F1 2024 season preview: The big off-track storylines

Few sports properties in the world are embracing sustainability like the World Rally Championship. Co-hosting the Beyond Rally Forum, the most recent event in the FIA's Sustainable Innovation Series, was the latest initiative undertaken by the WRC to demonstrate its green credentials. We sent Cian Brittle to Porto get the inside track on the sustainability conversation in motorsport and speak to some of the key players in the space. Talking points: - Interview with Sara Mariani, the FIA's director of sustainability and diversity and inclusion (1:12) - Martin Popilka, CEO of P1 Fuels, on the potential impact of green fuel in WRC and for the automotive industry (26:09) - Santiago Peña Gomez, WRC Promoter's sustainability manager, explains how the series is putting its new Sustainability Roadbook into action (34:02) - Cian's final thoughts (1:00:06)

The year started with an Africa Cup of Nations that broke all manner of records and cut through globally unlike any tournament before. Now, with major players such as Fifa, the NFL and NBA all finally realising the continent's potential, 2024 could be a breakout year for African sport. Kicking off a new content series delving into the African sports landscape, SportsPro editorial director Michael Long and Pulse Sports MD James Torvaney speak to Sherif Hassan, head of digital and marketing products at the Confederation of African Football, about the sports business opportunity in Africa.

Richard Gould, CEO of the ECB, comes into the SportsPro Podcast studio to give his view from the top on the health of English cricket. Speaking exclusively to Tom Bassam, Gould discusses the role of the county game in 2024, dealing with the challenges of the IPL, investment in The Hundred, cricket on TV and the exciting future of the women's game.

Edmonton's history as a hotbed for women's basketball dates back more than a century with the all-conquering Edmonton Grads. Now with Fiba 3x3 events and the WNBA coming to the capital of Alberta, that tradition continues. SportsPro's Tom Bassam speaks to Janelle Janis, Executive Director of Business Development and Events with Explore Edmonton and the WNBA chief marketing officer, Phil Cook, to learn more about the city's credentials as an elite sports destination.

SportsPro's Katie Preston talks to Gemma Woor, a member of this year's NEW ERA class and a senior client director at the MKTG agency, about being a female in the sports industry and some of the initiatives she's involved in to improve it for women in the future.

The Women's Super League is under new management and top of the org chart is former Nike executive Nikki Doucet. Speaking to Sam Carp at SportsPro Live 2024 the CEO of NewCo, the commercial entity that is set to take over running the top two tiers of English women's soccer, discusses her vision for the WSL and how the league can forge a new path for women's sports. Talking points: The opportunity for the NewCo with the WSL (2:02) The broadcast rights picture and other revenue streams (10:18) Investing in equitable opportunities (14:14) Where and how the WSL reaches fans (22:58) Doucet's vision for the WSL (25:03) Reflections on the interview (27:03)

Last week Premier League ushered out the PSR era and in the dawn of 'squad cost' regulations - meaning the amount clubs can spend on players will be index rated against revenues. The Price of Football's Kieran Maguire joins Tom Bassam to unpack what it all means and provide a look across the financial landscape of English soccer's top flight.

Jon Rahm arrives at Augusta not only as defending champion but also as a member of a different tour to 12 months ago. Tom Bassam is joined by SportsPro technology editor, Steve McCaskill, to discuss the current state of the game, LIV Golf's continued disruption and some of the technology that will be on show during the Masters.

The owners of F1, Liberty Media, will now control the two biggest global motorsport properties after agreeing to pay €3.5bn for 86% of MotoGP's commercial rightsholder, Dorna Sports. The BlackBook Motorsport team of Cian Brittle, Alice Evans and Tom Brown discuss the deal as the SportsPro Podcast taps into the knowledge of Mics Out (1:18). Then, regularly scheduled programming resumes with Tom Bassam, Sam Carp and Arif Islam hitting a few of the biggest stories in the sports industry, right now. Talking points: - Liberty Media's MotoGP takeover (1:18) - The German FA splits up with Adidas (16:19) - Ipswich Town valued at £260m as it gets investment injection (23:15) - A-Rod's deal to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves collapses (30:56) Find all episodes of Mics Out here.

The opening day of the 2024 IPL season brought in 590m video views for JioCinema, showing nothing moves the needle in sports like Indian's Twenty20 franchise cricket behemoth. How far will the tournament's influence grow? Here trying to answer that question are SportsPro's Ed Dixon, Josh Sim and Tom Bassam.