This is the third in our series looking at the formative years of the sports business with industry legend Patrick Nally. The first two episodes are on Fifa and the Olympics respectively, and in this episode we branch out in to athletics, starting in the late 1970s and early 80s, a period of called the golden era of track and field but which saw as much competition behind the scenes as on the track, as the athletes demanded an end to shamateurism, there were plans for a breakaway professional circuit, the inaugural London Marathon and the launch of the first ever World Athletics Championship in 1983. The deals that were done still resonate today, and help explain why professional athletics looks and behaves as it does. It’s a story of brown envelopes, car park bust ups, Bernie Ecclestone, Seb Coe, Horst Dassler and a whole new cast of characters.
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