into a wider sporting campus as a result of a potential provision of lands to the National Land Bank. One of the stories we will be following closely through the year.
M
McLenaghan
The first RTÉ Young Sportsperson of the Year to go on to lift the Senior Award and the first Irish Gymnast to lift not one but two World Championship Titles. The routine he will undertake at the Olympic Games will last less than 60 seconds but if it is good enough for Gold he will be remembered forever.
N
Nice
Nice will be the venue for the climax to the 2024 Tour de France, a first in the 111 year history of the race. The reason for that is the staging in Paris of …
O
Olympic Games
Team Ireland will send the largest-ever group of competitors to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. It has the potential to be our most successful ever games as well as being as close to us geographically as it has been since London 2012 and will be again until at least 2036.
P
Paralympic Games
And when the lights go down on the Olympics, they will switch straight back on for the Paralympic Games. There will be no Jason Smyth this time around but the legacy he helped to create means that not only will we have a stronger deeper team than ever before but also that the public will be fully invested in their efforts to secure Gold, Silver and Bronze.
Q
Queens
Queens and Kings, Knights and Pawns will be flying across multiple boards when the European School Chess Championship takes place at the University of Limerick between May 30th and June 8th.
R
Rahm
The Spanish Masters Champion had been steadfastly behind the legacy and tradition of golf, right up until the point where he jumped ship from the PGA Tour and signed up for ridiculous money to LIV Golf. With talks on rapprochement between the two rival tours now pushed back to 2024, maybe Rahm just felt it was too much to pass up.
S
Statistics
From the ‘battle stats’ that helped South African Rugby Performance to the AI generating tactics based on likely opposition movements, the role of statistics in terms of sports performance and fan engagement is all encompassing. And it will become ever more so.
T
Treaty United
It won’t just be about the top flight in the SSE Airtricity League with Treaty United bidding to grab back some of the Limerick magic from the County Hurling team and the stars of Munster Rugby under the new leadership of the World’s first female player-CEO Ciara McCormack.
U
UEFA Europa League Final
The Final of Europe’s second competition will take place at the Aviva Stadium in May and it could be Liverpool that are one of the teams involved. Others who could be coming to town include Roma and AC Milan, Rangers and West Ham.
V
Volleyball
Volleyball Ireland will host the Women’s U20 European Championships in August and the U20 Men’s Small European Countries Championships in January in a big year for the sport.
W
World Cup Cricket
The Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup will take place in the traditional setting of the West Indies but also the more innovative one of the United States in June. Ireland playing against England or India with the Empire State Building as a backdrop is exciting
X
WXV Rugby
The new global tournament for Women’s Rugby saw Ireland win promotion and refind their mojo in October 2023. They will now be competing in WXV2 later in the year. There was no relegation from WXV1 in the first year so Scotland will play at WXV2 again and Wales get a stay in the top flight.
Y
Yassir Al Rumayyan
The Chair of the Saudi Public Investment Fund is arguably the most important player in World sport. From LIV Golf to the FIFA World Cup, and Boxing to the Olympic Games the spending power under his control has the ability to overturn every element of every sport.
Z
Zumba
Sport at the elite end is only a part of how physical activity will be ever more important throughout the world. Fitness and movement are essential parts of preventative healthcare whose time is coming. Getting the venues and the instructors in sufficient number for an ever more health conscious world will be a challenge to be met with enthusiasm.
Fancy your forecasting talents for the year ahead? Why not join in our fun and free-to-enter forecast competition for the biggest events of the sporting calendar? Simply click on the image below to enter.
Join us for our first major event of the New Year when we will gather with a host of sporting and business leaders to look ahead to what 2024 holds in store.
Be part of the biggest community of sporting and business organisations in Ireland by becoming a member of Sport for Business and enjoying a host of benefits.
Enjoy more of what we have to offer with events. podcasts and a twice-daily news bulletin. Simply click on the images below to sign up for the free bulletin or find out more…